In top place” “” “

Catholic primary schools are the best in the country in terms of school results and the human preparation of pupils: that’s the judgement of an official report of the British Ministry of Education compiled by Ofsted, the dreaded school inspectorate of the United Kingdom, which each year inspects every classroom in the Kingdom, controlling whether the education children receive corresponds to the standards fixed by the government. There are 2350 Catholic schools with over 750,000 pupils in England and Wales. AN EXAMPLE. According to the last Ofsted survey, one out of five of the best schools in the UK is Catholic, although the schools controlled by the Catholic Church are a minority from a numerical point of view. Only one out of every ten schools is run by Catholics. The survey conducted by the inspectors of the Ministry of Education monitored the progress of pupils from the age of seven to eleven. The school at the top of the classification is St. Patrick’s at Camden, in North London, where the pupils are academically one year ahead of others of their own age. This quite exceptional result is even more significant if we consider that over half the pupils at St. Patrick’s come from ethnic minorities, and 18% from the families of political refugees. English is not the mother tongue of almost half of them. This Catholic school has demonstrated its ability to overcome various challenges: integrating foreign pupils, some of whom don’t even have any firm grasp of English, in British society; diffusing Catholic values in a world ever more hostile to religion; and educating children in the most traditional sense of the term. According to the headmistress, Christina Wells, this surprising result is due in large part to the support of the community within which this Catholic school, like many others in Great Britain, was founded and lives. “Parents and parishioners help us a great deal, either by working as volunteers in the school or by supporting us financially and in every possible way; and this has an impact on children, who learn all the more quickly and effectively if they feel safe, loved and happy”, said the headmistress. OTHER LEAGUE TABLES. Other Catholic schools placed at the top of the government’s league table include “Blessed Robert Widmerpool” in Nottingham in northern England, “St. Cross”, at Hoddesdon, in Hertfordshire, close to London, and “St. Aloysius”, at Knowsley, in Merseyside. The government has also published a list of schools that have consistently improved their results every year over the last four years, and in this league table too Catholic schools figure prominently among the first twenty. In a third league table, that took into consideration all the schools where the pupils are two years head of their own age group in terms of academic results, “St. Joseph’s” school in Oldham, Lancashire, came in second place. A SERVICE TO THE COMMUNITY. “These results clearly demonstrate that Catholic schools make an irreplaceable contribution to thousands of communities that vary in formation and composition throughout the country and that that they play a fundamental role in the educational system of our country and, for this reason, need to be protected and supported”, declared OONA STANNARD, head of the Catholic Education Service, the department of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales that deals with the educational sector. PETER WALSH, in charge of the Service’s policies, confirms that Catholic schools are consistently placed among the top places in the league tables compiled by the British Ministry of Education. “Among a fourth and a fifth of the best schools in the UK are Catholic”, explains Peter Walsh, “although our schools only form 10% of the total. “I think there are many reasons for this. Undoubtedly the dedication of teachers and parents has an important impact. Many primary schools can also count on the service of trained and dedicated volunteers from the community. Both teachers and headmasters/headmistresses have a strong ethos; they believe strongly in the work they are performing and this has an impact on the overall functioning of the school”. “I think Catholic schools have particular success when they have to cater to the children of ethnic minorities or political refugees precisely due to the philosophy of acceptance that guides them”, continues Walsh, according to whom “the excellent integration of Catholic schools in English society does not dilute the values that guide them”.