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Celebrating education

Education Sunday was celebrated in parishes across the country yesterday.

The Archbishop of Birmingham, Vincent Nichols, who chairs the Bishops Conference Committee for Education and Formation said he hoped more people would feel "called by God to the ministry of teaching".

He said: "I am convinced that the recruitment of good teachers is vital for the future of our society."

Pointing out that the theme of Education Sunday this year is education for citizenship, which is to become part of the national curriculum from next September, Archbishop Vincent said: "Active participation in society is an important part of our responsibility. So too is knowing the principles of truth, justice, peace and compassion on which a wholesome society can be built."

Last week the latest OFSTED figures schools were released, showing that once again, Catholic schools, and church schools in general have scored statistically higher than their state counterparts.

For pupils and staff at Mount St Mary's Primary School in Leeds the news was particularly exciting. A few years ago they were on the point of closure. Head teacher Martin Flannery said: "This is such encouraging news. Our old building was terribly dilapidated. We've been in five different buildings since the early 1980s. We are hoping to move in to new buildings in two years' time. In the meantime the school is working in prefabs. "

Mr Flannery said: "This is a real tribute to our teachers. In 1996 and this year OFSTED rated the teaching at 100 per cent. The inspector commented on the fact that she could feel the Catholic ethos as soon as she walked in the door. They staff don't just see teaching as a profession but as a vocation. We are in a poor inner city area. Over 40 per cent of the children are on free school dinners. Yet we are the only school in Leeds to be on the top 100 list. The children, parents and teachers all have reason to be proud of this result."

The top 20 Catholic primary schools listed by OFSTED are:

All Saints Junior School, Liverpool
Cheadle Infant School, Stockport
Corpus Christi Primary, Lambeth
Larmenier Infants' School, Hammersmith & Fulham
Mount St Mary's Primary, Leeds
Our Lady of The Angels Catholic Infant School, Warwickshire
St Andrew's Primary School, Redcar and Cleveland
St Bede's Infant & Nursery, Lambeth
St Begas Primary School, Hartlepool
St Bernard's Primary School, Birmingham
St Cuthbert's Junior & Infant, Birmingham
St Finian's Primary School, West Berkshire
St Joseph's Junior School, Southwark
St Joseph's Junior School, Waltham Forest
St Joseph's Primary School, Middlesbrough
St Nicholas Primary School, Liverpool
St Raymond's Primary School, Sefton
St Thomas Junior School, Wakefield
The Annunciation Infant School, Barnet
The Oratory Primary School, Birmingham

The 23 Catholic secondary schools which won special praise from OFSTED are:

All Hallows Catholic High School, Cheshire
Convent of Jesus & Mary Language College, Brent
De La Salle School, St Helens
John F Kennedy RC School, Hertfordshire
La Sainte Union Catholic Secondary School, Camden
Notre Dame High School, Sheffield
Notre Dame Roman Catholic Girls' School, Southwark
Our Lady and St John RC High School, Blackburn with Darwen
Our Lady's Convent High School, Hackney
Sacred Heart High School, Hammersmith & Fulham
St Angela's Ursuline Convent School, Newham
St Bede's Catholic High School, Lancashire
St Gabriel's RC High School, Bury
St Hilda's Roman Catholic Girls' High School, Lancashire
St Mary's Catholic High School, Wigan
St Monica's RC High School, Bury
St Paul's Catholic School, Milton Keynes
The Cardinal Wiseman School, Ealing
The English Martyrs School & Sixth Form College, Hartlepool
The Knights Templar School, Hertfordshire
The London Oratory School, Hammersmith & Fulham
The Priory School, Shropshire
Trinity Catholic High School, Redbridge

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