Good news, bad news

                      The Director's chair at the CES - soon to have a new occupant


The good news is....the Catholic Education Service (CES) has made an appointment to replace Oona Stannard.

The bad news is........they've appointed Paul Barber as their new Director.

My apologies to Mr Barber and Mrs Barber and all the little Barbers if there are any, I'm sure they must be rejoicing at the news. But, that this plum job has fallen into the hands of the man who was at the centre of the row over The Cardinal Vaughan School and its desire to keep its Catholic identity and independence is somewhat disturbing.

Mr B was Archbishop Nichol's Director of Education and, leaving out a great deal of detail, he wanted to implant governors onto the school board, taking all control for their appointment away from the school and the parents.

It was, some say, a hamfisted, small minded attempt to ride roughshod over the views and feelings of the Catholic staff, pupils and parents but those good folk at the Vaughan swung into action most professionally and ran a very successful campaign that meant the Archbishop had to back down, give in, capitulate.

So, it does not exactly auger well for the poor old CES that must bear the brunt of the criticism for the dire state of most Catholic schools in this country; just as they thought it was safe to go back into the water....

I find this sort of news extremely depressing but must refer you to Damian Thompson's post (the Telegraph has much better litigation lawyers on their side than I have).

This is the recruitment ad that the CES ran last October, I do hope that Mr Barber will live up to the ideals stated therein:

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales is seeking to appoint a new Director for the Catholic Education Service. The CES is the agency which represents and promotes the national education policy of the Bishops in relation to the 2,300 Catholic schools, colleges and university colleges which the Church is responsible for across England and Wales.
The Conference is looking for a practising and committed Catholic who is capable of giving strategic leadership and strengthening relationships at a senior level nationally to promote the interests of Catholic education with the UK and Welsh Governments.
You will:
• Be motivated by your love for Christ and the teachings of the Catholic Church;
• Have a passion for, and a secure understanding of, the distinctive nature of Catholic education;
• Have substantial senior management experience and demonstrated inspirational leadership;
• Possess highly developed interpersonal and communication skills, and the ability to win respect and trust at all levels.

Mr Barber, please close the door on the way out!

Picture: Caritas in Veritate

There's no easy way to say this but, in the aftermath of the Cardinal Vaughan School battle (and victory) to retain their identity and autonomy and the great appointment of Mr Paul Stubbings as the new Head, why is Paul Barber, Director of Education for Westminster Diocese still a School Governor?

He needs to move on in order to give Mr Stubbings a clean canvas upon which to work his skills. It just is not fair for one who opposed so much and who advised Archbishop Nichols in this affair, to remain on the Board...he must go...tout suite!...right away!

For Mr Barber's own sake also, he needs to go; he is now the spectre at the feast and he cannot possibly hope to function well or be at ease as a Board Member under these circumstances.

So here is a note of farewell, from...who else?

A Barbershop Quartet!.....Goodbye world, Goodbye......

  

Did Archbishop Nichols really write this letter?

Archdiocese of Westminster,
motto: "Could do better"

This passed me by at the time, Archbishop Vincent Nichols letter to secondary school students sent out on 5th September in both video and text format by Westminster's Director of Education, Paul Barber.

One might even suspect that the good Archbishop never ever wrote it and that it was written by a person of the Diocesan Education Department.

Why?

Because it is, in my view, a pretty dire piece of English purportedly expressing a Catholic message that is so wrapped up in gobbledeygook it might just as well have been a Tablet editorial.

It takes 12 paragraphs of gut wrenching copy before religion or God enters the picture at all. It is badly written and it does nothing to inspire or show the dynamism of the faith.

It talks inanely about self respect; it patronises and it condescends.

It is so bad that I am beginning to feel that it is me that has got it all wrong. My Catholic education (admittedly light years ago) majored on self humility, not self respect and I knew the basic principles of right and wrong when I was four years old.

If I was (let us wildly imagine) a 15 year old student that managed to read the Archbishop's message through to its conclusion (no mean feat by itself) I would feel less than enamoured of a faith that spoke to me in such terms; in fact, I would seriously consider that I might be on the wrong train!

Here is the letter.....I have commented sparingly in red, one could comment on almost every word.
 Note that it is addressed to 'Secondary School Children' not a good start.........

The Most Rev Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster’s message to Secondary School Children in (am I being picky or should there be a 'the' here?) Diocese of Westminster

5 September 2011

Today I want to speak to you, to each student in our secondary schools, as you begin this new school year.

I hope you have had a good summer. Some of you may have been on a family holiday. Some of you will have got your exam results. Some of you may have had a difficult time. It’s not always easy being a teenager, (ermm, secondary education begins at the age of 11) knowing what to do or who to follow. All of you will have known about the riots in our capital city. (Yes, your Grace, but what about them?)

Now you come back to the patterns of school and college life with the demands they make and the opportunities they carry.

Here you learn again about being part of a community that is far wider than your family. Central to what you learn is the need to show respect for each other and have some responsibility for each other if you are going to make the best of the opportunities given to you here.

These lessons of mutual respect and responsibility went out of the window for those few days of rioting and looting. I know that many of you were upset at what you saw.

Since then much has been said about young people today. But I am confident that you do understand the issues involved: that we owe respect to others in every circumstance; that theft is wrong; that we are easily tempted in the spur of a moment; that the actions we take always have  their consequences.(If I was a secondary school student I might suspect the Archbishop of painting me as part of the riot mob).

But it is a deeper truth that I want to stress, one that underlines all these other points. It is this: the respect we have for each other is rooted in the respect we have for ourselves. Your respect for yourself is so important. Self-respect is what helps to set the standards by which you live.

That might sound simple. But profound and true self-respect is difficult to achieve. So many influences can sway you this way and that making you feel confused about who you really are and what you really want.

Self-respect is something you grow into gradually, as you come to accept and appreciate the abilities and character you have been given. You learn of it through those who love you. You can lose sight of it when you feel dejected or misunderstood.

When you truly respect yourself then you set yourself high standards of behaviour especially in the company of your own age group. You are not afraid to be different. When you truly respect yourself you also have high achievement targets. You want to do your best and be your best.

As you get older, you come to understand for yourself the differences between right and wrong. You learn how to be generous with what is right and how to say ‘no’ to what is wrong. Gradually you seek and find true and lasting values, not just those promoted by fashion or celebrity.(celebrity what?) Gradually you acquire the habits and routines of good behaviour, so that you know how to behave even when no-one is watching.(I can't believe this twaddle - it is aimed at those in the age bracket 13 to 19 is it not?)

But what is the deepest foundation of this self-respect?

When you look at yourself in a mirror who do you really see? A child of your parents, certainly. A person liked by their friends. And a face anxious about its appearance. (You mean...it can't be...acne your Grace?) But you see someone more.(More?, should that be 'else'?)

What you see is someone expressed in this truth, on which you can rely: ‘Before you were born God called you. From your mother’s womb God pronounced your name.’ (Jer.49.1)

There it is. You are a child of God. That is who you see each morning in the mirror. It is God’s life that is within you, the supreme gift that you have received. When you understand this, everything changes. This is why you have such respect for yourself, in every aspect of your being, and in your future. This is also why you have respect for your family and for every other human being for they too have the same dignity as you, as sons and daughters of one heavenly Father. We share one life together.

This truth lies at the heart of the life of your school community. I trust that in this coming year you will continue to learn more about the greatness of human living and achievement, about your faith in God made visible in Jesus Christ who is your friend and companion, about your own abilities and true potential. I hope that as you grow and learn you will see the importance of giving good leadership to others around you and the importance of contributing to your local community to build a just and compassionate society. What you give, the service you offer, helps others around you, but it really helps you to grow in self-respect as well.

Thank you for listening to me. I ask that you take a copy of this message home to your parents and talk about it with them, too.

One last thought. All your actions are carried out in the presence of God. You can be sure that God never lets you out of sight because God loves you so much that He can never take His eyes off you. God wants to watch as you prosper and truly flourish. You are loved so much. Please remember this in the term ahead.

God bless you all.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols

2 September 2011

So what makes me think that some other person may be the author of this missive? (Apart from the poor grammar and misplaced content).

 Well  this is how it was presented on one school's website (and it was not the Cardinal Vaughan School)

Paul Barber, Director for Education at the Diocese of Westminster, has informed us of a message from Archbishop Vincent Nicholls (sic) that the Archbishop would like all secondary students aware of as soon as is reasonable.
Paul Barber writes,
"As you will have read ... Archbishop Vincent has recorded a video message addressing all students in our secondary schools. He has requested that this should be shown to all students at the earliest opportunity this term. He also wants to share the important message he has relating to the riots last month with parents and families ... The video can be found at http://www.vimeo.com/28512337 or from the diocesan website www.rcdow.org.uk"

I have not seen the video message, I am still minus sound on my pc so I cannot comment on how closely the text follows the video clip.

But one thing is certain, the letter should never have seen the light of day.

St John Baptist de La Salle - please come to the aid of the Vaughan

And, indeed, please also come to the aid of His Grace, Archbishop Nichols and help him to successfully oversee the appointment of a new headteacher for The Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School.

St John Baptist de La Salle is generally regarded as the main patron of teachers and this coming Thursday, 15th September, the Vaughan Parents and their supporters will gather in the Piazza outside Westminster Cathedral at 7pm for a Vigil of Prayer.

The 'Father of Modern Education'

The last couple of years have not been happy ones for the Vaughan, or, for that matter, Westminster Diocese although the issues that have arisen have been a result of the Diocese riding roughshod over the wishes and the rights of parents and Governors of the school. Much of that will now change thanks to intervention from the House of Lords but......the issue hanging over the school now is to appoint a new headteacher. Someone who can ably resume the role played by Michael Gormally, the recently retired head.

It is not easy recruiting headteachers. It is even harder to find a good one. Heads these days have to both know the teaching elements back to front as well as manage people (staff, pupils, parents - and Archbishops) and manage what is, in effect, a major multi-faceted organisation.

The new Head will need to be able to assume the role without interference from the Diocese - I have no doubt that there will be interference but his/her role is to manage the school on behalf of the Board, staff and parents; and it is the Head who must have the freedom to act on their own initiative and take risks - a successful school is also a risk taking business. It cannot be successful if the Head is constantly looking over his/her shoulder to see if the Nazguls of the Diocesan Education Department are on the march.

I hope that the Diocesan authorities will realise that a strong headteacher will be both good for the school and good for the Archbishop.

The advertisment for the new head appears on 16th September so, if you are free,
join the Vaughan Parents on the 15th at 7pm - Westminster Cathedral Piazza.

And if you can't make it in person, then please light a candle for a successful appointment.

Westminster Diocese bottles out of meeting

In all things to love and serve - but not as far
 as Westminster Diocese is concerned!

A good opportunity to build bridges or, at least to put their point of view across to parents of Cardinal Vaughan School pupils was lost last Monday night when Westminster Diocese decided against representation at an open meeting held to discuss the way ahead.

You do not need to employ a PR guru or to have any depth of knowledge regarding inter personal skills to understand that the Diocese (and Archbishop Nichols) are on the hind foot and have been in that position for some time.
Someone close to his Grace needs the courage to tell him that they are in a situation where, whatever  the final outcome, they just cannot win. In brief, when in a hole you should stop digging!

The Vaughan Parents were disappointed at the 'no show' by Westminster Diocese - here is their report of the meeting:-

"Monday night’s meeting between parents and governors, so long requested and so often denied, was a cause for both celebration and disappointment:  celebration because parents left governors in no doubt about their unity and passionate commitment to their children’s School, but disappointment at the lost opportunity to build bridges and move forward, because of the absence of any diocesan representation at the meeting.

The meeting had been advertised as an opportunity for parents to ask questions, both of the Governing Body and the Diocese, about decisions concerning the governance of the School and plans for its future direction.  Over 400 parents attended and took the opportunity to demonstrate their enthusiastic support, both for their elected parent governors and for the staff, represented by acting Head, Charles Eynaud and Deputy Head, Paul Stubbings.  Parents asked probing questions, principally of the Chairman of Governors, John O’Donnell.

Apart from the Diocese’s regrettable decision not to send an official representative, foundation governors Paul Barber (Diocesan Director of Education), Monsignor James Curry (Archbishop’s representative on the Governing Body) and newly appointed Kate Griffin (member of the Executive Board of the Catholic Education Service) were also absent.  This meant that there was no one who could answer with authority any question about overall policy or more detailed questions about why some foundation governors had been removed and others appointed.  The other absentee was Ike Offiah, one of the two foundation governors retrospectively designated as a “parent”, although he has no child in the School.

In attendance were foundation governors Rita Biddulph, Michael Craven, Gerry Kelly,  Bwalya Kwanga, Rory O’Hare and Mary Waplington, the other designated “parent” (with no child in the School), as well as elected parent governors James King, Jackie Knight, John Murphy  Andrzej Rumun and Janusz Zajaczkowski, and local authority governor, Sir Adrian FitzGerald.

Mr O’Donnell’s explanation that diocesan officials could not be present because the parent governors’ legal action against the Diocese remained unresolved prompted a question from a parent:  if the ongoing nature of the legal action was sufficient to prevent diocesan attendance at this meeting, why was it not sufficient to halt the process of appointing a new Head?  Mr O’Donnell replied that, because the appointment of a new Head was Governing Body business, it could proceed.

In answer to a question, Mr O’Donnell said that the process of appointing a new Head had stalled earlier in the year, because the “field was not strong enough”; his attempted assurance that “the search for an outstanding Head teacher continues” elicited a shout of “He’s behind you!” from the back of the Hall, to much laughter and tumultuous applause (Mr Eynaud and Mr Stubbings were sitting on the platform behind Mr O’Donnell).

Many of the pre-submitted questions, a list of which was circulated at the start of the meeting, were directed to the expected diocesan representative. Mr O’Donnell answered a question about the Diocese’s future plans for the School by saying, “The Diocese has no plans for the School”; this was greeted by disbelief.

A parent took the meeting through the Diocese’s actions since the beginning of the current dispute:  referral of its admission arrangements to the Office of the Schools Adjudicator, replacement of seven foundation governors (including two Chairmen of Governors) in two years, refusal to appoint current parents as foundation governors, objections to music scholarships, refusal to meet parents.  He concluded, “And you expect us to believe that the Diocese has no hidden agenda for the School?”  This was warmly applauded.

VPAG Chairman, Anna Brown, said, “We were delighted that so many parents cared enough to attend this meeting, called at relatively short notice at such a busy time of the school year.  A high proportion had questions to ask, and their support for the elected parent governors and the staff was wonderful to see.  It was gratifying to note that, when they were asked, on a show of hands, whether there was any opposition to the activities of the VPAG, only two hands were raised.

“We hope the Governing Body will take away from this meeting, and communicate to the Diocese, the absolute determination of Vaughan parents to preserve the ethos, traditions and standards of the School.  We call on the Archbishop, in anticipation of the government’s announced intention to amend the regulations, to appoint now two parents of pupils currently on the School roll.  We ask him also to use his good offices to bring this sad dispute to an end, by advising his foundation governors to ensure that a Head is appointed who will command support from all sections of the Governing Body.”

PLEASE NOTE: If you would like to sign the petition in support of the School Parents here it is http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-cardinal-vaughan-memorial-school.html

Vaughan goes on the attack with online petition

Lose its Catholic identity?
Not in my name!

There must be a certain air of satisfaction in the Vaughan Parents camp, not smug satisfaction but a modicum of relief and joy that the House of Lords has stepped in on their side (and against Archbishop Nichols and his team).

Maybe, even, a scent of blood, victory in the distance and a good Catholic School saved from mediocrity inflicted by the left. But that part is still in the distance and more help is needed, not just from Londoners but from those in Wigan, Kirkcaldy, Cork and even Milan and Chicago (got the point? wherever you are please help this good school stay true to its Catholic ethos).

   WHAT CAN YOU DO? - JUST SIGN THE PETITION (PLEASE)

Here it is - http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/save-cardinal-vaughan-memorial-school.html

A lost battle but the moral high ground belongs to the Vaughan Parents

Westminster Diocese issued a press release following its win in the court last week over the Cardinal Vaughan Action Group who were fighting to keep the school Catholic in the sense of its admissions policy.

This release does not square with the CVAG account of things so they have produced their own account.....You may read Westminster's in its entirety on http://www.rcdow.org.uk/ For some reason it would not copy and paste onto this post.

PRESS RELEASE: THE VAUGHAN PARENTS’ ACTION GROUP

The Diocese of Westminster displayed a statement concerning the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School on its website today, Thursday 14 April. The statement contained serious inaccuracies in some places and was misleading in others:

DIOCESAN ALLEGATION 1: The Court of Appeal has clarified the law relating to the appointment of Foundation Governors to the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School.

VPAG RESPONSE: all three Appeal Judges made the point strongly that the wording of the Instrument of Government dealing with the appointment of Foundation Governors is NOT clear, and the fact that the three judges interpreted it differently demonstrates this lack of clarity. The VPAG will lobby Michael Gove to clarify this point.

DIOCESAN ALLEGATION 2: We regret the wasteful court action brought against the Archbishop of Westminster by a number of parents associated with the Vaughan Parents Action Group.VPAG RESPONSE: the court action was NOT brought by parents associated with the VPAG, or by the VPAG itself. It was bought by the school’s Parent Governors, who were gravely concerned about the way the Diocese had manipulated the Governing Body. The VPAG was formed some considerable time after the court action was begun.

The funds for the Parent Governors’ action were raised by voluntary donations from parents, pupils and friends of the school. The Diocese’s legal funding came from lay Catholics across the Diocese.

DIOCESAN ALLEGATION 3: It is important to note that the ‘Vaughan Parents’ Action Group’ is not supported by the School. It is not to be confused with the Vaughan Parents’ Association, which is the recognised parents’ association. Rather it is a campaign whose leaders include two former Governors of the school and the former Headmaster.
VPAG RESPONSE: the VPAG is a properly-constituted sub-committee of the VPA and enjoys the overwhelming support of the school’s parents and pupils.  Staff are employed by the Governing Body, the majority of whose members are appointed by the Diocese; they are in no position to express an opinion one way or the other. Over 1500 people recently signed a petition supporting the VPAG’s aims and opposing the Diocese’s actions, and around 1000 people have attended two prayer vigils organised by the VPAG in support of the school and opposing the Diocese’s behaviour. The former Headmaster and ONE former Governor are patrons, not leaders of the VPAG.

DIOCESAN ALLEGATION 4: (the judgment)… means that at least two Foundation Governors must either be parents if (sic) current or former pupils of the school, or have children of or below compulsory school age.

VPAG RESPONSE: this is contrary to how the Instrument of Government was outlined on the Diocese’s own website last year (at the time of the controversial appointments). THE DIOCESE HAS SINCE REMOVED THE PRINCIPLES OF CASCADING QUALIFICATION FROM ITS WEBSITE, AND THIS HAS SERIOUS IMPLICATIONS FOR ALL VOLUNTARY-AIDED SCHOOLS. If this ruling is enforced, malign trustees can use the same loophole the Diocese of Westminster has exploited in order to avoid appointing parents of current pupils as Foundation Governors – in effect they can appoint anyone they like as long as they have school-age children.

DIOCESAN ALLEGATION 5: Current parents will continue to be fully represented on the Governing Body of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School as elected parent governors.
VPAG RESPONSE: parents will not be “fully represented”. The school will have to continue without any Foundation Governors with children at the school, despite the intention of Government to ensure that at least two FG’s are current parents. As long as the Diocese-appointed Foundation Governors enjoy a majority of 11 to 9 on the Governing Body, the five Parent Governors have little or no chance of winning important votes. This is why the VPAG was formed: to push for full and proper representation of the parents of current pupils. We will lobby to close the loophole that the Diocese has exploited to load the Foundation with its own ‘placemen’ and continue to oppose the Diocese’s attempts to dilute the Catholic ethos and make fundamental and damaging changes to the school.

Finally, we would also point to this statement by Appeal Judge Sir Richard Buxton, who supported the Parent Governors’ case:

“With appropriate deference, none of the matters reviewed in paragraphs 18-29 deflect me from the conclusion reached in paragraph 16 above. On the true construction of the legislation the failure to continue the term of the two Foundation Governors who were current parents, and the appointment in September 2010 of the new governors, has resulted in the overall constitution of the Governing body not complying with the law, as it does not contain two Foundation Governors who have been shown to have been at the date of their appointment eligible for election or appointment as Parent Governors.”

The VPAG, and the school’s parents and all its supporters, will continue to protest at the actions of the Diocese of Westminster, and will continue a very public and open campaign, including letters and emails of protest to the Vatican.

We will not be moved.

For more information visit www.savethevaughan.com.

THE VAUGHAN IN COURT!

THIS IS AN EXTRACT FROM THE VAUGHAN PARENTS' ACTION GROUP WEBSITE - THE FIGHT GOES ON!




Members of the Vaughan Parents' Action Group demonstrated their support for the Parent Governors outside the Royal Courts of Justice in the Strand today as the Court of Appeal heard the Appeal and some are pictured above.

Whilst those inside the courtroom heard respectful submissions from Counsel and legal arguments about statutes, regulations and appointments, our members outside enjoyed tremendous support from the public and aroused a great deal of interest. We ran out of leaflets as  many passers-by asked for details of the issues we were supporting. 

Not all moments were serious though - we had to explain to one passer-by who, upon reading our 'Save Cardinal Vaughan' banner, stopped to ask us, 'What has the Cardinal done? Are the beaks going to send him down?' that the banner referred to the School. We are also indebted to the London's black taxi drivers for all their support. One of their number who was passing our banners stopped and told us that he was a parent of a current pupil at the School. He wished us good luck and tooted his horn. However he managed to do it, he passed the message across the black taxis drivers of London and many also tooted their horns in support as they passed us in the Strand. 

Judgment has been reserved and we will of course publicise the outcome when their Lordships have finished their deliberations.

We don't want rubbish such as this in good Catholic Schools do we?

A Schola? A full range of extra curricular activities? A religious ambience?

                                 NO WAY!

                        COMING SOON TO A SCHOOL NEAR YOU!

Throw it out, shut it down, forget choral performances as an extra curricular activity, let's instal a Muslim prayer room and remove all crucifixes from school premises (we don't wish to offend, after all). Do away with all of this courtesy to staff and fellow pupils, boys holding doors open for girls - we live in an equal opportunities society for goodness sake! As for starting each lesson with a prayer that is absolutely just OTT religious mania, the ethos must be all embracing, facilitating comfort for all pupils of all faiths and none, a few statues of the Buddha would not go amiss and, of course, we must celebrate all religious feasts equally so bring on Diwali and Eid and Ramadhan and let's not forget the dance around the fire at the Summer Solstice and we just cannot have school uniforms - that is so--oo elitist!

Please join the LOTH campaign to level out the academic excellence of our Catholic Schools and to introduce a bit of secularism!



More on the Vaughan......

Paul Barber is the Westminster Diocese Director of Education. An important post. One that calls for a wide range of skills in management and administration, in fact, here is the list of responsibilities for the post lifted from the Diocesan website:-

PAUL BARBER  -  DIRECTOR OF EDUCATION AND DIOCESAN SCHOOLS’ COMMISSIONER

·          Responsibility for the overall development, promotion and effectiveness of Catholic education in the diocese

·          Provision and standards of religious education and the Catholic life of schools

·          The leadership and management of the Diocesan Education Service

·          Ensuring that there are sufficient and suitable places in Catholic schools

·          Providing specialist advice to headteachers, governors and parish priests

·          Responsibility for the support and advice given to religious educators, headteachers and governors

·          Representing and advising the diocesan trustees

·          Liaison with the DCSF, LEAs, LSCs and other statutory bodies

·          Representing the diocese on local authority committees

That's a full lunch box in anyone's language. I can't see anything about assuming specific school board control so why then has he also assumed the role of Governor at Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School? Hasn't he got enough on his plate?

REMEMBER: Tomorrow 2nd February 6.15pm - Candlight vigil at CVS in support of the parents who do not wish to have Archbishop Nichols and his team running their school!
I understand the school orchestra or, at least, musicians from it, will provide some musical diversions......choice of music?

Hmm.....................how about....

'There may be trouble ahead'
or
Barber's Requiem :)