Scottish Catholic Observer

Bishop Malcolm McMahon, (above) chairman of the Catholic Education Service for England and Wales (CESEW), said the figures underlined the nonsensical attitude of ‘small’ but ‘very noisy’ groups such as the National Secular Society who thought Catholic schools were a problem.

“You always feel a little bit kind of got at, because that is the nature of these groups, they get more publicity than their numbers deserve, but when you ask parents, they want their children to go to faith schools, that is why we are well supported,” he said.

“The Catholic sector makes an enormous contribution to our society both in terms of its mainstream work which is education but also in terms of the spin-offs, the social cohesion, the contribution to the community and therefore my conclusion is that it is a very good way of spending taxpayers’ money.”

Bishop McMahon of Nottingham was speaking at the release of two CESEW reports on the performance of Catholic schools in England and Wales.

The findings showed nearly three quarters, or 73 per cent, of Catholic secondary schools were judged to be outstanding or good for overall effectiveness by Ofsted inspectors between 2005 and 2009, compared with 60 per cent nationally. In Catholic primary schools, 74 per cent were judged outstanding or good compared with 66 per cent nationally.

Nearly half of Catholic schools, or 48 per cent, scored outstanding for personal development and well-being compared with 36 per cent for all schools, with 53 per cent of Catholic schools judged to have outstanding behaviour compared with 39 per cent nationally.

More than half, or 51 per cent, of Catholic schools gained an outstanding assessment for the degree to which pupils enjoyed their education, compared with a 42 per cent national average.