CARJ’s response to the Education Green Paper – Schools that Work for Everyone

CARJ has submitted a response to the Education Green Paper – Schools that Work for Everyone. Through our Stepping Stones Project, we are working with others to support schools, families and young people from marginalised communities; and we welcome the Green Paper’s suggestion that Independent Schools, Selective Schools and Universities might do more in this regard.

We also welcome the Green Paper’s acknowledgement that Catholic schools ‘have a good record on diversity’. The 2016 Catholic Schools’ Census shows how ethnically and socially diverse Catholic schools are in this country. The Catholic Community has a strong record of incorporating immigrants into society, and the Church’s schools are an important part of this.

It is a myth to assume, as some do, that ‘Faith Schools’ undermine social cohesion. In fact, they are often a force for good in bringing communities together. We made this point in our submission to the Government’s consultation. We were also clear that social cohesion doesn’t just rely on pupil demographics but on the attitudes and values that schools promote and on activities schools undertake to engage with their local communities. Our submission highlighted the excellent work done by Catholic schools up and down the country partnering with multi-faith organisations such as Citizens UK and with Catholic charities like CAFOD. We are rightly proud of our country’s Catholic schools and we welcome the removal of the 50% admissions cap that prevented the Church from opening any new schools. A full copy of our response can be read here carjresponseeducgreenpaper-2016lh