This September a new generation of Catholic teachers will be trained through three groundbreaking new schemes across the country.

Led by the Formatio partnership of dioceses, Catholic multi-academy trusts (CMATs) and the four Catholic universities in England, 80 trainees start soon in what will be the first Initial Teacher Training (ITT) scheme specifically geared towards teaching in Catholic schools. 

The Diocese of Westminster Academy Trust (DOWAT) identified pupils from the trust’s secondary schools interested in teaching, and gave them weekly lesson support experience. Working with St Mary’s University, DOWAT is delivering the CMAT ITT Direct programme for Formatio’s South East Regional Hub, with trainees to be based within the trust’s schools. 

The trainees, many of whom are former Catholic school pupils, will additionally be shown how to participate in activities like collective worship and chaplaincy, as prospective teachers in Catholic education.  

Pat Murden, Chief Executive Officer of DOWAT and a founder member of the Catholic Academy Trust Training Collaborative (CATtColl), said: “This came out of the Department for Education’s market review of ITTs, which represented an opportunity to think differently and act at scale. We’re developing a career path that starts at ITT and goes on to early career teacher, to master teacher, middle leader then senior leader.

“Our aim is to address teacher shortages, especially in Religious Education, to develop workforces reflecting the communities our schools serve, and provide a model that any other Catholic MAT can copy.”

Similar ITT schemes have also been set up with the Catholic universities by Emmaus Catholic Academy Trust, in the Diocese of Salford, and Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, in the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, within the Formatio regional hub structure.

The Formatio partnership supports the Catholic Education Service and diocesan schools commissions working with the four Catholic universities and CMATs in implementing strategies for school leadership and governance, as commissioned by the Bishops in 2017. 

CATtColl is the national network of Catholic multi-academy trusts (CMATs), representing 44 CMAT CEOs from all English dioceses, more than 600 schools, 250,000 students, 20,000 staff, and is the largest network of academies in the country. It delivers continuing professional development in collaboration with the four Catholic universities on behalf of Formatio.

Find out more about Formatio

Friday 24 January will be the launch day for schools to mark the year of Jubilee in 2025, the Catholic Education Service Chairman has said. 

The Rt. Rev. Marcus Stock, Bishop of Leeds and CES Chairman, has written to diocesan schools commissions informing them of the date Catholic schools and colleges can come together and celebrate the launch of the Jubilee next year. 

There will be an opportunity to make a Jubilee Pledge, for the common good, to advance justice and harmony, and an invitation for schools and colleges to refresh and renew their mission statements.

In his letter Bishop Marcus writes: “The theme of Jubilee 2025 is Hope, the hope that comes from knowing we are loved by God, the hope we can bring to those in most need, and the hope we can bring to our common home, the earth. 

“There will be opportunities for the whole school community to experience the joy of sharing their faith in prayer and worship, and take action together as pilgrims of hope “in service to God’s kingdom of love, justice and peace.”

He also refers in the letter to a forthcoming framework for schools to celebrate the Jubilee year alongside any related diocesan plans. 

The framework is being produced by the CES, CAFOD, and Caritas Social Action Network with support from Cymfed, and will enable the Catholic education sector to mark together the Holy Year as a significant and memorable moment in the lives of children and young people. 

Read Jubilee Year 2025: Pilgrims of Hope – a letter from the CES Chairman, the Rt. Rev. Marcus Stock

More than 150 students and teachers of Catholic schools from across the country gathered to hear how Catholic Social Teaching has been put into practice in education. 

The 2 July event took place at the Church of the Holy Apostles Parish Hall, Pimlico, and also saw the launch of a community organising handbook, published by charity Citizens UK and featuring the schools’ work. 

Welcoming speeches were made by the His Eminence Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster; Raymond Friel, Chief Executive of Caritas Social Action Network; and Anita Motha, Chief Executive of Catholic youth charity Million Minutes.

Students at Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Hove, in the Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton, explained how they successfully campaigned against a Coptic Christian pupil being deported to South Sudan. After their efforts appeared in a local newspaper and television news bulletins, lawyers offered support and the Home Office reversed its decision. 

The students also secured a pilot project of school-based mental health counselling for Year 9s across Brighton and Hove, after approaching the local council. 

Gráinne Byrd, Director of Faith and Ethos at Cardinal Newman, said: “A recurring motif in Cardinal Newman Catholic School’s involvement with Citizens UK is the repeated call to be ‘light in the darkness’. Working together collaboratively, we have challenged decision makers to be that light.” 

St Thomas More Catholic High School students, in North Shields, Hexham and Newcastle Diocese, discovered that Arriva buses, unlike other bus companies in areas nearby, were charging them adult fares.    

They participated in transport consultations, also persuading the then-Mayor of the North of Tyne Combined Authority to support the campaign. They dressed in their parents’ work clothes, sang songs and marched peacefully, meeting with Arriva, and ultimately a £1 fare was announced for all under-22s in the region. 

Wimbledon College, in the Archdiocese of Southwark, identified mental health as an important issue that emerged during Merton Citizens assembly meetings with schools and churches. They organised a mental health summit with local decision-makers, eventually securing more NHS youth mental health funding in their area, trained mental health ambassadors, and ‘be well hubs’ across south London. 

St Bonaventure’s Catholic Secondary School, Forest Gate, in the Diocese of Brentwood, had long been served by inadequately-timed and overcrowded bus services. A group of Year 8 students hosted a meeting for bus companies and Transport for London (TfL) representatives, and timetables were swiftly improved.  

After some of their peers had been fined, students also raised the issue of training for drivers and a bus company regarding regulations around travel with lost or damaged travel cards, with positive results.   

At St Antony’s Catholic Primary School, also in Forest Gate and the Diocese of Brentwood, pupils decided to campaign on the issue of low pay. They wrote a song, and performed it in front of management from London City Airport, a major employer in the area, persuading them to become an accredited Living Wage employer.The school was then able to successfully influence other big local employers to do likewise, such as Tate and Lyle Sugars, Newham Council, and ExCeL London. 

St Clare’s Catholic Primary School, Handsworth, in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, worked together with across the city to develop a five-step plan to help tackle discrimination and appreciate each other’s differences. They are now working on a video to share their work with others and to support Year 6 and Year 7 transition. 

Cardinal Nichols said: “This work, from my point of view, really does have to spring from our faith.

"Human dignity does not depend on any human authority, it is innate, it comes first because each person is made in the image and likeness of God.”

Catholic Social Teaching is based on the encyclicals of current and former Popes, and principles such as solidarity and subsidiarity, to provide a framework for contemporary practical application. 

Download Called To Action: Catholic Social Teaching and Community Organising in Schools and Colleges

The Formatio partnership supports dioceses, Catholic universities, Catholic Multi Academy Trusts (CMATs) and the CES in implementing strategies for Catholic school leadership and governance, as commissioned by the Bishops in 2017.  

Its strategic priorities are teacher recruitment, particularly in Religious Education, as well as developing Catholic leadership and the training of multi-academy trust (MAT) staff. Formatio is made up of four regional hubs comprising the dioceses, CMATs and the four Catholic universities.

Mike Shorten (pictured) is Chief Executive Officer of Bishop Hogarth Catholic Education Trust, which oversees 35 schools in the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle. He is a founding member of Formatio, joining as a trustee when it was first established.

At the time he was headteacher of Carmel College, in Darlington, where in 1999 he set up the Carmel Teacher Training Partnership (CTTP), an Initial Teacher Training provider which has worked with Leeds Trinity and St Mary’s universities for PGCE provision.

‘Growing our own’

He said: “We felt we couldn't keep on complaining about how there weren't enough teachers unless we did something about it, we needed to grow our own.”

Keeping in touch with sixth form students through their degree is important, Mike said, as well as giving them jobs and internships in between university semesters.

“So rather than stacking shelves at Tesco's they could be coming in and working with Key Stage 3 children and getting a real taste of it, but this needs to be funded,” he said.

“The RE teachers of the next five years are currently in Catholic schools, everyone knows they're not coming from anywhere else, so they're a captive audience.

“As a sector we should be systematically promoting the role of being an RE teacher in the subject, and thinking about what that looks like with careers programs for 13- and 14-year-olds, A level and GCSE RE students.

“We also need to make it more appealing for them to think of teaching as a career either immediately after a degree or maybe later in life as a career changer. There's got to be a different view of teaching always being for people as a vocation for life, in the current climate it's very unusual for people to have a single career throughout their life.”

Developing new leadership

Through Formatio Mike also set up the National Catholic Leadership Programme. This initiative, for the formation and recruitment of headteachers, was piloted by the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle and has since been rolled out to others.

Bishop Hogarth offers staff development opportunities to move around within its network of schools, for instance by offering secondments to senior leaders for a month, term or year, and with in-house leadership training that includes Catholic Social Teaching, ethics and character development.

Mike explained how one of the benefits of being in a trust was the support of new headteachers. New headteachers are supported through the Ofsted process by experienced staff, in person while the inspection team is at the school — reducing the barriers to leadership and encouraging deputies to become headteachers.

Non-Catholic CMAT staff in senior non-reserved posts such as in HR, IT or finance, are also trained in running a large organisation from a Catholic perspective.

Opportunities for students and staff

The CMAT system offers opportunities beyond what can be provided by a standalone school buying in local authority support, Mike said. He gave the example of Bishop Hogarth schools’ debating societies, where students don’t just compete with their classmates, but against other schools across the CMAT.

“There's nothing better than developing that strength of character, that confidence and resilience to be able to argue your point with somebody, it can be life-changing.

“And we can do that with sport, music, and for pupil premium children, opportunities they wouldn't have had otherwise.”

Similarly, he is also passionate about the continuity of curriculum possible in a CMAT system. He said different primary schools teaching languages like French, Spanish or German would ultimately feed into a secondary where pupils then start from scratch with a new curriculum.

“You start with four-year-olds and teach the same language curriculum right through to age 11, they join secondary school and it just carries on.

“Having continuity of curriculum, for geography, history, for science and maths, where it flows through, that’s just common sense, with potentially stunning outcomes.”

A bright future

It’s not just through Formatio that Mike has made connections with Catholic universities, but also around the world.

Ten undergraduates from a Catholic university in Australia have recently been teaching in Bishop Hogarth schools as part of a work placement scheme.

He said: “In future some of them can say ‘you know what, we want to come back and teach in your schools’, all of them are Catholic, and suddenly we've got a new pipeline. Some of them want to be RE teachers , therefore coming through and feeding into our system.”

Ultimately, with nearly half of Catholic schools now academies, Mike sees the CMAT system as a permanent fixture in the education sector, and one having a future bright with potential.

“There are exciting times to come, I am confident it will protect Catholic education, where will it lead us? That depends on if we are brave enough to take the chances when the opportunities arise.”

Find out more about Formatio