Tom Riordan, chief executive of Leeds City Council said:

"We are aware of the serious incident at Corpus Christi Catholic College this morning and our thoughts are with all those concerned.

"We are working with the school to support pupils and staff at this very upsetting time. We wish to reassure people that this was an isolated incident and there is no ongoing risk to pupils or staff at the school.

"We are working closely with the police and helping with their investigation."

A spokesman for the Diocese of Leeds added:

"The thoughts of all of the Diocese are with the families involved – all is being done to give support to all those involved"

The Catholic Education Service said:

"Our thoughts and prayers are with the community of Corpus Christi Catholic College at this sad time."

Press Release- 30th January 2014

The Catholic Education Service (CES) is encouraging schools and parishes to use Education Sunday 2014 as a time to come together and celebrate the success and achievements of Catholic education.

Education Sunday will take place on the 16th February following the theme 'Going Above and Beyond'. Education Sunday provides an opportunity to give thanks for all those in our communities who go 'above and beyond' to work so hard in and for Catholic schools and colleges across the country.

Paul Barber, Director of the CES said, "The Catholic Church is proud of its nationwide network of schools and the contribution they make to our communities. It is therefore important to pay tribute to the many teachers, leaders, support staff and governors, without whose dedicated commitment it would be impossible for us to provide such a service to society."

Education Sunday is also an opportunity to strengthen the links between schools and parishes, so that both are able to continually share in the success of Catholic Education.

Bishop Malcolm McMahon OP, Chairman of the CES said, "I hope and pray that, as we celebrate the work of our Catholic schools, our schools and the parishes which they serve will draw even closer together, since both are one family, called to give glory to God and work for the common good of the wider community."

The CES has produced a collection of resources, including prayer and worship ideas, to assist schools and parishes in their Education Sunday celebrations.
The resources are available to download from the CES website www.catholiceducation.org.uk and include: Mass and Liturgy booklets, a letter from Bishop Malcolm McMahon OP, Prayer cards and a Catholic education information leaflet.

For over a century Education Sunday has been part of an ecumenical initiative in which the Catholic Church participates. Education Sunday is a national day of celebration for all those involved in in the world of education and is held on the ninth Sunday before Easter.

ENDS

For more information please contact:
Alexandra Jarvis
Public Affairs Officer
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
0207 901 1904

Notes to Editor
• The Education Sunday 2014 theme was devised by an ecumenical steering group co-ordinated by the Churches Together in England.
• The Catholic Education Service (CES) is an agency of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW).
• Ecumenical resources are available to download from www.educationsunday.co.uk

Statistics
• The Catholic Church is the largest provider of secondary schools, and second largest provider of primary schools (behind the Church of England) in the country.
• Catholic schools funded jointly by the State and the Church make up 10% of the total maintained sector in England and Wales.
• Catholic maintained schools in England employ 46,664 teachers, 37,263 support staff and educate 770, 83 pupils.

Press Release - 6th November 2013

More than 2100 Catholic schools are being encouraged and supported to turn their schools into a Living Wage employer, following a resolution passed by the Catholic Bishops' Conference. The resolution has sparked a landmark agreement between UNISON, the UK's largest union, and the Catholic Education Service of England and Wales (CES) to celebrate Living Wage Week (4 – 8 November). The schools are being given a step-by-step implementation plan produced by the union, covering both directly employed and contracted out staff to help them win Living Wage accreditation.

The 2012 Living Wage resolution recognised "that fair wages are essential to the common good of our society. In accordance with Catholic social teaching, and as part of its mission to support the poor and vulnerable, the Bishops' Conference fully endorses the principle of the Living Wage and encourages Catholic organisations and charities in England and Wales to work towards its implementation."

This year, UNISON's evidence to the Low Pay Commission included testimonies from low paid workers across the country, highlighting the misery and stress on millions of families struggling to cope on poverty wages.

In addition to encouraging schools to pay the Living Wage, the CES have produced school resources on the Living Wage for use in the classroom and the wider Catholic community.

Dave Prentis, General Secretary of UNISON said:

"I am delighted that UNISON is working so closely with the Catholic Education Service to encourage schools to pay the living wage. Times are tough and low paid workers are struggling under the burden of rising prices for basics like food and fuel.

"Schools and heads are under a lot of pressure and that is why UNISON wants to make it easier for them to win Living Wage accreditation by producing a step-by-step guide. Having that accreditation sends out a strong message that this school is one that takes its responsibilities to its staff and the wider community seriously."

Paul Barber, Director of the Catholic Education Service said:

"The Living Wage is an inherently Catholic concept and the importance of paying a just wage to the worker and their family can be found in Catholic Social Teaching for over a century.

Our online resources examine the Catholic Social Teaching behind this family wage as well as providing practical steps to becoming a Living Wage employer.

"I congratulate those Catholic schools, colleges and universities who are already Living Wage employers and thank them for the great example they set us in their work for the Common Good."

Notes to Editors

The new Living Wage rate for outside London is £7.65 per hour and is set by Loughborough University using Minimum Income Standard methodology developed by the Family Budget Unit and funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation;
The London Living Wage (LLW) is set by Greater London Authority (GLA) and is £8.80 per hour.
The Living Wage Resources can be found at www.catholiceducation.org.uk

In the last few days, Heythrop College has received copies of decrees of the Congregation for Catholic Education dated 17 September 2013 re-activating the ecclesiastical faculties of Philosophy and Theology.

Since the 1920s, Heythrop has been dedicated to St Robert Bellarmine, the sixteenth century Italian Jesuit, Cardinal and Doctor of the Church. The ecclesiastical faculties together form a specialist institute of the College known as the "Bellarmine Institute". The decrees were signed on St Robert Bellarmine's feast day.

The ecclesiastical faculties were first approved almost 50 years ago in November 1964 when the College was located near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire. On joining the University of London in 1970, the College focussed on the award of University degrees rather than on teaching for ecclesiastical programmes and the ecclesiastical faculties have since then been in suspension.

More recently, those in the Heythrop student body preparing for the Catholic priesthood and engaged in ministry, who are an increasingly international group, have looked for civil and also church qualifications which enable them to teach in seminaries and Catholic universities. Consequently, the College has for some years offered the 60 or so Jesuit scholastics, seminarians and members of other religious congregations studying for the priesthood, the opportunity to prepare for an ecclesiastical bachelors degree (STB) in conjunction with the University of London Bachelor of Divinity (BD) programme. This has been possible through an arrangement with the Catholic University in Leuven and the Westminster diocesan seminary, Allen Hall.

Success with this initiative led the College to investigate how it might be extended. Now the faculties have been revived, students will be able to study for ecclesiastical bachelors (STB, BacPhil), licentiate (STL, PhL) and for doctoral degrees in Theology (STD) and Philosophy (PhD) in conjunction with degrees of the University of London.

The work of the Bellarmine Institute will be informed by responsible scholarship, fidelity to God's Word and the teaching of the Catholic Church. All programmes of the ecclesiastical faculties will be subject to the College's full quality assurance procedures.

A ceremony to mark the re-opening of the faculties will take place in January 2014.

Archbishop Nichols, the Patron of the Bellarmine Institute and Visitor of Heythrop College, University of London commented: "I am delighted that Heythrop College will once again be offering the full range of ecclesiastical qualifications alongside its existing University of London degrees. This development will give new opportunities to those training for the priesthood and those already in ministry to study for ecclesiastical licentiate and doctoral degrees in philosophy and theology."

Fr Michael Holman SJ, the Principal of Heythrop College said, "The mission of Heythrop College is to serve the Church and the common good. The additional ecclesiastical programmes and qualifications will enable the College to be of greater service to those engaged in ministry not only in this country but also overseas and that pleases us very much, not least as we celebrate the 400th anniversary of our foundation."

Contact: Michael Holman SJ, Principal, on 020 7795 4203; Elizabeth Thussu, Director of Administration, on 020 7795 4269 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.