How is academisation being implemented in Catholic schools?

Photo by CDC on Unsplash

Two foundation governors, each the Chair of Governors of their respective Catholic high schools in Preston, Lancashire, have been removed by the Bishop of Lancaster, the Rt Rev Paul Swarbrick, because their governing bodies failed to reach a decision to convert to academy status within the four week timeframe allowed by the diocese.

The story of what has happened to one of these two schools, Corpus Christi Catholic High School, Preston, provides an insight into how one diocese is implementing its vision for all schools to join a Catholic Multi-Academy Trust.

On 24 February this year, the Diocesan Education Service made a formal request 'for the governing body to vote to commence the academisation process'. The request was being made as part of the 'support response' for another Catholic high school in the diocese. Governors were asked to come together for an extraordinary meeting and then to communicate their decision in writing by no later than 10 March.

It was not possible to arrange an extraordinary meeting at such short notice and the Chair of Governors communicated this to the diocese, explaining that they would consider the request at a meeting on 16 March.

The diocese agreed to this, but made it clear that 'a decision must be made and communicated, in writing, to the Diocesan Schools Commissioner no later than midday on Friday 24 March'.

In an explanatory note, it was made clear that if the diocese did not receive an indication by the stated deadline, it would assume the decision taken was to refuse the request and the Education Service would 'consider its response accordingly'.

When the full governing body met on Wednesday 16 March, the Diocesan Schools Commissioner attended and responded to questions from governors. Given the enormity of the decision that they were being asked to consider and mindful of their responsibility to carry out due diligence as well as their statutory duty to act in the best interests of pupils, governors were not able to reach a decision at this meeting and it was not possible to schedule a further meeting before the imposed deadline of 12 noon on Friday 24 March.

Following the meeting on 16 March, the Chair of Governors wrote to the Diocesan Schools Commissioner explaining that governors had not been able to reach a decision and would now consider the decision at an extraordinary meeting to be held on 10 May, when this would be the only agenda item.

In response to this letter, the Episcopal Vicar for Education and Formation wrote to the Chair of Governors on Wednesday 12 April to inform her that, having discussed the matter with the Bishop, he was giving her notice that her term of office as a foundation governor would end at 12 noon on Friday 14 April.

Although, the Episcopal Vicar referred to what he regarded as the failure of the governing body to act with appropriate urgency in providing a response to a formal request from the diocese, he did not provide any clear statement of why the Chair of Governors specifically was being removed as a foundation governor. There was no opportunity for her to respond, no right of appeal and no timescale for any appeal to be heard by an independent panel.

On the same day, the Chair of Governors of Our Lady's Catholic High School, Preston, was also removed as a foundation governor. He too received no formal explanation of why he specifically was being removed, no opportunity to respond and no right of appeal.

In response to a letter from the retired headteacher of Corpus Christi, David Hubbard, Bishop Marcus Stock, Chair of the Catholic Education Service, has stated that in these circumstances, 'civil law provides that principles of natural justice apply, which means that a fair procedure must be followed, including an opportunity for the foundation governor to state their case'.

However, the Diocese of Lancaster did not follow any procedure when it removed these two foundation governors and, as a result, the reasonableness of the decision has not been tested by an independent appeals panel as required in civil law.

When governors and staff were told about what had happened, they were shocked and deeply upset. The Chairs of Governors of both schools were hard working, deeply committed to serving Catholic education and highly regarded by staff and other governors.

As yet, neither of the two foundation governors has been reinstated.

In the Diocese of Lancaster, a third of the 84 Catholic schools have converted to academy status and joined one of three multi-academy trusts. Governors of the remaining schools were asked in July of this year to submit a pro-forma to the Episcopal Vicar for Education and Formation, stating whether they would or would not 'align with the vision for academisation'.

If a school's governing body was not able to align itself with this vision, they were required to submit in writing any obstacles to conversion and to engage in dialogue with the diocese in order to overcome these obstacles.

The governing bodies of both Corpus Christi and Our Lady's Catholic High Schools have written to the Episcopal Vicar confirming that they are not currently able to align with the vision for academisation or work according to the conversion schedule set out in the academy strategy document. Governors have confirmed that they look forward to working with the diocese to overcome the substantial obstacles that they have identified.

It is likely that other schools in the Diocese of Lancaster have also identified significant obstacles to academy conversion.

However, not all dioceses have approached the issue of academisation in the same way.

In contrast to the approach being pursued by the Diocese of Lancaster, the academisation strategy of the Archdiocese of Liverpool begins with the following statement: 'This strategy is predicated on the basis that schools will not be compelled to become academies and that, in almost all cases, the choice on whether to become an academy rests with each governing body'.

Although academisation is affecting Catholic schools across England, it is clear that it remains highly contentious.