Abstract
Over recent decades, much has been achieved in developing Catholic school religious programmes, chaplaincy and community life but the ordinary curriculum now needs to be the focus of the school's Catholic ethos. The International Baccalaureate shows the structure by which an educational vision can explicitly inform a school's core curriculum. Using the IB structure, but with different content, Catholic schools can place the call of Christ at the heart of every subject area. In an appendix, a Catholic school leader describes how her school has set about implementing this vision in practice.
Notes
1. In England and Wales, Voluntary-Aided Schools are owned by a diocese or religious congregation but the running costs and 95% of the capital costs are funded by government.
2. The majority of schools in the UK administered by religious congregations now have lay principals. In citing reasons for choosing a school, teachers, parent and students often echo the human development characteristics of the school's mission statement.
3. In the UK, this was symbolised by the State Visit of Pope Benedict XVI in 2010.
4. Boylan (Citation2007, p. 20).
5. See also Grace (Citation2010, pp. 117–128).
6. Grace (Citation2002, pp. 45–46).
7. This reform introduced a further tier of public examinations at the end of a student's penultimate year in secondary school (in the US, the junior year).
8. For more information about the IB, visit www.ibo.org.
9. In the National Curriculum in England & Wales for ages 5 to 16, there are four Key Stages, at the end of each of which there is mandatory assessment.
10. This article is based on a presentation made originally to headteachers, teachers and governors in the Dioceses of Birmingham, Nottingham, Portsmouth and Westminster during 2010/2011.