Southwark Report Internals final single

Education Commission
Archbishop Wilson with Southwark school pupils
The Education Commission is
responsible for carrying out the
work of the Archbishop in relation
to over 69,000 pupils attending 165
schools and colleges within the
Archdiocese. We are privileged to
work in collaboration with the staff,
governors, directors and volunteers
in the schools and colleges across
14 local authority areas. 11 of the
schools we work with are in the
Trusteeship of Religious Orders.
Our vision is that all our Catholic schools
should provide an authentically Catholic
education, in a setting in which all children
flourish; governors, leaders and staff are
effectively supported; and where the
quality of education is exemplary. The Covid
pandemic continued to have an impact on
school operations throughout 2021. Leaders,
staff and governors across the diocese
worked tremendously hard to continue to provide excellent
education despite the changing contexts. Leaders and staff
adapted yet again as provision returned to ‘sort of’ normal
operations in the autumn.
We are delighted that SELCAT (South East London Catholic
Academy Trust) became an operational company on 1st
September 2021. Considerable time and effort by lots of
people enabled this project to get to this point. There was a
fabulous launch event at the Cathedral in October 2021.
During the year we made use of virtual meetings to
maintain our regular briefings for Religious Education
leaders. We continued to provide termly ‘drop-in’ sessions
for Headteachers and Chairs of Governors. 2021 was a busy
year for senior leader appointments:
• 15 Headteachers (or equivalent)
• 10 Deputy Headteachers (or equivalent)
• Two Chief Executives of Multi-Academy Trusts within
the diocese
In-person visits to schools were again possible in the
autumn. Between September and December 2021 the
Education Commission team provided a range of activities
to support schools. These included:
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