Go-ahead for joint school

by Murray White PLANS to set up only the second joint Catholic/Church of England primary school in the country were given a crucial green light this week.
A new £1 million school, proposed for the Croxteth Park estate in Liverpool, will provide "an exciting and dynamic model for future co-operation in other areas," believe authorities.
On Tuesday, Liverpool City Councillors gave their approval in principle for the school. whose staff, pupils and governors will be drawn equally from the Catholic and Anglican Churches. A spokesman for the council said the project would be backed, provided that the Catholic archdiocese undertook to remove surplus places at nearby St Swithin's School. A welcome fillip for the local Catholic archdiocese and Anglican diocese has been the offer by developer Ideal Homes to provide the land free of charge and pay £150,000 towards the building costs.
Liverpool's Catholic Director of Schools, Bob Newman, said there needed to be "further discussions on the details before we are in a position to approach the Department for Education".
Both dioceses will advise on RE curriculum content, and catechetical education, including preparation for first communion and confession, will take place in local parishes. The proposal by the two dioceses said: "Care should be taken lest the children be introduced at school to collective worship contrary to the practice in their home parishes." There are 11 joint schools in England and Wales, ten of them secondary schools.