Parents at the Cardinal Vaughan School say they will take their cause to the Education Secretary

BY ED WEST
PARENTS at Cardinal Vaughan School have lost their appeal against the Archdiocese of Westminster after the Court of Appeal ruled that the diocese acted lawfully over the appointment of trustees to the west London comprehensive.
The court, in a majority udgment on the governing body of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, ruled that the diocese acted within the law when it refused to reappoint two parents as foundation governors. The judges also ruled that the appointment of Paul Barber, the diocesan education director, to the schools’ governing body was legal.
The Vaughan Parents’ Action Group described the udgment as disappointing.
Anna Brown, chairman of the group, said: “Obviously the parents are very disappointed. But if the archbishop and his representatives are celebrating today, they are celebrating their cynical exploitation of a loophole in the law, which has allowed them to ensure that parents are not given proper representation on the governing body. This is not something to celebrate. They should actually be ashamed of themselves.
“The importance of the role of parents in their children’s education is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the teaching of the Catholic Church, but the Diocese of Westminster seems to take a different view.
“We will now be asking the Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, to begin a process of change to the law because this judgment leaves voluntary-aided schools potentially at the mercy of unscrupulous trustees and threatens to disenfranchise the very parents Mr Gove is so keen to see involved in the running of schools.” The Vaughan, in Kensington, is one of the most successful comprehensives in England, and also has a very good record on children from disadvantaged backgrounds. The dispute began in December 2009 when the archdiocese took the unprecedented step of reporting the Vaughan to the Schools’ Adjudicator over its admissions policy. The heavily oversubscribed school, which has to turn down five out of every six applications, asks that parents are involved in two Catholic activities as well as attending Mass. The archdiocese insists that baptism is enough, and wants school admissions to be decided by geography, something parents say will make the school more, not less, exclusive.
Parents at the school set up the action group in order to support the elected parent governors. It was the five elected parent governors who brought the legal action against the diocese. Of particular concern to them was the diocese’s refusal to appoint parent-governors and the appointment of Paul Barber, the diocese’s own director of education. But the judges agreed by a majority of two to one that the governing body had been constituted according to the law.
After the ruling one of the judges, Sir Richard Buxton, said the decision to drag the conflict through the courts represented a “drain on public resources” and insisted it should have been resolved in private.
The dispute has grown increasingly bitter. Earlier this month parents and children attending a vigil outside a meeting of governors witnessed Mgr Jim Curry, one of the diocese’s appointees, raising his voice to acting headmaster Charles Eynaud. Mr Eynaud is the favourite choice of the parents’ group, but there are fears that the new governors will appoint a new headmaster and instigate radical changes to the school Mrs Brown said: “The timing of this stacking of the governing body with diocesan placemen is no coincidence. Appointing a new head is the most serious task any governing body ever faces because the head dictates the future direction of the school. We find it shocking that the diocese wants to prevent parents playing their full part in this process.” She said the group was determined to “leave no stone unturned, to take this campaign wherever it needs to go to hold fast that which is good at the Vaughan and to save Catholic education for our children and for our children’s children”.
The Diocese of Westminster welcomed the ruling. Auxiliary Bishop George Stack, chairman of the archdiocese’s education commission, said the ruling “shows that the diocese has acted responsibly and within the law. The diocese being the trustee and provider of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School, it is for the archbishop to appoint foundation governors as a majority. Foundation governors have the specific responsibility of preserving and developing the Catholic character of the school, as judged by the diocesan bishop. The Appeal Court has confirmed that the Diocese of Westminster has fulfilled this responsibility properly.” The bishop added: “After two court hearings, both of which have found in favour of the Diocese of Westminster, it is now time for all involved in the life of the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School to look to the future. The governing body is continuing in its task of governing the school and has now established admission criteria for the 2012-2013 academic year. In the light of this judgment and the progress being made by the governing body, I encourage parents who have the best interest of the school in mind to give their support to the governing body in its important work.” Among the patrons of the parents’ action group are the former headmaster Michael Gormally, novelist Piers Paul Read, Lord Alton of Liverpool and Edward Leigh, the Conservative MP.
Lord Alton said: “I think it’s a great sadness that the situation has got to this point at all. The sooner it is resolved, the better. I don’t think court cases, are the best way. What is needed is quiet arbitration. I’m loathe to add anything that will fuel the flames. What is now needed is a spirit of reconciliation.”