INTRO
A good Catholic education offers life-sustaining values, a deeper understanding of all that is best in your culture, and a valuable lifelong network of contacts.
STRUCTURED ENVIRONMENT
More specifically, you get a structured environment and a cadence of routines, wherein you and learning are taken seriously.
VALUES
You are imbued with certain values: respect for your fellow man, a sense of service and reciprocity - not just to God, but you as responsible for your life as well as your duty and responsibilities towards others.
COMMUNITY SERVICE
In the sixth form, we had Friday afternoons as outreach, either service to the country in the Combined Cadet Force, or work with the elderly through the Prince Philip Trust. My school fitted us out for the civil service, bit more than that maybe.
ACADEMIC EXCELLENCE
There was also a strong drive for academic excellence. Not just through rote learning, but through liberal-arts-type discussion and debate, where we explored classical and modern thinking and responses to current affairs and policy dilemmas. That would mean more interesting and well-paid jobs as it's a competitive job market. All done with a curiosity about the world, a great and mad humour, and a feeling of confidence and trust - we believed we could solve these problems and make the world a better place. That was then, our world has collapsed today, and with it our confidence.
SMALL CLASS SIZES
I remember too the small class sizes and the intimacy of the little classrooms, often the teacher's personal bureau or study, where there'd be half a dozen of us seated round his desk.
OUR LIVES HAVE A PURPOSE
The school day was rhythmed with religious ritual, not heavy, but just reminders that we are God's creatures, here for a purpose, which is to glorify Him and his works. Of course, that's absolutely all gone today, but there is still the contrast between the spiritual and the material worlds. We need to feel connected and not just through everyday commercial or administrative transactions. It is the spiritual dimension that gives us connection and a sense of belonging.
NETWORKING
As I was leaving school, I was offered career guidance, not of much use, not well done, but the idea is that you remain part of an influential network, the old school tie, the alumni, with job openings, mentoring, internships, good jobs, partners ... yes, the possibility of partners in life with ready-matched profiles similar to your own ... all from a shared educational background, mutual respect and trust, values and understandings, a common culture, membership of the same community or tribe.
TOP TEN PERCENT
That is what a Catholic day school can do for the child. A quite average school, but much much better than most. I'm sure it is the same in other faith-based schools.
OTHER VIEWPOINTS
1. School Heritage and Expectations
My father and brothers attended the same school in the 1920s, setting high academic expectations for me. However, the 1960s culture and personal challenges like potential ADHD made my experience different.
2. Rebellion and Self-Expression
I struggled with the school's and the Catholic Church's harsh moral teachings. While some kids excelled academically, I found solace in making explosives, influenced by films like "Bridge on the River Kwai" and Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel "A Clockwork Orange".
3. Discipline and Moral Lessons
The school used strict discipline, reserving better treatment for potential Oxbridge candidates while the rest faced corporal punishment. They instilled fear of eternal damnation for natural behaviours, causing me much anxiety.
4. Reflection on Values
Despite my criticisms, the school instilled a sense of morality and values that persistently influence me. My Uncle Leonard, a former priest, often reminds me of a possible future religious reversion.
Glossary of Terms
*Operation Sealion*: A planned German invasion of Britain during World War II.
*ADHD*: Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, a condition marked by inattention and hyperactivity.
*Oxbridge*: Refers to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.
*Guantanamo Bay*: A U.S. military prison known for detaining suspected terrorists.
*Clockwork Orange*: A Clockwork Orange is a 1971 dystopian crime film adapted, produced, and directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on Anthony Burgess's 1962 novel of the same name. It employs disturbing, violent images to comment on psychiatry, juvenile delinquency, youth gangs, and other social, political, and economic subjects in a dystopian near-future Britain.
Further Reading
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