Acknowledgements I wish to thank Professor Peter Earley and Professor Gerald Grace, my supervisors, together with Dr Paddy Walsh for their critical friendship and encouragement throughout the research period. I also thank my wife, Nellie for her patience and understanding. I was also fortunate in having the support of my daughter, Mary O’Hara, son-in-law Declan and grandchildren Marie, Annie and Eoin. My son David was a great help with discussions on legal matters. The whole family was supportive and encouraging. I thank Mrs Marita Hammond, a family friend, who deciphered my handwriting and speedily word-processed the script. Finally, I owe a great debt, as an octogenarian, to relatives now deceased. From being a homeless child in the Blitz on London in 1940, through childhood and to manhood, I had great support in study and pursuing a successful career. Thank you. Annex Salient features of leadership revealed in the thesis Of the many aspects of leadership exhibited by the Head Teacher cum Executive Head (Head) of the federated school who has emerged as the central driving force in the case study, the following appear to be most important and capable of application generally for any Head or, indeed, any teacher. In order of importance: a) Moral purpose and ethical actions b) Adaptability and flexibility c) Putting vision into practice a) Moral purpose and ethical actions To act morally is considered by many as a virtue (Pring 2015, p.183). A virtue is defined as a disposition, deep and enduring which involves a person to pursue a course of action, despite the difficulties and challenges, which the person considers to be good and appropriate (ibid). Having integrity and being trusted should be the hallmark of all who wish to promote the common good. In this study the Head’s deep and enduring disposition over the years covered in the thesis was motivated by her Catholic/Christian faith. This is exemplified in her sworn evidence to the High Court ‘to protect, care for and educate the marginalised and under-privileged members of the community in a safe and secure environment’ (thesis p.124). To achieve her vision she had endured a gun pointed at her, poison pen letters threatening death, vandalism to the school buildings and a burning car rammed at the school fence (thesis pp.105- 107). Taken as a whole, the research study may be said to give an insight into ‘the secret garden known only to the cognoscenti,’ i.e. Catholic education (Grace 2002, thesis p.16) and induce others to further explore that garden. Ethically, the Head was open with all in what she wished to accomplish, despite the known divisions within the local communities in the borough which had led to racial tensions and street violence (Gardiner 1995, thesis p.36) and which posed a real danger to her (thesis pp.105-107). In her many meetings i with councillors, officials and local people nothing was concealed (thesis pp.77-82, 89-97,116-122). Her openness with the Civil Servants conceivably led to parts of the Education Act 2002 and the 2007 Regulations that now legally enshrine cooperative arrangements between educational institutions across the maintained sector of pre-university education (thesis pp. 195-196) and are advocated nationally. b) Adaptability and Flexibility In her leadership functions the Head exhibited a remarkable degree of adaptability to new situations. She and the Chief Education Officer (CEO) exercised high degrees of flexibility in meeting the tensions that arose throughout the period studied. Teamwork was essential to cope with the rapidly changing circumstances. Importantly within the school, the Head, by her leadership motivated the staff to act flexibly and adapt to work as buildings were demolished and new ones built. A significant contribution to this was the collective approach to professional development (CPD) (Earley, 2005 p.228, thesis pp.90-97). All were encouraged to work flexibly and be responsible for their CPD, but to work as a team, learning from each other in the swiftly moving processes between 2000 and 2010. In putting forward her vision for a new boys’ school to the CEO (thesis p.81) and accepting the administrative compromises offered by the DfE (thesis p.84- 85), the Head adapted to the changing situations by acting flexibly in devising new management and financial procedures enabling effective and efficient teaching and learning across the proposed new boys’ school and the existing girls’ school (thesis p.86-88). In all spheres of life, particularly in teaching where one is responsible for the future of the young, adaptability and flexibility are signs of intelligent leadership qualities. Riley (2013b, p.272 fig.1, thesis p.179) refers to a ‘theory of action in creating a shared community, central to which is a sense of trust’. It was the sense of trust throughout the school which was key to the Head’s successful ability to act with adaptability and flexibility in not only developing the new boys’ school, but a neighbourhood school complex. ii c) Putting the vision into practice A vision can be described as a perception of future developments. Although care has been taken to set the empirical work within philosophical/theoretical concepts as befits an academic study, it was the actions of human beings, noting their personal development throughout the period, which was important (Pring 2004, pp.16-18, thesis p.16). The individuals may be accurately described as ‘looking to the future with creativity and imagination’ (Pope Francis 2014, thesis p.16). The research reveals how quickly the Head of the girls’ school met with the CEO after the agreement with the Bishop in 2000; how rapidly the CEO contacted the DfE and speedily received a reply that suggested a compromise by which the proposed new boys’ school could be created, because the legislation did not permit the two schools to have one governing body and a single Head Teacher as desired. The DfE’s guidance was a human solution to overcoming a legal problem. Thus, in terms of changes and reform of the system of Catholic secondary education in Tower Hamlets, Riley’s ‘levers of change’ (Riley 2005, p.118, thesis p.43) had been activated enabling the new boys’ school to be created and opened in 2001. A trusting relationship between policy makers is important in enhancing community cohesion (Riley 2013b, thesis p179); this is a feature in the empirical research. A further example of the crucial relationship between policy makers is demonstrated in the thesis (pp. 152 and 153) when the second visit from the DfE Civil Servants resulted in the £30million project approval enabling the vision to expand the Learning Village and to manage a significant part of the local authority’s Youth and Community Service in a predominantly Muslim part of the borough (thesis pp.137-148). Earley (2013 p.13, thesis p.161) has observed the evolving school landscape from 2002-2012, which in this study, by her membership of the governing body, the Head played an important part. Due to her vision external evaluations show the school to have been an outstanding success over the ten years studied (thesis pp.181-190; Endnote 4, p.220 and Appendix 8). iii CATHOLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY RELATIONS: A Case Study in East London 2000-2010 DANIEL JOSEPH REGAN UCL Institute of Education PhD 1 I, Daniel Joseph Regan confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that it has been indicated in the thesis. Word count (exclusive of annex, appendices, list of reference and bibliography): 77,579 words 2 ABSTRACT This thesis is a case study of Catholic secondary school provision in the Inner London Borough of Tower Hamlets during the period 2000-2010. Its main emphasis is on the school/community relations during the period, indicating the Church’s concern to promote community cohesion while maintaining high standards of education, particularly in an inner-city borough noted for its areas of extreme poverty and the diversity of its immigrant population. By working collaboratively with the statutory authorities, the governors of the existing Catholic girls’ secondary school and its diocese initiated the original idea of school federation to provide for the boys when the local Catholic boys’ school was perceived to have failed. Due to the success of this initiative, the concept gained approval in the Education Act 2002 and is now a significant part of national education policy. The federation was followed by developing a learning village in an urban setting enabling the use of the school’s new education, social and sporting facilities by all communities in the area when new buildings became available. A partnership with the local authority ensued whereby the Catholic school managed a large part of the authority’s youth and community programme, including outreach provision and training for youth leaders, extending use of the learning village and facilitating co-operation with other community organisations. The study considers the school’s leadership in the difficult circumstances of rebuilding. It overcome external problems of death threats to staff, vandalism, a major burglary, a High Court trial initiated by a small group opposed to the school’s policies of inclusion and finally, the bankruptcy of the main building contractor near to the end of the £40 million contract. The study, underpinned with aspects of theory, may form a distinctive contribution to the advancement of community cohesion and educational provision, particularly