Apparently the new Chairman of the School Board of Governors, refused permission for the hall to be used and so the vigil had to take place outside in the cold of a February night. I am used to Governors who have a bit more authority about them and can think on their feet. Anyone with an ounce of PR sense would have brought the parents in, fed them with tea and buns and shown just how generous the Board is.....it didn't happen.
WHAT IS MORE, SOME 600, YES, 600, PARENTS AND SUPPORTERS TURNED OUT TO PROTEST AND SING HYMNS IN GOOD CATHOLIC FASHION!
Here is the brief account from the Vaughan Parents' website:-
Candlelit Vigil
We would like to thank the many hundreds of parents and friends of the Vaughan who attended our Candlelit Vigil on a cold evening. We sang hymns and prayed for the good estate of the School. It was a most prayerful and reverential occasion and one that will be remembered for a long time. We had to stand in the street outside the School on a cold night as we were not allowed use of the School Hall on the order of Mr O'Donnell, the Chairman of the Governing Body and Foundation Governor appointed by Bishop Stack and Archbishop Nichols. Although Bishop Stack, the Chairman of the Westminster Diocesan Education Service, found the time to record an interview with the BBC on the day and Archbishop Nichols found the time to issue a statement to the press on the day, it would appear neither had the time to instruct Mr O'Donnell to allow us the use of the School Hall on the day. Could there have been a more telling example of the bullying and deliberate marginalisation of parents by the Diocese than this? |
Next stop Archbishop's House, coincidentally with the arrival of the Papal Nuncio.
ReplyDeleteIf this right Genty, it could tempt me from the wilds of Pembrokeshire to join the ranks.
ReplyDeleteOh-ah. I didn't intend to mislead. It was a tactical suggestion.
ReplyDeleteGenty - I hope the CVS Parent Group takes it up.
ReplyDelete