Having been involved in starting a school from scratch, I know just what an immense task it is to take on such a project. St Peter's International School in France is now in it's second year and actively seeking boys to start in September of this year. You can go to our website to ask for a prospectus:
Enquiry Form — Saint Peter's International College, France (stpetersfr.com)
Closer to home in the UK the Fathers of the FSSP have also also been taking up the challenge of a fully Catholic education. This time for the juniors - both boys and girls.
What a great and hopeful endeavor in these days. Please read below for more details.
Caeli Academy St Mary’s Warrington
Visit www.rcahybrid.org.uk
Whether or not you have children to send now, we would be very glad to meet you at our RCA Warrington Open Day on Saturday 5th March next. We welcome new children, parents, staff and benefactors. Come and meet our staff, parents, children and chaplain.
- 11am: Presentation;
- 12:10pm: Holy Mass with homily on education by Academy Chaplain Fr de Malleray;
- 1pm: Shared lunch and further Q&As.
Please register at www.rcahybrid.org.uk/info.
Even though you might not be present here on 5th March, please sponsor Academy children, making a donation to our St Mary’s Warrington Education Fund – email st.m.ed.trust@gmail.com.
Presentation
The Academy is an essential part of our educational mission. Some of our families have children in ordinary schools. Others are home educators.
Our new picture album is here. (All pictures belong to St Mary’s Warrington Regina Caeli Academy.)
A growing number of parents nationwide are realising that the Catholic faith is not successfully passed on to their children at school. In no few cases, relativism and even immorality are inculcated to the little ones. Unsurprisingly, only a tiny minority of children still practice their Catholic faith in teenage and after.
How then can parents better fulfil their duties as primary educators of their children, they wonder? In conscience, most find that they should no longer send their children in such schools. For various reasons however, many parents rule out homeschooling as beyond their capabilities.
The Academy offers a viable solution: two full days taught by qualified teachers in the classroom, and another two days taught by parents at home following the RCA curriculum and material all laid out for them in advance. This leaves time to the mother for work or other activities, while children benefit from learning as part of a social group two days a week (Mondays and Thursdays). Extracurricular activities are being envisaged at St Mary’s if we have enough children interested, such as dance and football. In addition, parents who so wish can attend our Wednesday Home Education Group. The latter includes shared lunch after our daily 12:10pm Holy Mass, classes taught by a priest and by parents, junior Choir, recreations and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. Some mums also enjoy our Monday morning Toddlers’ Group.
Educating the Saints of Tomorrow
Justin Bozzino, trustee of Regina Caeli Academy UK, presents the Regina Caeli Academies
Solution for Catholic education?
Regina Caeli UK is a centre for home educators enjoying pastoral support from the Fraternity of St. Peter. We meet on Mondays and Thursdays to offer a Classical curriculum to children, delivered by professional teachers in a classroom setting. On the other days of the week, parents receive lesson plans, supply lists and help from the tutors so all the children complete the same curriculum. In that way, we offer a hybrid solution to parents who are attracted to the flexibility of homeschooling but appreciate the community, support and accountability that comes from the academy days.
Regina Caeli UK is an affiliate of Regina Caeli in the USA, which has grown rapidly since its launch in the United States in 2003, and is now operating in 23 locations across the country, with thousands of children educated. The management of Regina Caeli have been extremely generous with their time and resources, and we are able to draw on a great deal of experience, which continues to prove invaluable. In particular, their curriculum, which is designed for the hybrid model, is excellent, and covers not just arts but the sciences too. Thanks to local expertise, we have been able to make the relevant parts more UK focused (think Thomas More rather than Thomas Jefferson).
RCA in the U.K.
A group of parents opened a centre in Bedfordshire in September 2019 and, thanks to the efforts of local laypeople and the FSSP, we opened another in Warrington in September 2021. By the grace of God, both centres are growing and thriving, attracting interest from potential families and tutors alike. In addition many families have moved to both Warrington and Bedfordshire because of the communities building up there, often basing themselves around the FSSP chaplaincies. That provides an ideal “ecosystem” for children, and also their parents, to grow and develop in the Faith.
Catholic chaplaincy
The FSSP provide chaplaincy to both the Bedford and Warrington centres. In Bedford, that means parent formation days, and monthly centre Mass, with altar server training and confessions for children and parents. In Warrington, being located at St. Mary’s shrine, the opportunity for daily prayer is open to RCA pupils, staff and prayer as well as daily Mass once the children are old enough. More generally, the Catholic ethos of the curriculum and all staff mean that children are given an ideal environment in which to flourish.
Qualifications
The Regina Caeli curriculum, along with every other Classical curriculum, follows the American system of examination. So, at the age of 18, pupils will gain a High School diploma and take the SAT tests – both a SAT Reasoning test and, if they wish, one or more Advanced Placement (AP) subject exams. Both SATs and APs are accepted by all major U.K. universities, but there is nothing stopping pupils from also taking UK qualifications should they so wish.
What parents say
Parents say that we give them a community of like-minded educators, providing practical and moral support to equip our children for the world of tomorrow using “the best that has been thought and said.” The children, moreover, appreciate the chance to have “class mates” with whom they can act in plays, play sports, and perform recitals of poetry and music.
What next
We continue to welcome applications to our Bedford and Warrington centres from those who would like to join as parents or as tutors; the deadline for those is 1st May 2022. Should you wish to know more, please get in touch or sign up via the website, www.rcahybrid.org.uk, or follow us on Facebook, where you can see some wonderful videos by the talented Peter Jones of “One of Nine.”
Meanwhile, please do keep the families, staff and trustees in your prayers as we attempt to give these children the very best education possible.
