Withywood Priest Supports St Pius X School

23 January 2009

Father Michael Healy, Parish Priest of St Pius X in Withywood, Bristol has spoken about Bristol City Council’s plan to close St Pius X Catholic Primary School.

Father Michael said: “My role as Parish Priest of St Pius X in Withywood means I am a frequent visitor to St Pius X Primary School.  My commitment to the pastoral care and support of pupils and staff gives me a wonderful insight into the life of this thriving school.

“I believe firmly that a faith school of this sterling character is a great asset to the whole community.  This opinion is strongly endorsed by the other local churches.  When I am in school, the atmosphere and spirit of the pupils and staff together with their hard work convince me St Pius X Primary is need now more than ever.  It really must continue to grow and the children allowed to flourish.”

Yesterday (22 January) this week the pupils at St Pius had their say.

Ian McNiff, Director of the Clifton Diocese Department for Schools and Colleges, issued a recent statement as reported on cliftondiocese.com earlier this week.

Previously Bishop Declan had expressed his view that St Pius should not be closed by Bristol City Council.

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23 January 2009

As a previous Parish Priest at St Pius I am aware of the vital role played by the school in the local community. To suggest that parents will send their children to the school at Knowle is, I am sure, a false expectation. There is no community link between the two areas and I know of no parents during my five and a half years there who chose to send their child to the other Catholic school.

St Pius school has always provided a service to the local community for parents, in many cases not Catholics, who were looking for a school where there was a good ethical and moral standard taught and where classroom discipline was maintained.

I remember we had great success with many children who had special needs of one type or another who had found difficulty in other schools but responded well in a smaller community. We were also able to provide support to children of Traveler families whose education lacked continuity because of the very nature of their lifestyle which took them around the country.

It was always a pleasure to find parents who had attended the school themselves who wanted their own children to receive the same educational experience they had. Even during the time when the school was in special measures most parents remained very supportive of the school and the success in getting out of special measures was due to the efforts of staff, governors, pupils and parents working together with a single aim.

I was very proud to have an active role in the life of the school and closure would leave many families deprived of a school they value. The school played an important part in the life of the Church as well and I still remember baptising some 16 children from seven families on a single Sunday and this was a direct result of children in the school asking to become active members of the Catholic Church. Three of those families had no previous connections with the Catholic Church and yet by the time I left most of those parents had also become members of the Catholic Church themselves. Truly the community, school and church working together – as it should be. This area has had its problems, and many still have difficult lives, to take away the choice of schools in this area would be a disgrace.

Fr Keith Miles , Gloucester