HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD CATHOLIC SCHOOL (Letter printed in 'NZ Catholic', February 8)

  Tom Gerrard of Rosmini College, retiring as New Zealand’s longest-serving secondary school principal (NZ Catholic, November 16), says there are two ways to choose a good school for your children.

The first, he suggests, is to check a school is doing well academically and culturally. In view of the fact that, as Dan Stollenwerk points out in a letter on the facing page of the same issue, the only reason for a Catholic school’s existence is to witness to Jesus, prospective parents must surely first of all assess the school’s level of participation in the Eucharist, and its Christian witness in the community.

    The second question to ask, Gerrard says, is how are old boys doing 10 years out? As there’s no other objective measure of love for Christ and his Church, he must mean parents should ask if those old boys are attending Mass and receiving the Sacraments.