A well-intentioned teacher still needs a lesson prepared; a governing body still needs to ask the right questions. This reading list gathers practical resources for school leaders, teachers and governors. It complements the Church-teaching guide rather than replacing it.
The opening selection was prompted by NAPCIS’s Resources for Schools. Most entries originate in the United States. We identify the provider and context so readers can distinguish educational ideas worth considering from arrangements that depend on a particular school system.
NAPCIS: Resources for Schools
United States • Independent Catholic school association
A useful directory spanning Catholic identity, curriculum providers, school development and professional formation. It is a starting point for investigation rather than a single programme to adopt.
Use with judgement: Useful for discovering specialist organisations; check each provider separately.
Principles of Catholic Identity
United States • Cardinal Newman Society
A concise framework derived from Church documents, with source references. It can help a staff or governing body organise a discussion of mission, formation and the relationship between faith and learning.
Use with judgement: A private organisation’s synthesis; read alongside the original Vatican texts.
Catholic Curriculum Standards
United States • Cardinal Newman Society
A curriculum resource for considering how Catholic educational aims inform academic subjects. Use it to prompt departmental discussion and examine assumptions about what a subject is for.
Use with judgement: Adapt to the pupils’ ages, the actual examination syllabus and the local curriculum.
Sample lesson plans
United States • Cardinal Newman Society
Examples accompanying Catholic curriculum work. A concrete lesson can be more useful than a general statement: look at the text chosen, the question asked and the response expected from pupils.
Use with judgement: Examples for professional judgement, rather than ready-made requirements for every school.
Sophia Teachers
United States • Teacher-support organisation
A source of Catholic teaching materials and formation opportunities. Browse the current provision by subject and age before deciding what fits a class or staff-development need.
Use with judgement: Resource availability, registration requirements and prices should be checked with the provider.
Chesterton Schools Network
United States and network partners • School network
An example of an organised approach to Catholic classical secondary education and school development. Its own materials explain its educational model and network arrangements.
Use with judgement: An institutional model to study, not a claim that its arrangements transfer unchanged to another country.
Using a resource well
Bring one useful idea to a department meeting and try it against an actual lesson. For a governing body, begin with one question of mission or responsibility. Keep the original source attached so that colleagues can check what is being proposed. A resource earns its place by helping us teach and lead more thoughtfully.
Employment, admissions, safeguarding and other policies must be developed for the school’s own legal and ecclesial setting; an American sample should not simply be copied into a French or British handbook. These professional resources are not presented as Vatican documents, official diocesan policy or universal requirements.
Selected links checked 6 November 2026. Inclusion identifies a potentially useful source; it does not constitute a review of every product or service the provider offers.
