While the national debate about faith-based schools continues, the children attending them are not, as opponents of such schools sometimes imagine, compliant believers in a school environment that’s busy manipulating them.

They’re much like all UK children - manipulated by media, fashion, peer group and secularism; quite as likely as their counterparts in non-religion based schools to be sceptical of religions, or to see them as optional beliefs in the attic of the mind. It is only outsiders who might think that Catholic schools have an easy time of it in today’s world.

The Way, the Truth and the Life is an integrated key stage3 resource for Catholic schools comprising pupil and teacher books, audio CD and video, trialled in two dozen schools in the archdiocese of Westminster. A website (www.tere.org) is provided with the aim of exchanging evaluation and feedback ideas arising from use of the materials.

Marcellina Cooney has co-ordinated an impressive array of material in visually attractive texts that explore what Catholic Christianity is and what commitment to it involves. The material is challenging; there is none of that odour of piety that adolescents can find so repugnant. Instead, we are presented with Catholicism as a world church, open to truth in other religions, wanting its children to engage with and discuss the big issues, and not sweeping their questions and criticisms under the carpet.

In these texts, the Catholic Church is in the marketplace of the world, competing with some value systems, co-operating with others, but never expecting to be accepted simply on “authority”. The attainment targets are Learning about the Catholic Faith and Learning from the Catholic Faith. Vatican 2 hits the RE scene here and today’s Catholic children should enjoy.

Terence Copley Terence Copley is professor of religious education at the University of Exeter