Catholic schools must be inclusive if they are to grow, the outgoing chief inspector of schools tells Peter Stanford

The morning after the night before, Sir Michael Wilshaw really enjoyed his retirement party at the House of Lords, he says. He was especially touched by those former pupils who came along to pay tribute to the difference he had made in their lives as a teacher and headmaster. The soon-to-depart Chief Inspector of Schools is in a mellow, reflective mood after five years in one of the most high-profile jobs in public service, during which he was often at the centre of bitter controversy.

 Not that mellow, though. As we arrange ourselves round the table in his central London office, his press officer – who reveals herself as the niece of a Mother Superior from Northern Ireland – decides that his first interview with The Tablet is a moment to test her boss’s Catholic knowledge. “What feast day is it today?” she asks. Quick as a flash, Sir Michael comes back: “The Feast of the Immaculate Conception.”

I look impressed. “Well, I am the second most influential lay Catholic in Britain, according to your paper,” he jokes, referring to the list of the top 100 lay Catholics published in The Tablet last year, “though I’m not sure if Mark Carney [the Governor of the Bank of England, who pipped him to the top spot] really counts, as he is from Canada.”