The Catholic Education Service of England and Wales (CESEW) has announced the resignation of its director and chief executive Oona Stannard. Ms Stannard, who has been at CESEW for 12 years, has been on leave since November. Fr Marcus Stock, general secretary of the bishops’ conference, has filled in as acting director and will continue to do so until a successor has been found, the statement said. Bishop Malcolm McMahon, chairman of the bishops' Department for Education and Formation, thanked her on behalf of all the English and Welsh bishops. Today's statement paid tribute to her work, saying: "Ms Stannard has skilfully steered the CESEW through significant policy development and negotiations with governments. Together with her staff, she has brought transparency and a secure evidence base to Catholic education, developing, for example, the CESEW census, the website, research and publications and raising the public profile of Catholic education and the benefits that it provides to society." Ms Stannard said in a statement: