The mass celebrated at Holyrood Secondary in Glasgow for next session’s entrant pupils was brought forward by a day to avoid a clash with the World Cup match, but then coincided with parents’ evening at Our Lady of the Annunciation, an associated primary.

The change was made without consultation, Laura McEwan, Our Lady’s headteacher, stated in a letter to parents. “When I remonstrated with Holyrood I was informed that the alteration did not present a problem as one parent could come to Our Lady of the Annunciation and the other parent, with child, could attend mass. I leave you to be the judge of that statement.”

As one parent pointed out, Holyrood’s “solution” to the date clash assumes that households have two parents, yet in a deprived area of the city single parent-families are common.