Catholic Life and Mission
St Mary’s Roman Catholic Primary School is rooted in the Gospel Values and the vision of Saint Mary. Saint Mary tells us “God is love and He loves us as we are.” We value one another in a caring community, reflecting God’s love and compassion for all. We follow Mary’s example to pray, grow in faith and place our trust in God. We inspire to be the best we can, use our gifts and talents from God and celebrate our achievements.
All our pupils have contributed to the writing of our mission statement and have ownership of it, it is referred to and reflected upon in both assemblies and class celebrations of the word. Each week starts with a whole school celebration of the word where children focus on a chosen virtue rooted in scripture and are then tasked with putting it in to action in their daily lives. We end each week with a further class celebration of the word where we come together to share our virtue and celebrate the children who have succeeded in living out our core values that week, this can lead to the children receiving the Caritas Love In Action award at the following Monday’s celebration of the word (whole school). Our pupils self-reflect on our mission statement and are able to live out the core values in their lives. Our pupils know that they are loved and responses to questionnaires and pupil voice show they are happy and feel safe at St Mary’s. The GIFT team are confident leaders who are supported to make a difference in our school community. Pupil’s value the GIFT team and actively take part in the celebration of the Word and whole school events the GIFT team deliver. Children and staff know that once they become a member of St Mary’s school community they become a ‘St Mary’s Mate’ and this is regularly recognised in celebration certificates. Children are proud to be a ‘St Mary’s Mate’ and this is witnessed in the relationships witness around school between all.
Our pupils embrace their responsibility to care for our Common Home and the common good. Our pupils actively respond to the needs of the community demonstrating their willingness to live Catholic Social Teaching. We have an active Laudato Si Eco council who are using and following the words of Pope Francis to Care for our Common Home. The Eco Council give a voice to children across the school who believe strenuously in protecting our world for current and future generations – their generations. They run campaigns throughout the year which both tackle issues and through the work, educate the rest of the children within the school on sustainability and the environmental impact we make today. Some of the campaigns they have delivered are around Food Waste, reducing the amount of single use plastics we use in school, recycling of clothes to reduce the amount disposed of and also to create a better understand of reusing products, rewilding of the school grounds to promote an increase in the Bee populations and pollination, tree planting to reduce climate change, the creation of allotments so the children across the school can practically and theoretically learn about self-sustainability and a reduction of food miles and the pollution it creates. The Eco Council will work with our wider school and parish community through involvement with the Laudato Si initiative, recycling campaigns, battery collections, litter picking and Walk To School initiatives where all are invited to follow Pope Francis’ ethos and create greater awareness to the cry of the Earth and people.
Throughout the year pupils have many opportunities to contribute to the Catholic life and mission of the school, e.g. The choir visit local day centres and nursing homes to sing, the GIFT team invite parishioners to school for wellbeing afternoons, plan charity and fund raising events. Pupils are encouraged to actively support local and national charities including Loaves and Fishes, Caritas, Royal British Legion, NSPCC and CAFOD. The use of Caritas – Love in Action is embedded, with specific days and lessons dedicated to developing children’s understanding of supporting and loving others and putting their faith into action. Children have a solid understanding of the 7 areas of Catholic Social Teaching and are inspired to take their learning beyond the classroom.
Pupils have many opportunities to become leaders in all areas of school life, in addition to the GIFT team and Laudato Si Eco council we have the School Council, Arts council and Guardian Angels. The children take pride in their roles and represent St Mary’s at a number of events throughout the year.
Our curriculum is broad and we offer many enhancements to learning through our school pledge, we work closely with our community to enhance learning experiences. For example visitors to school include the local fire brigade, local artists, inspirational speakers, scientists, authors. Visits outside of school include crucial crew, sports, theatre, residential, museums and libraries. Visitors to school and the public always comment on the behaviour of the pupils and enjoy coming back to work with the children.
We build in curriculum time for our children to understand other faiths, to ensure that they grow into tolerant and understanding individuals who are aware of Gospel and British Values.