St Mary's Catholic Primary School

Catholic Life and Mission

Catholic Life
 
The Catholic nature of our school, means that we are a school that is called to service. We have a commitment to support every member of our community, with a special calling to support those who are disadvantaged.

Children leave our school with a developing sense of virtue, accepting their responsibility to care for our common home, pursue the common good and serve those in need.

Through the loving example set by Jesus Christ, we show our children the importance of loving and caring for our neighbours. This could be by helping in class, being a good friend on the playground or supporting our wider school community through charity work.
LiveSimply for Schools
 

We are committed to supporting Pope Francis’ message and have signed up to the LiveSimply award where we commit to one substantial and at least two smaller actions in each of these categories:

  • Simply
  • In solidarity with people in poverty
  • Sustainably with creation 

The LiveSimply award is an opportunity for Catholic communities – parishes, schools, religious orders and chaplaincies – to respond to Pope Francis’ invitation in Laudato Si’ to “work with generosity and tenderness in protecting this world which God has entrusted to us”.

We hope that you will join us on our journey to spread the message.

 

GIFT ‘Growing in Faith Together’ Team

St Mary's has a dedicated GIFT team who have a vital role to play in enhancing the Religious Life of our school.

The GIFT team have a very important job to spread the Word of God throughout our school and the school community. It is their mission to interpret scripture so that children can better understand stories from the Bible and relate them to their own lives. The GIFT team help to lead prayer, prepare prayer areas, deliver collective worship and organise liturgical events.

As members of the GIFT Team, we are called to lead our school by following in the footsteps of Jesus. Every day we live by the gospel values and show others how they can do the same. Being a member of the GIFT Team is a challenging but very rewarding task.

The aims of the St. Mary’s GIFT Team are:
  • To help the school to grow as a community of faith
  • To encourage the pupils to live their faith in daily living
  • To support Liturgy, prayer and the spiritual life of the school
  • To involve pupils in fundraising for charities
  • To continue to develop strong links with the Parish
  • To support the school in its Mission Statement

The duties of the GIFT Team include:

* Helping to plan and lead assemblies and Masses
* Organising and leading class prayer times with other pupils
* Lead lunchtime prayer club opportunities throughout the year e.g., Rosary, Prayer Garden, Stations of the Cross
* Ensuring that class and communal prayer areas are tidy and reflect the season
* Organising fund raising for charity
* Supporting younger children with their spiritual development
* Help to monitor and improve the Catholic life of our school

Our Common Home

"Young People Demand Change." Pope Francis Laudato Si 

Our pupils are passionate about the environment and how they can help to protect Our Common Home. We have regular talks in Friday assemblies from pupils who want to do more to protect their environment and make it a better place. They are inspired by Pope Francis' letter 'Laudto Si' and use his message to form the foundation of their mission in school and to help make a change to our wider world. 

The school has recently embarked on a sustainability project as we seek to go net zero!  For more information about this exciting and transformative project please visit the Sustainability at St Mary's page of this website.