Inspired by our Christian faith, our mission is to provide the highest standard of education and opportunity for all our pupils, enabling them to live their lives to the full.
Statements to Live By
Every week, we read and discuss the Statements To Live By. The children use them as a focus each week and they are displayed in the classrooms and the main focal area.
St. Mary’s Prayer Book
The school has it’s own school prayer book.
Come and See Prayers
Reception
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
Year 5
Year 6
Planning, Content and Celebration
Prayer is planned following a structure with reference to the Church’s seasons, Come and See, feast days, the curriculum and significant dates e.g. CAFOD Family Fast Day, Holocaust Memorial Day.
Parish and parents are invited to participate in celebrations.
A variety of prayer styles will be used appropriate to the age of the children and the occasion.
Throughout Advent and Lent each class will hold a 10 minute reflection, using the Examen. The prayer corner and spiritual garden is open every day for the children to visit.
Advent in St. Mary’s
Advent is a very special time of year. Here in St. Mary’s the children have been preparing for a very special birth. Each day the children share a reading from the Jesse tree and spend time reflecting in their advent journals and completing the Examen challenge. All KS1 children will have the opportunity to take home the travelling crib, which allows families to share the story of Christmas with the children, using a nativity scene, candle, a book and prayers. Our KS2 children all take home a family advent booklet to share a reading each week with their families throughout advent. Children all have an advent journal to use and a class liturgy and a school mass.
Lent at St. Mary’s
This lent in St. Mary’s we aim to reflect on the sacrifices Christ had to make.
Easter Mystery bags
Each class throughout KS1 and KS2 will take home an Easter mystery bag to share with their parents. To help us prepare to celebrate Easter we invite the children to join our special project called ‘The Easter Mystery’. By sharing the Easter story we remember the life, death and resurrection of Jesus and, as a family, take time to stop and think about the true meaning of Easter each bag holds a tea light, the story of the Easter mystery, a cross and a purple cloth.
Lenten Journals
Children will start each day or end each day reflecting using the examen. During this time the children can complete their lenten journals.
Stations of the cross
KS2 will be attending church to visit the stations of the cross during lent and our RE ambassadors are working with the other schools in Jarrow to look at the stations of the cross.
Weekly Celebration of the Word
Class Celebration of the Word is still held every Wednesday in class.
Missio
Lent-Calendar-2024-6.pdf
Prayer stations
During holy week prayer stations will be held on Thursday 28th March 2024 the hall for children and parents.
Holy week Celebrations
What is Holy Week – YouTube
Easter week liturgies will be held in school hall from 2:30 – 3:15
Year 3 – Monday
Year 4 – Tuesday
Year 5 – Wednesday
First Holy Communion 2024
Our children made their First Holy Communion in June. It was a beautiful day and the children were so excited to make their First Holy Communion. Thank you to the parents, St. Mary’s parish and Fr Saji for supporting the children on their journey of faith.
RE Ambassadors
Our RE Ambassadors of St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School are incredibly proud to represent our school in this privileged role. We get to wear our special RE Ambassador badges which distinguish us as having a special role within the school, so people can recognise who we are and what we do.
In order to be selected for this role, we had to apply for the position and then be chosen by Mrs Tumelty and the previous year’s RE Ambassadors. We meet regularly with Mrs Colley and Mrs Tumelty, supporting the Catholic Life of the school in a range of ways and to discuss and share our ideas.
We focus on enhancing the religious knowledge of younger children within the school and spread the Word of the Lord through our ‘Open the Book’ club. We also take part in Celebration of the Word across the school marking specific days throughout the Liturgical Year. We also meet every half term with RE Ambassadors from the other schools in our parish, as well as Father Adrian and Father Saji, to discuss what we can do as a community of schools.
As Ambassadors for our school, we have accompanied prospective parents and visitors on tours around our beautiful school.
We have lots of ideas on how to live out our faith, and actively show this to the whole school community. Throughout the year we aim to support our community, focusing on local, national and international charities, through fundraising and campaigning activities. We aspire to follow in Jesus’ footsteps through our role as servant leaders.
Faith in Action
In Year 6, our pupils participate in the Faith In Action award.The Faith in Action Award rewards young people’s active service in helping to build the Kingdom of God on Earth. Many young people are doing so much to follow Jesus’ example in serving others in their schools and parishes. The Faith in Action Award encourages young people to take that service into their wider community and accept greater responsibility for their faith in action.The programme facilitates an exploration of scripture and Church teaching, with an emphasis on translating this into action. It encourages young people to shine the light of faith upon their experience of service through guided and personal reflection.Our pupils aim for the Pin (Discovery) award at the end of the year, and this can be followed up in Year 7 and onwards up to the Gold award. The final books are moderated by parish members, and the pupils take part in a Faith In Action liturgy, which offers families the opportunity to share in mission.
Catholic Social Teaching
Catholic Social Teaching is founded in Scripture and includes statements and letters written by Church leaders. It offers wisdom and insights on living the Gospel in today’s world. Jesus tells us to love God and to love our neighbours, especially our sisters and brothers living in poverty. We use Catholic Social Teaching principles to guide all our work at CAFOD. Modern Catholic Social Teaching is said to have originated in 1891 with the encyclical letter, Rerum Novarum. Since then, a wealth of teaching continues to give new life to the Scriptures and shape the Church’s response to our modern world. Pope Francis continues to add to Catholic Social Teaching with his own encyclicals, including Laudato Si’ (2015) and Fratelli Tutti (2020).
Please see the link to look more at what catholic social teaching is. Catholic Social Teaching
Responsibilities
We give opportunities for pupils to develop their contribution to school life, as well as their own sense of responsibility. ‘Buddies’, ‘School Council’, ‘Wellbeing Warriors’, ‘Eco Warriors’, ‘Sport Coaches’, House Captains and Head boy and girls, it gives pupils an understanding of their roles and responsibilities, and how we can act in service to others. Our School Council set an example to others in contributing to Catholic life in school, as well as developing their own virtue.
