Catholic Life at St. Mary's
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.
Here at St. Mary's, everything we do is centred on our unique Catholic Identity. We focus on the Gospel values; teaching children the importance of loving and respecting everyone as Jesus taught us. We follow the RED programme as recommended by the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle. In our school, we want every child to be happy and enthusiastic learners of RE. The beliefs and practices of our faith lay firm foundations for our entire curriculum and permeate the day-to-day life of the school.
Our Faith
Our mission as a Roman Catholic primary school is to provide a Catholic education that puts the word of God at the very centre of school. Our purpose is the happiness of all of our community through the pursuit of school-wide excellence; with success measured on our ability to sustain and enhance our position as a thriving example of Christ-centred education. At St. Mary's, our mission statement forms the absolute heartbeat of our school.
Our Mission means that:
– We seek to develop the whole child – their character, their learning and their ambitions.
– We have high expectations for all of our children.
– We foster a love of learning through exciting and enjoyable learning opportunities.
– We live out our school mission every day using the Gospel values as our guide.
How do we organise ourselves to bring our mission to life?
– Each classroom is an inclusive learning environment where all children can thrive.
– We use teaching and learning strategies that engage and challenge all children.
– We use the resources we have efficiently and effectively to make sure that our children thrive in their learning.
What do we do to make sure our mission includes everyone?
– We maintain a sharp and clear focus on every child’s individual progress and development to ensure they achieve the very best they can.
– Our curriculum provides experiential, creative, imaginative and challenging learning.
– We target support and intervention carefully to ensure that all children are making the best progress they can.
– We take part in worship that enriches the life of our school and builds us up in faith, hope and love.
How can we ensure that everyone can experience life in all its fullness?
– We look to Jesus Christ as our pioneer and guide.
– We use the Gospel values to live out our school mission; making sure that every adult and child in our school community feels welcome, content and secure.
– We communicate effectively across the school community.
– We work collaboratively together.
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.
Holy Week Celebrations
Easter week liturgies will be held in school hall from 2:30 – 3:15:
- Year 3 – Monday
- Year 4 – Tuesday
- Year 5 – Wednesday
Prayer Stations
During holy week prayer stations will be held on Thursday 28th March 2024 the hall for children and parents.
First Holy Communion 2025
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.
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.
