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.
Celebration of the Word in St Mary’s Catholic Primary School names and celebrates God’s presence in our lives. It is concerned with giving glory, honour, praise and thanks to God. It is our loving response, in word and action, to God’s invitation to enter into relationship, made possible through the work of Jesus Christ and the witness of the Holy Spirit.
The Aims of Celebration of the Word
Celebration of the Word in St Mary’s Catholic Primary School aims to provide opportunities for all pupils and staff:
To contemplate the mystery of God
To reflect on spiritual and moral issues
To explore personal beliefs
To respond to and to celebrate life
To experience a sense of belonging and to develop community spirit
To develop a common ethos and shared values
To enrich religious experience
To grow in liturgical understanding and development
To pray using prayers which are part of the Catholic tradition
To reinforce positive attitudes
To participate fully
To take time out ‘to wonder at’, ‘to come to terms with’ and ‘to give worth to.’
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.
The Learning Environment
Religious artwork and displays are on show throughout the school and help the school community and visitors to experience the uniqueness of our learning environment.
Focal points in each classroom and throughout the school reflect the liturgical season and reference Come and See topics. Each class has a working wall which is used throughout each topic. A prayer corner is in the main hall for children to reflect and the spiritual garden outside allows the children time to pray and reflect outside.
The children plan and lead their own class worship each week.
Celebration of the Word Timetable
Monday
Whole school Celebration of the Word
Tuesday
Planning of Celebration of the Word
Wednesday
Class Celebration of the Word
Thursday
Hymn Practice
Friday
Staff Prayers and Pastoral Care
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.
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).
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.
