St Mary's Catholic Primary School

RE and Catholic Life

The teachings of the Catholic Church underpin everything at St Mary's. There are daily opportunities for prayer and worship, where children learn the traditional prayers as well as being encouraged to develop their own prayer life. There is no requirement for children to be Catholic to attend St Mary's. Children can have a different faith, or have no faith at all. They are simply introduced to what it means to have a faith and are encouraged to ask questions, to be curious and to reflect on their personal spiritual or faith journey. There are daily Acts of Worship; some planned more formally and many completely designed and led by the children. Father Michael is the Parish Priest and regularly visits the school for these events. He leads liturgies, where scripture is celebrated in a child-friendly and age-appropriate way.

 

RE Curriculum

Canonical Inspection

Our last S48 inspection was in November 2018. Judgments and grades were made in the following areas:

Over-all effectiveness: Outstanding Grade 1

The school as a catholic community: Outstanding Grade 1

Leadership and management: Outstanding Grade 1

Word (Curriculum RE): Good Grade 2

Worship and spiritual life of the school: Outstanding Grade 1

 

Our Virtues at St Mary's Catholic Primary School

We focus on 7 virtues. The virtues chosen are common across cultures and faiths, but are sourced from the Christian tradition.

Faith - I trust, I believe - in God, in myself, in others

Hope - I dream big, I am positive

Love - I care, I am compassionate, I show empathy

Fortitude - I am brave, I show courage when things are hard

Prudence - I make good choices, I am honest, I can be trusted

Justice - I am fair, I notice when things are right or wrong

Temperance - I am in control of my words and actions


We learn what each Virtue means and how we can live it in our daily life. Each week, a child in each class receives a certificate for living out the virtue.


Prayer and Worship at St Mary's

At St Mary's, pupils have an active prayer and worship life. Prayer and Worship will take place daily as follows:

Monday - Whole school Celebration of the Word at 9.00am 

Tuesday - Class worship (Reflection Diary)

Wednesday - Prayer and Praise (where we sing our favourite hymns)

Thursday - Celebration of Virtues Assembley led by Miss Teixeira - children receive certificates for displaying our school virtues

Friday - Class Worship

Daily - Morning, lunchtime and home-time prayers

Parents are warmly invited to attend our Monday Celebration of the Word and any special services throught the year.

We also hold a range of special celebrations and liturgies, including our EYFS/KS1 Nativity and KS2 Carol Service at the end of the Autmn term, the annual Harvest, Advent and Lent Liturgies, the Ash Wednesday service in our parish church and many other school and parish events.

GIFT Team

In Year 5, Children have the opportunity to become a member of our Growing In Faith Together (GIFT) team. Members of the GIFT team are passionate about sharing their faith with other children in the school and they do this by preparing and leading collective woship with other classes.

They also lead our school by helping to choose the charities that we will support each year, particularly during Advent and Lent when we try to focus on those who need the most help.

The aims of the St Mary's GIFT team are:

  • To help the school 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


We are delighted to introduce our new Chaplaincy Team - Ethan, Noah, Halle and Senara! They have worked together to create an ambitious and thoughtful action plan to support both our school and the wider community. Well done to each of them for their enthusiasm, faith, and commitment to making a difference!

Prayer Space

Our children's Prayer Space is a much-loved and peaceful place, where many pupils choose to spend time during break and lunchtime. The GIFT Team helps to create a welcoming atmosphere by leading prayer and reflection activities, and by gently guiding younger pupils on their own prayer journeys. There's also time for quiet moments of stillness and contemplation. We feel very blessed to have received a grant that helped us make this space truly appealing and special for our whole school community.

Links to our Parish Community