OUTSTANDING – CSI Report 5th May 2023
Diocesan inspection report said:
“Leaders and governors are inspirational in promoting the school’s mission. They are deeply committed and passionate and constantly support everyone. The school seeks to work well with the local parish and show a commitment to its mission. The school promotes parental engagement; they are highly supportive of developing their child’s vocation.
One parent commented, ‘The school’s ethos supports and reflects the Catholic faith. Christ is at the centre of everything that they do.’
Staff speak highly of the care and love that leaders demonstrate and told inspectors, ‘Our school promotes a love of faith which is engaging and inspiring for all our children. Our Catholic ethos is intrinsic in all that we say and do.’ There is an open-door well-being policy, and staff feel confident they can readily access support. One staff commented, ‘St Mary’s is a wonderful place where strong relationships are formed, and everyone is respected.’ Governors make highly significant contributions, effectively evaluating with rigour, analysis, and targeted improvement.”
OFSTED report said:
“There is a strong sense of pastoral care across the school, which reflects the school’s Catholic values.
Leaders promote pupils’ personal development well. They teach them how to be responsible, active citizens. Pupils raise money for charity or make donations to organisations in the local community.
Parents and carers value the opportunities available to their children. A comment made by a parent reflects the views of many others: ‘My child is not just learning academically, but also spiritually and how to be a kind and caring person.” OFSTED December 2022
Our Mission at St. Mary’s
The Catholic Life of the school is given the highest priority where the development of an authentic Catholic ethos is actively sought by all. Children are empowered to have a thorough understanding of the Church’s liturgical year, its seasons, rites and symbols. Within the school community, prayer has a profound and visible effect on the development of all pupils and staff irrespective of ability or faith background. As a school, we promote a love of faith; engaging and inspiring our children to take responsibility for promoting the Catholic ethos of our community whilst seeking to lead and develop this further. Developing a greater understanding of vocation is fundamental in giving our children a meaningful reason to live out their faith. Teachers ensure that children are provided with opportunities to develop their thinking and respond to questions of faith. Our school celebrates, develops and enhances the Catholic Life of our children and ensures our Catholic ethos underpins all that we do and strive to achieve.
Christ has no body on earth but ours.
Ours are the hands with which He heals.
Ours are His eyes, His feet, His lips.
Ours are the hearts through which He loves.
Teresa of Avila
Our Curriculum – Catholic Social Teaching Coverage
Our whole school curriculum is centred around the principles of Building the Kingdom and Catholic Social Teaching. In principle, this means bringing the unchangeable values of the Gospel into an everchanging modern society. Our curriculum and pedagogical approach provides our children with a foundation to make the world a better place. Our children realise that they are not too young to make a difference and that each individual’s unique vocation is not for the future but for now. All of the children’s learning leads them towards answering one of these Big Questions at the end of each learning block. Please see our ‘Curriculum’ page to view our overviews and find more information.
Congratulations to all our confirmands who received the sacrament this evening. It was wonderful to see you deepen your faith and we are so proud of you. Please keep our children in your prayers. 🕊️🔥✝️ #catholiclifestm #year6stm … See MoreSee Less
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They all did so well!!
They all did really really well. Well done everyone xxxxxxxxx
Today our Minnie Vinnies , along with their leaders, Mrs Furnival and Miss Lowe, have been to Dougie Mac to join in with some arts and craft activities. A fun and uplifting experience was had by all and the children represented us beautifully!
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Great to have you all join us! Thanks for popping over! 💛🌻
✝️ Thank you so much to The Fishers from St John Fisher Catholic College for leading a Confirmation Workshop with us. ✝️
We began by retrieving our knowledge of the Sacrament of Baptism and thought about how this links to our upcoming Confirmation.
We then looked at the story of Pentecost and reminded ourselves of the shock that the Disciples had when they were given the ability to speak in different languages – a power bestowed upon them by the Holy Spirit. This then led to us produce our own piece of artwork depicting the fruits of the Spirit.
We now look forward to our Sacrament on Tuesday and are grateful to you for helping us to prepare! 🕊️
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Thank you to Sam from Dougie Mac who came into school today to give us the amazing news that we raised an astonishing £2440 when we collected bags in the “Bring it! Bag it!” initiative. This bring our total raised for Dougie Mac this academic year to £2987!!! This is a fantastic achievement so a huge thank you to all our St. Mary’s family for their continued support! #catholiclifestm … See MoreSee Less
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Massive well done and thank you for your incredible support everyone! 👏 🌻
Thank you to all the parents who joined their children in Year 3 for the sacramental preparation retreat.
We discussed the 5 stages of the sacrament of Reconciliation and draw them on our hand print along with the act of contrition prayer that we are learning in preparation for when we make our first confession.
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Today, we have joined with schools in our Diocese to launch the Jubilee Year 2025 – Pilgrims of Hope.
We all began our day exploring the theme of hope and what a Jubilee Year is for! We then joined the diocesan live stream where we joined as a community in prayer, hearing from Bishop Timothy and Archbishop Bernard on their thoughts for the Jubilee Year.
All year groups have reflected on a piece of scripture all about hope. The children did some thoughtful written work on their scripture and some of the children led us in a special liturgy dedicated to this scripture.
We also had great fun getting creative as each class has done a piece of artwork to create our own 'Holy Doors'.
Thank you to all the staff and children for their hard work and dedication.
'Let us celebrate the Jubilee Year with deep faith, lively hope and active charity.' (Pope Francis)
#restm #catholiclifestm #prayerandliturgystm … See MoreSee Less
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Inspirational work ! Thought provoking, thank you for sharing!