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.
Catholic Life Gallery
🎨🌍 Celebration of Creation – Artwork Appeal 🌿🙏
We are delighted to be joining with our local parish for a special Celebration of Creation prayer service, giving thanks to God for the wonderful gift of our common home.
We would love our children to help make the celebration extra special by creating some beautiful artwork to be displayed and used as part of the prayer service.
Children are invited to create a piece of artwork inspired by God’s wonderful creation. This could include our beautiful world, animals and plants, the changing seasons, caring for our common home or anything that reminds us of the beauty of God’s creation. 🌳🌸🐝🌎
Artwork can be created using any materials – pencils, paints, crayons, collage or anything else you would like!
Please send all entries to Mrs Wrigley by Monday 28th September.
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Here is this week's Wednesday Word to share at home with your families.
wednesday-word.paperturn-view.com/generous?pid=MTA101634&p=2&v=219.7
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Generous – Magazine – Page 2
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💙 Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows 💙
Today we celebrate the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. As St Mary’s, this is a particularly meaningful day for us as we look to Mary as an example of faith, compassion and love.
In our phase Celebration of the Word this week, we have been reflecting on Mary standing at the foot of the Cross beside Jesus. Mary could not take away Jesus’ suffering but she stayed close to Him. She was there with her love, her presence and her prayers.
The children reflected that we cannot always solve someone’s problems or take away what is hurting them. However, just like Mary, we can notice when somebody needs us. We can stay close to them, listen to them, comfort them and most importantly pray for them.
Our Mission this week is to follow Mary’s example by noticing somebody who needs us and showing them compassion and love.
Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.
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🌟 Education Sunday 2026 🌟
Today, on Education Sunday, we give thanks for the wonderful gift of Catholic education and for everyone who makes our school such a special place to learn, grow and flourish.
We are incredibly grateful for our dedicated teachers and staff who give so much each day to nurture, encourage and inspire our children. Through their care and commitment, they help our pupils to grow not only in knowledge but also in faith, compassion and love.
As Pope Francis reminded us, “Education is above all a matter of love and responsibility.”
We are equally proud of our wonderful pupils who bring our school to life each day. We pray that, through their time at St Mary’s, they continue to discover their God-given gifts and learn to use them in service of others.
🙏 Could you help shape the future of Catholic education?
We are currently looking for new school governors to join our governing body. You do not need to work in education or have previous experience of being a governor. We would love to hear from people who are willing to share their skills, time and commitment to help our school and its Catholic mission continue to flourish.
If you are interested in finding out more about becoming a governor, please contact the school. We would be delighted to have an informal conversation with you.
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Please find the link below to this week's Wednesday Word to share at home with your families.
wednesday-word.paperturn-view.com/forgiveness?pid=MTA101634&v=218.6
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Forgiveness – Magazine – Page 1
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✝️ Year 6 Catholic Life Pledge ✝️
As part of our Catholic Life Pledge and following our RE lesson on our responsibility as stewards to take care of our planet, Year 6 spent time today caring for our school environment by taking part in a litter pick across our school playground and field.
The children showed great care, responsibility and respect for our shared environment and worked together brilliantly to make our school grounds cleaner and more welcoming for everyone.
This was a wonderful opportunity for the children to put their learning about stewardship into action, recognising our responsibility to care for God’s creation and the world around us. 🌍💚
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💙🌸 Happy Birthday, Mary! 🌸💙
Today we have been celebrating the birthday of Mary, Our Lady and the very special patron of our school.
Throughout the year, each class celebrates the feast day of their class saint and today it was Nursery’s turn to celebrate Mary! 🙏
The children have created some beautiful stained-glass window artwork inspired by Our Lady and have even made their own celebration biscuits to mark this special day. 🎨🍪
What a lovely way for our youngest children to learn more about Mary and celebrate her important place in our school family and our faith.
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💙 Happy Birthday, Mary! 💙
Today, we celebrate the birthday of Our Lady. This week, our phase Celebration of the Word is helping us to reflect on Mary’s example of faith and trust in God.
We are thinking about how we can be more like Mary by noticing the opportunities in our own lives to say “yes” to God – through our choices, our words and the way we show love and kindness to others.
🙏 Mary, our Mother, pray for us and help us to say “yes” to God each day. 💙
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🤍 Year 6 Leavers’ Mass & Awards 🤍
This morning, our school community gathered at Holy Trinity to celebrate the end of an unforgettable journey for our Year 6 pupils. Together, we reflected on their time at St Mary’s, gave thanks for all they have achieved and prayed for them as they prepare for the exciting journey ahead.
Following Mass, we held our annual awards ceremony, where a number of children were recognised for the God-given talents, qualities and contributions they have shared during their time at St Mary’s. Congratulations to all of our award winners, who were presented with trophies in recognition of their achievements. 🏆✨
As our Year 6 children prepare to spread their wings, we send them with our love, prayers and every good wish for the future. Once a member of the St Mary’s family, always a member of the St Mary’s family. 💙
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