Our Mission Statement

United in Christ, One Family in God’s Heart

Our Mission Statement is based on the belief that every pupil is a promise and a possibility, created with unique gifts and talents by our loving God. Guided by our shared faith in Christ and united as one family in God’s heart, we are committed to fostering a nurturing environment where every child can grow spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, and physically.

We strive to:

-Cultivate Faith: Encourage a deep, personal relationship with Christ, instilling Christian values and principles in every aspect of our pupils’ lives.

-Promote Excellence: Inspire a love of learning and a commitment to academic excellence, encouraging each pupil to reach their fullest potential.

-Build Community: Foster a sense of belonging and unity, where every individual is valued and supported as part of our school family.

-Empower Leadership: Develop future leaders who are compassionate, confident, and committed to making a positive impact in their communities and the world.

-Embrace Diversity:  Celebrate the unique God-given gifts and backgrounds of all our pupils, promoting an inclusive environment where everyone can thrive.

What did our community say about our new Mission Statement?

– “Personally I think you have put the foundation of all that’s needed to build the school.” – Parent

– “A beautiful mission statement [with] fundamental components that we live by at home. We are proud to know that our daughter is being taught to lead by these examples at school.” – Parent

– “It links to the hymn Bind Us Together because we are taught here to love and respect each other.” – Year 5 Pupil

– “It reminded me of Luc the Deer because everyone is special.” – Year 2 Pupil

– “Christ binds us together as one family.” – Year 6 Pupil

– “I like that it is shorter and easier to say. It encompasses our school values.” – Miss Rose (Year 1 Class Teacher)

– “One family in God’s heart makes us feel safe because it means we look after each other.” – EYFS Class

– “The new Mission Statement puts Christ at the heart of everything we do at our school and reminds us that every person is precious in God’s sight.” – Mrs Wright (Our Lay Chaplain)

Values and Virtues

Our Gospel Values

To achieve our full Christian potential, we all need to live out the Gospel Values:

Love
A Christ-like love respects the talents of each person in our school

Hope
Hope helps us to see a new life beyond our present one

Truth
We should show God’s truth in all we do

Peace
We all know that if we love one another, peace will be all around us

Mercy
We believe that mercy will be shown by the way we forgive others

Virtues

We have chosen six virtues which we explore across the academic year.  These virtues have been chosen with staff and pupils. Our virtues include:

Respect

Kindness

Courage

Charity

Perseverance

Compassion

Our virtues have been chosen to reflect the time of year for our children. We have ‘respect and kindness’ at the beginning of the year when we are setting out our expectations for the new academic year, courage and charity during the season of Lent, perseverance and compassion during SATs preparation!

Our children in school have designed logos for each of our virtues. These are proudly displayed in the school hall for all to see.

Each half term we begin with a Celebration of the word which introduces, explores and discusses the new virtue. This is linked to scripture in the Bible and is shared during our Celebration of the word.

As a school we have designed new virtue door posters which we display around school to remind us of our current virtue each half term.

Below are some of the responses collected from our pupil voice questionnaires.

What makes our school a Catholic school?

“We respect the Holy Trinity and Mary, the mother of Jesus and we go to our local Catholic church on special occasions.”

“We are a Catholic school because we all are followers of Jesus and [we are all] God’s children.”

“Our assemblies, prayer and worship.”

“Everyone can join us, [we] can play together, pray and go to church.”

How does St Mary’s help you to be a better person?

“School teaches me to be a good person in the name of God. These lessons are teaching me to be a good person in life.”

“It helps me to love people and respect people’s opinions.”

“It helps me to have a good mind-set and to never give up.”

“By teaching us to follow Jesus.”

“By helping people in need.”