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Catholic Life of the School

Our Lady’s School is a Voluntary Aided Catholic School established to support Catholic parents in their responsibility for the spiritual, academic, physical, moral, cultural and religious development of their children in accordance with the teachings of the Church. 

 

Religious Education in Our Lady’s School is based on a number of ministries of the early Christians.  Summarised in a fivefold model of a Christian community, they include: a Welcoming Community; a Word of God Community; a Worshipping Community; a Welfare Community and; a Witnessing Community. (5 W’s from Salford Diocese).

 

Our Lady’s School offers pupils the experience to grow and develop in a loving community into mature Christians who live for the Father, in accordance with the teachings of Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit within the Sacraments of the Church.   Both through Religious Education and in the general life of the school, pupils are prepared to witness to moral and spiritual values in the wider world. Religious education is the “core of the core curriculum” in our Catholic school. Our mission ‘Learning and loving together, we grow with Jesus’ helps develop the whole child as an individual.

 

The 5 W’s

 

Our Lady’s follows the 5Ws framework, which forms the foundation for the overall effectiveness of a catholic school.

 

The 5Ws are:

 

  • Welcome
  • Word
  • Worship
  • Welfare
  • Witness 

 

This five part model of a Christian community applies to all Catholic schools and Colleges in the Salford Diocese. It provides a model for understanding, evaluating and celebrating the tradition of Catholic education.

 

At Our Lady’s we:

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  • Warmly Welcome everyone to our school as Jesus welcomes us to the family of God.

  • Place the Word of God at the centre of all we do.

  • Accept responsibility for the Welfare of each other as Jesus intended and reach out to those who need us.

  • Worship the Lord, our God, joyfully with all our hearts.

  • Be a Witness of a loving God, who is at the heart of all we do, by creating a happy atmosphere, lasting friendships and lifelong memories.

Our Mission Statement
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"learning and loving together;
we grow with Jesus"

 

Our Core Values

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During Summer 2020 workshops, we revisited both our Mission Statement and Core Values. This involved everyone in discussion, reflection and prayer about the values, Mission and Aims of our Catholic school. There was a calling to all to re-commit to our purpose and to work together to understand our roles and responsibilities as part of Our Lady’s 

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During the workshops, the feedback from parents, and the views expressed by the children during sessions played a prominent role in the decisions we made.  

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Our Mission Statement is:  

"Learning and loving together; we grow with Jesus"

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The Core Values that provide the foundation for that Mission are:

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​​Faithful     ​Positive   ​  Safe

​Nurturing      ​Forgiving      ​Fair

​Respectful         ​Honest

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Nurture
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The School's six nurturing principles sum up our practice and theory. They underpin the context, organisation and curriculum.

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  1. Children's learning is understood developmentally

  2. The classroom offers a safe base

  3. the importance of nurture for the development of wellbeing

  4. Language as a vital means of communication

  5. All behaviour is communication

  6. The importance of transition in children's lives

Our Mission is represented by this design. As with the statement itself, the logo was developed by all stakeholders, with the children in particular providing the symbolic ideas of growth – the tree, love – the hearts and Christ – the Cross.

Our Lady's Aims

  • To celebrate Jesus Christ as the centre of our school community.

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'Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.’         Proverbs 3:5

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  • To enjoy times of prayer and worship together.

 

‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, thy kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.’            

Matthew 9-10

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  • To be a welcoming place; where we can all feel at home, and all visitors are received with warmth and respect.

 

‘Welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God.'              

Romans 15:7

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  • To promote; love of learning, enthusiasm to succeed and aspirations to ‘dream big’.

 

‘Commit your work to the Lord, and your plans will be established.’

 Proverbs 16:3

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  • To ensure each and every child and adult has the opportunity to thrive; to share the ‘gifts’ we have been blessed with, and to achieve our full potential in all that we do.

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‘I can do all this through him who gives me strength.’

Phillipians 4:13

  • To feel safe, respected, loved and valued, so we have the confidence and resilience to ‘make a difference’.

 

‘God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.’

 Psalm 46:1

 

  • To be a shining light in our parish, in our community and in our world.

 

‘For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.’

Matthew 18:20

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  • Be a place where it is OK to make mistakes. Forgiveness makes every day a new beginning.

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’forgive, and you will be forgiven.’

Luke 6:37

                                                                                      Luke 6:37

Prayer and Worship
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Prayer is an intrinsic and essential part of school life here at Our Lady’s RC Primary School. Children are encouraged to ‘talk to God’ and taught how to be still and reflect during worship time.

 

Prayer is part of daily school life within collective worship, whole school and key stage assemblies, RE lessons, privately within individual classrooms and individually throughout classroom safe spaces, as well as routine morning, lunchtime and hometime prayers. Children are expected to know certain prayers within different stages of their journey at Our Lady’s, the progression grid in attached documents outlines this in more detail. Furthermore, children are encouraged and supported to create their own prayer and worship.

 

Every class lead assemblies each term, which allow reflection and prayer for parents and children. In addition, each class throughout KS2 have their turn at leading mass throughout the year alongside Father Kevin, for the whole school as well as parents and parishioners.

 

Please see the Events Section on the Home Page for details. 

 

Additionally, the GIFT team lead prayer and worship throughout the school regularly. Please visit the Faith Teams page for more information.

Prayer & Worship
Living Out The Word
Ethos, Aims & Values
Living out the Word

 

Year of the Word

 

The Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales have declared 2020 to be a year of special focus on the Bible.

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This marks the tenth anniversary of Pope Benedict XVI's Apostolic Exhortation, Verbum Domini, (The Word of the Lord) and the 1600 years since the death of Saint Jerome - who translated the Bible into Latin. The year started on the Feast of Saint Jerome, 30 September 2019, and runs until 31 December 2020.

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During this year we are called to explore and celebrate the Word of God through the Scriptures, share the Word with others and respond to the "God who speaks" in the way that we live.

Year of St Joseph 2021
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Pope Francis declared this year (2021) to be a special year to especially ​remember St Joseph. The year is dedicated to remembering the  ​important person St Joseph was in Jesus’ life. 

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St Joseph protected the Holy Family, Mary and Jesus, when ​he was on earth and today in heaven he continues to care​ for all families, including God’s worldwide family – the​ Church. Here at Our Lady's, we are going to focus this year on learning from St Joseph, how to be caring, humble, faithful, and listen carefully to God and each other.

OUR LADY'S R.C. PRIMARY SCHOOL

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