CATHOLIC LIFE
DIOCESAN INSPECTION REPORT 2020
Summary of Key Findings for Parents and Pupils
St Teresa’s Catholic Primary School is an outstanding Catholic school because:
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All pupils and staff embrace the demands made upon them as members of a faith community. Excellent relationships are evident between home, school and parish.
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The teaching of Religious Education is outstanding enabling highly motivated pupils to make very good progress.
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The school’s mission and ethos is clearly reflected in the behaviour and attitude of pupils. Pupils are fully aware of the need to work together in a community, sympathetic to the needs of others and act with justice and inclusivity.
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The quality of Collective Worship is good – it is central to the life of the school, is well planned and pupils confidently use a variety of forms of prayer. It is not yet outstanding as pupils are not yet given sufficient opportunities to plan and lead Collective Worship independently.
MISSION STATEMENT
SHINE IN LITTLE WAYS
We inspire everybody in St. Teresa’s to shine in their own way, in a safe, welcoming and nurturing environment.
We learn, work and serve together in unity with the school, church, families and community.
To grow in God’s way and be a witness to our faith.
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
At St. Teresa’s Catholic Primary School we believe that Religious Education is not one subject among many but the foundation of the entire educational process.
The beliefs and values it communicates inspire and unify every aspect of school life. It provides the contents for and substantially shapes the school curriculum. Religious Education presents pupils with the same academic demands and challenges as any other curriculum area.
The immediate aim of Religious Education is to promote knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith, its relevance to the ultimate questions of life and the skills required to engage in religious thinking. Religious Education is presented to children of a wide range of commitment. It will be received in different ways and lead to different outcomes for different children.
Under Diocesan advice we have adopted the Come and See scheme of work in order to deliver the R.E. curriculum. Each class follows the same topic at their own level. Special attention is paid to teaching and differentiated learning when teachers are planning each four week topic.
The aim of the Come and See programme is to explore the religious dimension of questions about life, dignity and purpose within the Catholic tradition. Links are made with the teaching of the Church, pupils’ own experiences and universal experience. The children will explore the beliefs, values and way of life of the Catholic tradition and, where appropriate other faith traditions.
Religious Education should introduce children to the background and beliefs of people of other faiths so that prejudice and misunderstanding can be overcome from an early age.
A small proportion of our school community is from other faiths. Parents are expected to be supportive of the Catholic nature of our school life in our community. We celebrate the diversity of our faiths, traditions and cultures.
Children of other faiths are actively encouraged to share their faith. We have relevant books, artefact packs and images which are used throughout the school in our study of other faiths in accordance with the Come and See scheme. Our children from other faiths take part in assemblies every year which outline the celebrations of their own faiths including Eid and Diwali.
We do not look at other faiths in comparison to Catholicism, but rather in terms of what practising the other World Faiths looks like for believers. Understanding, respect and tolerance are key elements to our programme of study. Cultural background and faith differences within the school provide a rich source of learning material at many levels.
MINI VINNIES
At St. Teresa’s, we are very proud to be part of the St. Vincent de Paul Society- Mini Vinnies, which is the junior section of the SVP. We have representatives from Y6 who follow in the footsteps of St. Vincent in helping local charities and looking after other people in our school and church community.
As Mini Vinnies, the children have their own ‘treasured’ Prayer, Pledge and Badge, helping and enabling them to become in every sense, young Vincentians- or Mini Vinnies.
Our Work at St. Teresa’s is to promote awareness about how we can all make a difference to our school, local and global community.
Find out more about the Mini Vinnies by visiting the website http://www.minivinnies.org.uk/
COLLECTIVE WORSHIP
At St. Teresa’s we always strive to provide quality experiences of prayer and liturgy that support pupils’ spiritual development. These communal acts of prayer and the liturgical celebrations of the Church form part of everyday life in our school. Every child is given the opportunity to pray by giving praise and thanks to God using traditional prayers of the Catholic Church and many other sources of prayer that enable this to take place. We encourage the children to nurture a relationship with God through words, symbols, song, gestures and silence.
Prayer is such an integral part of school life that it can never be confined to ‘timetabled’ slots but may take place in a variety of contexts other than those specifically structured.
Central to our prayer life in St. Teresa’s is Collective Worship. We gather as a school community on a Monday morning when Mr Turner leads us in collective worship. On Tuesdays (KS2) and Wednesdays (KS1/EYFS) each Key Stage gathers for Collective Worship led by a member of the teaching staff. On a Wednesday, a group of children lead their class in a liturgy. We gather finally as a whole school on a Friday afternoon to celebrate all our achievements.
Furthermore, children prepare liturgies and times of prayer and reflection within their own classroom. During special times in the liturgical year such as Advent and Lent, KS2 children lead the whole school in collective worship.
Other opportunities for prayer take place within the classroom at the start of each day, before and after lunch and again at the end of each day. Prayer in the classrooms and in assemblies always includes use of symbols and a focal point for prayer which is appropriate to the liturgical season, for example, Lent, Advent or Easter.
During all these times of prayer, both staff and pupils are involved in leading and participating.
It is thus our aim at St. Teresa’s to provide our children with opportunities to experience a variety of forms of prayer that help each individual in the school community to foster their own relationship with God. Children have access to the school chapel, prayer trail as well opportunities for meditation and stillness within the classroom.
In addition to these opportunities of prayer, Mass is celebrated twice a half-term, in school and on the last day of term in Church. All classes attend and parents and parishioners are most welcome to join us.
For more information on Collective Worship at St. Teresa’s, you can read our Collective Worship Policy
FAITH IN ACTION AWARD
The children of St. Teresa’s school go the extra mile to put their faith and belief in the word of God into action. This is done in a number of ways, including through their fundraising efforts, their work in the local community and their prayer life. This award allows the participants to reflect on their actions and how they impact their lives. Successful participants will complete a diary of their efforts and will receive their PIN badge. This is a stepping stone for the Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards available in high school. Work towards this award is completed in conjunction with Mini Vinnies, Well-Being and whole school initiatives. This award in completed in Year 6.
Find out more information about the Faith in Action Award by visiting the website: https://faithinactionaward.co.uk/pin
ROSARY CLUB
During the month of May, children from across the school gather on a Tuesday lunchtime for Rosary Club. This is an opportunity for the children to offer up their own prayers and personal intentions to God while praying the rosary.
Prayers are led by the children and the children take pride in choosing the prayer focus for the next meeting. The children thoroughly enjoy using a range of mediums to make rosary beads.
SACRAMENTAL PREPARATION
Children have the opportunity to receive two sacraments during their time at St. Teresa’s Catholic Primary School: First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion.
Sacrament of Reconciliation
Jesus Christ, in His abundant love and mercy, established the Sacrament of Confession, so that we as sinners can obtain forgiveness for our sins and reconcile with God and the Church. The sacrament “washes us clean,” and renews us in Christ.
“Jesus said to them again, ‘Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.’ And when he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained’” (John 20:21-23).
After a period of preparation, our Year 4 children receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation during Spring term.
The children learn the Act of Contrition:
O my God, because you are so good,
I am very sorry that I have sinned against you,
And by the help of your grace, I will try not to sin again.
Sacrament of the Eucharist
Through the sacrament of Eucharist we remember what Jesus did for us in his life, death and resurrection. We remember particularly the Last Supper, that final meal Jesus shared with his disciples. At that meal Jesus gave us the Eucharist so that we could remember him in a special way. When we receive Communion, we believe that we receive the person of Jesus into our very beings. We become one with him, and we become one with each other. As a community we become ‘the body of Christ’.
The Sacrament of the Eucharist is received by Year 4 children in May after having received the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The ceremony takes place at St. Teresa’s Catholic Church. Groups of children will make the First Holy Communion during the Parish Mass.
FAITH IN ACTION
The catholic nature of our school is central to our philosophy and informs every aspect of the life of the school.
At St. Teresa’s, one way we live out our faith is though our actions. Over recent years, we have supported a range of charities, particularly during our Lenten and Advent fundraising activities. We are very grateful for the great generosity of our families in all of our fundraising.
Charities we have supported in the past:
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East End Food Bank
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West End Refugee Service
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Christmas Shoe Box Appeal
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Mary’s Meals
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CAFOD
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St. Cuthbert’s Care
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Malawi Appeal
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Ethiopian Deaf School
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Youth Ministry Team
Serving our Parish and local community
We have developed strong relationships with the parishioners of St. Teresa’s Church, as well as the wider community of Heaton. We very much value our close links with the community and continue to nurture them through our involvement in community projects such as the Heaton Churches Together Festival, Christmas and Summer fayres, and Heaton Churches Together Good Friday liturgies.
Over recent years, St. Teresa’s pupils have enjoyed building personal relationships with parishioners through various activities, including visiting them at Christmas to deliver Christmas hampers and cards, carol singing in our local shopping centre and hosting an afternoon tea for parishioners.
As a school, and as individual classes, we regularly attend Church Masses, liturgies and services. Mass is also celebrated within school once a half term. We actively encourage family members and parishioners of St. Teresa’s to come into school to celebrate with the children. Some of the liturgies include daily acts of worship during Holy Week, Advent liturgies and the Holocaust Memorial Liturgy, as well as daily acts of worship throughout the year.
Please visit the website to find out more about the parish of St. Teresa’s. http://stteresasheaton.org.uk/