Our school mission statement, 'Hand in hand with God, we love, live and learn' underpins all that we do here at Our Lady's.
The Catholic life of the school is outstanding. This is because of the high priority [that has been given to] nurturing a Catholic community...The environment is rich with reminders that Christ is at the centre of this school. (Section 48 Report 2022)
The role of our chaplain, Fiona Inman is to ensure that Christ remains at the centre of everything that we do and to support the spiritual and mental wellbeing of the whole school community. We also have very close links to the Our Lady's Church next door to our school.
Students
There are numerous ways for children to get involved in the Catholic Life of the school and develop a real sense of service.
The Year 6 Mission Team helps create and deliver our half termly Masses and organises a rolling programme of prayer in our Prayer Shed. The Year 5 mini-Vinnies focus is on 'good works'. They invite elderly parishioners and enjoy serving them serve at half-termly coffee mornings. They make Christmas and Easter cards for parishioners who are housebound and in local carehomes. They also organise charity fundraising for Cafod, Mary's Meals, Comic relief and so on. We have a KS2 'Cool Cats' club for children who want to explore their faith and have fun with faith-related craft activities.
Every child in the school has the opportunity to develop their prayer life, as well as helping create and take part in asssemblies across the school year. All join in with various Chaplaincy events: May Processions, Stations of the Cross, Christmas carols etc
Parents
Our Chaplain regularly posts pictures and messages on Class Dojo relating to prayer, feasts of the Church, good works and other faith matters. Parents have the chance to 'like' and comment and there is a warm sense of faith and support from many among parent body.
Staff
Many members of staff take the opportunity to confide in our Chaplain who seeks to support their wellbeing where invited. Our "Sacred Space" is a valued moment in the busy day when classroom staff can relax with their students and have a conversation at depth about matters of faith and of life in general.
Community
We are proud to have strong links with the local community, supporting the elderly and sometimes raising money for specific local causes. We have a special relationship with Our Lady's Church which the children visit regularly. Many of our staff live locally which contributes to a sense of being an important part of the life of the surrounding community.