CATHOLIC LIFE
RELIGIOUS EDUCATION
At St Lawrence’s we are committed to the Catholic Faith, recognising and valuing every individual as special and unique in the image and likeness of God. Religious Education in our school is central to the educative mission of the Church and intrinsically linked with our school Mission Statement and permeates everything that we teach.
At St Lawrence’s, RE lessons are steeped in faith and are enjoyable, where each child feels they belong to our school community and always feel included and accepted. Our aim is that in RE lessons everyone feels respected for their beliefs and expressions of faith and where ultimately, all children achieve.
These intentions fall in line with our mission TOLERANCE, KINDNESS and RESPECT.
OUR VALUES & ETHOS
At St Lawrence’s we are always aware of our values- what makes us a unique and special school. Of course we aim to be excellent at English, Maths and all of the other subjects but what is more important is growing up to be an excellent person. In line with our Catholic Ethos, we have identified a number of attributes from the Gospel that make us special:
OUR GOSPEL VALUES
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Love: A Christ like love that respects the talents of each person in our school
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Hope: A hope that helps us see a life beyond our present ones
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Faith: Helps us to do God’s work in the world
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Truth: We should show God’s truth in all that we do
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Joy: Show that we are healthy and happy and live our lives to the full
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Prayer: Through prayer we stay close to God
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Mission: Our mission is to live how Christ lived.
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Justice: We live a life that works against injustice and wrong
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Peace: We know that if we love one another we can bring peace to the world around us
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Mercy: We show forgiveness to others
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Community: We believe our community unites us to do the work of Jesus
HOW WE TEACH OUR VALUES
Each term a class will look at one of the values that we have identified and will explore it. We then meet in assembly as a whole school and share what we have found out. For example, recently, Year 6 learned about mission and community. They went to Byker Lodge (a home for the elderly) and played bingo with the residents. They also made cookies and spent the afternoon there. Year 1 learned about the importance of telling the truth through folk tales. They then learned a song to remember what they had learned.
In addition to this we have four weekly assemblies (two whole school and two Key Stage) where we explore these values further. We also look at stories with specific morals and other values such as fairness, inclusion, accepting difference and tolerance. We have a school council that was elected democratically. We invited Cllr Nick Kemp in to talk about democracy and his role as a councillor. The council meet every fortnight to address decisions where a pupil voice is relevant. So far they have chosen new play equipment to be shared in the Key Stage 1 and 2 yards on a small given budget. Next, they will look at a project for a proposed outdoor classroom.
MISSION STATEMENT
God’s love is the heart of our school.
We care for each other, treating others as we wish to be treated ourselves.
We will always try to be the best that we can be through tolerance, kindness and respect.
Loving Jesus, Loving Learning, Loving Life.
SCHOOL PRAYER
Dear God
Help us to care for our friends.
Help us to be kind and tolerant, treating others how we would like to be treated.
Help us to show our love for Jesus in all that we say and do
Let us always do our best and work hard
Amen
OUR PARISH
Our local parish is St. Lawrence, Newcastle upon Tyne
Address
St. Lawrence, Byker Crescent
Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne
NE6 2JT
Telephone
(0191) 265 521
