Catholic Life at St. Francis’

School Prayer

"Serve and support in all we do
Together we care and belive in truth
Faithful and loving, we always want peace
Responsible, thoughtful and gentle we'll be
Always trustworthy, always kind
Neighbours to all, in God's love you'll find
Counting our blessings, grateful we are
Smiles and tolerance, we need to share - to make the world happy and fair."

Shalom Academy Links

We have continued our strong links with the Shalom Academy in Kenya. The children share letters, videos and we regularly have collections to send to our friends at the Shalom Academy. This year we decided to share some hymns with our friends to show how we praise God and give thanks. The children at the Shalom Academy have enjoyed the videos and hymns that we have shared and decided to record their own version of the hymn, ‘If I were a Butterfly’ to send to the children at St. Francis.

Raising Money for the Shalom Academy

We have continued our connection with the Shalom Academy School in Kenya. As part of our Harvest Festival cake sale, we decided to split the money between Macmillan Cancer Support and our friends in Kenya, at the Shalom Academy. Thanks to the wonderful cakes made by parents, grandparents and friends of the school, we managed to raise a brilliant £200. It is wonderful to see the school raise money and support different charities and communities. As part of our link, we have sent a video of a class assembly, with the singing to one of their favourite songs! The children in Beacon Class continue to write letters and keep in touch with their friends at the Shalom Academy.

Writing Letters to our Pen Pals

Our School

As you enter our School, you know you are at St. Francis’, due to our stunning rural location, where we care for the environment, like our patron saint, Saint Francis. Everyone is warmly welcomed at our school, you are greeted with humility, care and compassion and respect. We hold our school values in high esteem as they have come directly from the Gospel Values.

St. Francis will greet you on your arrival, as you will be lead through past the offices you are surrounded by our beautiful station of the cross and through to our promise corridors. Our corridors are filled with Laudato Si, Care for our common home promises, along with our Season of Creation display.

Walking down the corridor to the hall, you are greeted by Mary, and our Visio Divina display to remind us of the importance Mary has in our Catholic faith. Walking into the hall the vales tree displays the New Testament wall, Bible Buddies corner is underneath the Old Testament interactive display and our links with friends in Kenya display.

Catholic Social Teaching at St. Francis

Catholic Social Teaching is based on the belief that God has a plan for creation, a plan to build his kingdom of peace, love and justice.

It holds that God has a special plan for every single one of us, whoever we are. Our part in this plan isn’t just limited to things ‘spiritual’, or times when we do “religious things.” It involves every aspect of our lives, from the things we pray about, to how we live as a responsible global citizen.

Our part in this story is a kind-of vocation for the common good, a call to treat everyone as our brothers and sisters. It is something that we all share.

The Catholic Church has seven principles of social teaching that we share with our children through all that we do, through the curriculum, special events and activity and through our ordinary actions in school.

At St Francis’, Catholic Social Teaching is incorporated into our curriculum. Children are asked to put their faith into action and reflect on how their learning enables them to do so.

Catholic Social Teaching underpins the essence of our daily school life. As members of the Catholic Church, we are all called upon to preserve the dignity of all human beings, to care for creation, and to reach out to our sisters and brothers in need. Pope Francis emphasises that it is our duty to work together to bring about a more just and peaceful world: to put love into action. It is vital that our children can articulate the connection between Jesus’ teaching and doing good deeds. We use the CAFOD Catholic Social Teaching resources and the animal mascots to support the children’s understanding of principles.

The animal mascots are used with EYFS, KS1 and Lower KS2. The keys are introduced in the resources for Upper Key Stage 2.

We are called to uphold the principles of Catholic Social Teaching.

CAFOD CLUB – WORLD GIFTS

The CAFOD Club raised £80 from their two stalls at the Christmas Fair!

Children in the CAFOD Club decided to create a ‘Name the Rudolf’ stall and ‘Guess the Sweets in the Jar’ stall. Children helped run the stalls and promoted the work of CAFOD to help others across the world! The money was spent on:

A Sewing Machine
Chirpy Chickens
Emergency Water
School Starter Pack
Vegetable Garden
7. A Queen Bee

St Paul tells us that each person is a work of art, created by God and chosen for a unique purpose. Ephesians 2:10

At St Francis’ we recognise the human dignity of others by:

Being respectful.
Treating people equally.
Raising awareness of civil rights.
Preferential option for the vulnerable.

“You are not making a gift of your possessions to the poor person. You are handing over to them what is theirs.” St Ambrose (340-397 AD)

At St Francis’ we show we are part of a community by:

Working together.
Working for the common good.
Participating and engaging.
Being active members of our community.

Do the hard work of getting along with each other, treating each other with dignity and honour. (James 3:17)

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Matthew 22:37-40

At St Francis’ we recognise the dignity of work by:

Respecting all workers.
Contributing to society.
Making responsible economic choices.
Supporting wellbeing and workers’ rights.

sharing our talents with others

Blessed are they who maintain justice, who constantly do what is right- Psalm 106:3

Fear not for I am with you. I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

At St Francis’ we acknowledge our rights and responsibilities by:

Recognising our duties as members of a community.
Standing up for what is right.
Following our school rules.

The ecological crisis is also a summons to profound interior conversion…Living our vocation to be protectors of God’s handiwork is essential to a life of virtue; it is not an optional or a secondary aspect of our Christian experience. Pope Francis – Laudato Si

At St Francis’ we show we care for creation by:

Taking responsibility for our environment.
Making environmentally responsible choices.
Having awe and wonder for the natural world.

Blessed Pope Paul VI taught that “If you want peace, work for justice”. The Gospel calls us to be peacemakers.

At St Francis’ we show solidarity by:

Raising awareness of social justice.
Writing to our local leaders.
Praying for others.
Making connections.
Making socially responsible choices.

‘For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Matthew 25:35-40

At St Francis’ we show a preferential option for the poor and vulnerable by:

Fundraising for charitable causes.
Raising awareness.
Treating others with dignity and respect.
Thinking of the needs of others.

…We are agreed today that the earth is essentially a shared inheritance, whose fruits are meant to benefit everyone.’ Pope Francis, Laudato Si’

At St Francis’ we recognise the need to share the worlds resources fairly by:

Celebrating Fair Trade Fortnight.
Becoming a Fair aware school.
By sharing our belongs.

“Our common bonds of humanity demand that we live in harmony and that we promote what is good for one another. These ethical implications are the reason why solidarity is a basic key to peace.” St John Paul II

At St Francis’ we show we are people of peace by: