Catholic Life & RE

Religious Education

At Sacred Heart, the living presence of the love of Jesus Christ, can be experienced in all areas of daily school life. As a school community, we ensure that we place a strong emphasis on the whole child, nurturing and supporting their spiritual, moral, and emotional development as well as their academic attainment. We help all our children to develop and grow in love and faith, grounded in Catholic values, teaching, and traditions, which are also embodied by our staff.

Prayer and worship are central, as well as integral, to the life of our school. We are fully committed to providing 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 alongside other sources of prayer. We encourage the children to foster their relationship with God through words, symbols, songs, gestures, and silence. Collective worship takes a variety of forms: whole school collective worship with a focus on the week’s Gospel message, class-based worship, whole school hymn practice, daily class prayers, class-based weekly reflection, and prayer in our school chapel and Advent and Lent daily class reflections. Children play an active role in the planning and delivery of collective worship.

Our School Chaplain and Parish Priest, Fr Seelan celebrates a weekly, joint school and parish phase mass. Whole school masses are celebrated on Holy Days of obligation and to mark special days during the school year: with parishioners always welcome to attend. Fr Seelan celebrates the Sacrament of Reconciliation in school during the seasons of Advent and Lent. Monthly parish masses at St Oswald’s Church are led by children from our school: with the children preparing and delivering the readings of the day and bidding prayers.

During the Liturgical Year, there are further opportunities for the school and parish communities to come together in prayer and worship: The Welcoming Service, Advent Prayer Service, Stations of the Cross, and Leaver’s Mass.

The Little Hearts Prayer Group meet weekly; this provides a regular opportunity for children across the school to take part in a wide range of prayer and spiritual activities: creative/arty, practical/physical, linked with the Liturgical Year, praying the Rosary, scripture-based, for a specific need/intention as well as reflections and meditations.

Each month, the whole school focuses on a core Christian Gospel value. These include such values: as compassion, co-operation, tolerance, respect, and service. These values are introduced in assemblies, developed through and embedded in school life. They are a guide to how we live our lives, influencing our attitudes and actions, and encouraging us all to take responsibility for our own learning and behaviour.

As a school community, we support local and global charities through projects and events throughout the year: the School Council and School Chaplains play a key role in this

https://www.rcdea.org.uk/synodal-pathway/