Welcome to our page on The Catholic Life of the School .

Mrs Dawson is our R.E.,  Chaplaincy , Sacramental , RSE and PSHE Lead in school .

The Catholic Life of the School

Welcome to our page on The Catholic Life of the School . You can also find other information on Religion through our Mission statement, our Sacramental Page , our Gift Chaplaincy Page and the detail on the Religious Education Curriculum can be found on the Curruculum section of the Website along with the PSHE Curriculum which also incorporates RSE .

As a faith school the Catholic nature and ethos permeates all our teaching as we are a school led by God’s message of love . 

At Saint Teresa’s RC Primary School, love is placed at the heart of all we do because “God is love”.

Our school mission is:

“Loving to Learn, Learning to Love”

Saint Teresa of Lisieux centred her whole life around love. Her motto was to “Live in Love”. We are all trying to follow Saint Teresa’s 'Little Way' and want to grow in God’s love.
 

“Miss no single opportunity of making some small sacrifice, here by a smiling look, there by a kindly word; always doing the smallest right and doing it all for love.” (Saint Teresa)

From the moment the children and their families enter Saint Teresa’s we celebrate them becoming a part of the Saint Teresa’s school family.
 

Our Chaplaincy Team welcomes new families by leading us in prayer at our new parents meetings, by giving a welcome card and a packet of sunflower seeds. We believe that we are a nurturing school where love lies at the heart of all we do.  

As our children leave our school they all give their parents a rose. Just as Saint Teresa sent roses down from Heaven, we too will always be part of the St Teresa’s school family. They also receive a crucifix as a sign that God will be always with them and that Jesus will journey with them on their path.

Religious Education at Saint Teresa's

At Saint Teresa's we use the 'Come and See' Programme of Religious Education as recommended by the Salford Diocese. The aim of this programme is to explore the Religious dimension of questions about life, dignity and purpose within the Catholic Tradition. Links are made with the pupil's own experiences and with universal experience. Links are also made with the experience of other faith traditions. The programme is therefore both 'objective' and 'subjective'.
 

For all children the programme will raise questions and provide materials for reflecting on their own experience. It will help them to explore the beliefs, values and way of life of the Catholic tradition and where appropriate, of other faith traditions

Each term a question is explored about a mystery of life and the Christian belief, which answers it.

Autumn Term Where did I come from? Life - Creation

Spring Term Who am I? Dignity - Incarnation

Summer Term Why am I here? Purpose – Redemption

The question is explored through three areas. A different dimension explored each term.

AREA:- Faith community - The Church

Autumn Term Family - Domestic Church

Spring Term Community - Local Church

Summer Term World - Universal Church

AREA:- The Celebration in ritual - The Sacraments

Autumn Term Belonging - Baptism, Confirmation

Spring Term Relating - Eucharist

Summer Term Inter-relating - Reconciliation

AREA:- Way of Life - Christian living

Autumn Term Loving - Advent, Christmas

Spring Term Giving - Lent, Easter

Summer Term Serving - Pentecost

RELATING THE TOPICS TO THE THEMES

Community of Faith - Church Themes

Celebration of Ritual - Sacramental Themes

Way of Living - Christian Living Themes

The programme follows the liturgical year 

Autumn Domestic Church, Baptism/Confirmation, Advent/ Christmas

Spring Local Church, Eucharist, Lent/Easter

Summer Pentecost, Reconciliation, Universal Church

Study of other Religions 

Judaism 

Islam/Hinduism/Sikhism

We enjoy a focus on St Teresa following The Little Way. We devote our week to learning about how we can use good deeds and follow the little way of St Teresa to help our friends, family and community. We have a whole school assembly where individual classes contribute with a poem, dance, song , piece of art work etc. The children are encouraged to bring flowers for our prayer garden as St Teresa was also known as The Little Flower. At the end of the week the school award focuses on "Love in action ". 

Other faiths

Vatican II was a major step forward in openness of attitude and relationships with believers of other faiths. Catholics are called to be committed to respecting people of other faiths and to recognise that God is at work in them. In the multi-faith society of today, RE 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.

We follow the recommended approach and teaching material for other faiths provided in ‘Come and See’, using other resources to supplement this.

Our Chaplains led our Service using dance , drama and music to convey the message of The Easter Story . A former pupil led us in Lord of the Dance as Jesus .

Marist Centre Visits and Reflections 

Year Three and Year Six visit the Marist centre. The Year Three Children are given the opportunity to reflect upon their Sacramental Journey.  Year Six focus on Transition. The Chaplaincy team also visit the Marist Centre for training. Mrs Dawson also leads reflections with the Sacramental class.

Robinwood residential /Training

The Year Six children visit Robinwood each year. 

Gift Chaplaincy training from Cafod

Gift Chaplaincy training in house

Attending Diocesan planning meetings for Gift Chaplaincy Celebrations 

Reflection stations led by Chaplaincy team during Advent and Lent 

Chaplaincy led Assemblies throughout the year 

Craft Based Religious activities led by Chaplaincy Team in Summer term.

Regular Staff Liturgies

Regular RE training for Staff

Outside Agencies 

Cafod and Caritas representatives often visit to lead assemblies in school. Training of Chaplains by the Cafod team. 

Charities

We support  many charities throughout the year including CAFOD, St Joseph's Penny, Macmillan, Wood Street Mission, Francis House, Cornerstones and other charities which we as a school may want to focus on eg Alzheimer's.  Classes organise sponsored events during Lent to raise money for Cafod and Caritas . We also hold an Easter egg raffle which goes towards St Joseph's Penny.   Our Race for Life event takes place during Healthy Lifestyles week to raise money for worthwhile cancer charities. Our Chaplaincy team and School Council often come up with ideas to raise money for charities close to their own hearts .   Our Christmas and Summer fairs raise money for our school with the wonderful support of FROSTY ‘s . 

Sacramental Preparation 

Children in Year 3 receive the sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion. Preparation is carried out in class with the class teacher. Meetings are held in the parish centre and parents attend with their children. School supports this process by encouraging participation and reminding families of the dates and times of the meetings. The teachers work with the children on the day of the meetings  and celebrate mass with Father Anthony and their families.