At Sacred Heart, our faith is central to everything we do and we show this in many ways. We have regular assemblies, masses and liturgies to which parents are always welcome and each class has regular visits to explore our own parish church.
Our curriculum and ethos instill the Gospel values in our children, teaching them to be kind, caring, forgiving and respectful young people. Links are made between the teachings of Jesus and how we behave and treat others in our own lives. The curriculum we follow is based around the ‘Come and See’ scheme as recommended by the Bishop’s Conference. More information can be found in the RE Curriculum section.
We expect all children to participate in various RE activities, and we always aim to include all children wherever appropriate. All children have opportunities to lead and participate in prayers, readings and singing whatever their religion. We embrace the culture and heritage of all children and follow a planned programme of work to raise multi-cultural awareness.
Prayer
Prayer is an integral part of school life. In school we pray in lots of different ways:
- During the week pupils from all year groups gather together at assemblies and services.
- Prayer at regular intervals throughout the day.
- There are regular circle times and prayer services in classrooms.
- Each classroom has a dedicated prayer area which includes words from Scripture, Liturgical images, artefacts and prayers.
- Time and opportunities are given for personal prayer.
- Weekly participation in ‘Statement to Live By’.
- Prayer sessions in our ‘Fr Kelly Prayer Garden’, so we feel close to nature with God
We work hard to include families in the prayer life of our school by encouraging them to attend assemblies and prayer services throughout the year
We have a house point system, which involves four houses. These houses were named after the four Gospels of the New Testament: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Upon entry each pupil is allocated to a house which is represented by a different colour.
A pupil can obtain house points for excellent homework, good attendance, being polite, showing kindness, being a good example, trying their best in class, good manners in the dining hall, just showing a little extra effort and good behaviour in and out of the classroom.
Saint Matthew
Saint Mark
Saint Luke
Saint John
In order to develop the faith life of the school, we have a beautiful Spiritual Prayer Garden that all children and adults are welcome to use when they would like time be calm and quiet. The area is also used for reflection and stories.
The garden is located within our Forest School environment and our children helped with deciding what kind of things they would like in it. There are lots of different things to look for which represents God’s wonderful world. The children are allowed to use the garden at lunch times as a choice when they would like some quiet time.
In July 2017, we officially named the space our ‘Fr Kelly Prayer Garden’ in honour of our lovely Parish Priest who retired after a number of years. Fr Kelly was a huge asset to our school and parish community in so many ways. We won’t forget his generosity and caring nature towards our parents, staff and children. The children sang songs, presented cards and finally unveiled our leaving gift to Fr Kelly. The Prayer Garden cross will stand a testament to all he has achieved in our parish and Fr Kelly blessed the cross before he left.
To see what has been going on recently in our Prayer Garden take a look at our Catholic Life blog!
We support lots of charities throughout the year and staff, children and their families are always extremely generous in their support of others. Money is raised through fund raising events, fairs and charitable donations from the school community. In recent years we have made donations to CAFOD, Jeans for Genes, Save the Children, The Poppy Appeal, Red Nose Day, Comic Relief, Children In Need and Wear It Pink.
We also support Newcastle Food Bank by collecting and donating food during Advent. In addition to this we have two international links that we support: Project Iringa and the Bauleni School in Zambia.
Lenten Fun Run: The whole school take part in a sponsored walk / run challenge on our school cross country course. The children complete as many laps as they can in 30 minutes of fun. The money raised supports a number of charities including #Project Iringa in Tanzania.
Lenten Penny Challenge: The whole school take part in the collection of pennies throughout the Lenten term. This culminates in a community event involving parents where each class displays their pennies on the playground. Following this, all the pennies are totaled and the money raised supports the Bauleni School in Zambia.
Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust