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Our School Mission
Our mission at St. Peter’s is to “Love God and Love One Another” by:
- being a welcoming, generous and nurturing community
- being resilient and ambitious in our learning and sharing our knowledge
- showing kindness and respect to everyone
Love God and Love One Another is our school mission and is fully understand and lived out by both children and adults at St Peter’s. The children understand that they are all made in the likeness and image of God and that he sent his only son, Jesus to be with us.
His close friend, companion and follower was Peter and as Jesus said “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.” Matthew 16:18.
The children are reminded about St. Peter’s attributes of kindness, friendship, faithfulness, and determination in following Jesus’ call to be a good person who loves God and loves one another. This is celebrated throughout the year but especially when the St Peter’s Award to given to ten chosen children at the end of each academic year.
Facts about St. Peter
- Peter came from the village of Bethsaida in Galilee and his father was a fisherman
- Peter worked the fishing nets with his father and his brother Andrew at the lakeside town of Capernaum. Andrew also joined the group of Jesus’ disciples on the same day.
- Peter and Andrew were among the first to be chosen by Jesus to be his close followers
- From the moment Jesus met Peter he knew that Peter would be the rock of the Church
- Peter is traditionally considered to be the head of Jesus’ 12 Apostles
- Peter’s original name was Simon, Peter being a name given to him by Jesus
- Jesus gave Peter the added name of Cephas, an Aramaic appellation meaning “rock.” This was translated into Greek as Petros(from the Greek petra, “rock”) and became the Latin Petrus and the English Peter
- Peter was the first bishop of Rome
- Peter was the first of the Apostles to see Jesus after his resurrection from the dead
- We are told of various missionary trips which Peter undertook in order to preach about Jesus
- When faced with his fate, Peter asked to be crucified upside down. It is said he did not feel worthy to be martyred in the same manner as Christ
- Peter is the patron saint of Popes, Rome, fishermen, and locksmiths
Our Parish
We have strong links with the parish of St. Peter’s which we are fortunate to have adjacent to our school site. Families take an active part in weekend Masses and our children serve on the altar. We regularly visit church to attend Mass and other celebrations during the year. Our children lead school Masses through the readings, offertory and singing. School families and parishioners regularly join us to celebrate Mass.
The church building also supports the teaching of the curriculum. We run a successful and well-established Sacramental Programme involving children, parents, parish members and our Parish Priest.
We share with the parish our school achievements through displaying the weekly newsletter on our school board at the back of church and throughout the year we take opportunities to share the children’s work. Such as, displaying the children’s Bambinelli on the third Sunday of Advent, Paschal candles during the season of Easter and Art work that is created for Voices and visions.
We have shared with the parish our "pledgehog" of Live Simply pledges and invited parishioners to write their own pledges to be added to it.
The Mini Vinnies completed a litter pick and tidy up in the church grounds.
The parishioners contributed to the Mini Vinnies' Christmas food collection.
Prayer and Liturgy
Prayer and Liturgy is an important part of our daily lives at St. Peter’s.
Prayer Areas
Throughout the school there are prayer areas that are liturgical year based and those that promote certain times of the year. For example, Remembrance and The Rosary. All classrooms have a prayer table that is at the front so it is visible for all and a focal point for when we say our daily prayers and class Prayer and Liturgy sessions. Each prayer space/table has a liturgical coloured cloth plus an age appropriate Bible on a stand, a cross or crucifix and other artefacts that are appropriate for the time of year.
Daily prayers are led by Class Prayer Leaders and certain prayers are taught in different year groups.
All Prayer and Liturgy sessions are based on the structure of
Gospel Prayer and Liturgy – Led by Headteacher
This weekly Prayer and Liturgy is based on the Sunday’s Gospel and it allows us to come together as a school to reflect on the message within the Gospel. It gives everyone a focus for the week and reminds us of how we should live our daily lives.
Sacramental Programme
The baptised children who are in Year 3 prepare and receive both the sacraments of reconciliation and the eucharist. They are invited with their families to four meetings during the course of the year. Sessions are based on the book ‘Jesus Comes to Me’ by Dora Nash and this fully supports the Year 3 Religious Education curriculum set by the diocesan scheme. This programme was chosen because it involves both family and the Parish Priest.
Parents are also invited to attend an information evening about the Sacramental Preparation programme which is followed by an Enrolment Mass and the four meetings follow over the course of the year. Meetings take place in the school hall. Pupils and their parents gather for group discussion, activities and reflection based on certain chapters from the book.
The meetings are prepared by the Religious Education Leader and are led by the Parish Priest and Senior Leadership Team, supported by the Year 3 staff.
The importance of receiving the sacraments is emphasised and is shared with the parents throughout the programme. Their involvement is paramount.
The Religious Education Leader and Head Teacher liaise regularly with the Parish Priest to discuss the development of the programme, which commences with an Enrolment Mass for the pupils and their families in church in the Autumn term.
First Holy Communion Programme Dates 2022-2023 for Parents and Carers
Act of Contrition
O my God, because you are so good,
I am very sorry that I have sinned against you,
And by the help of your grace I will not sin again.
Amen
Catholic Social Teachings
At St. Peter’s we support our pupils and staff to engage and respond to Catholic Social Teachings (CST). We ensure that it is rooted in our daily practise as people who ‘Love God and Love One Another’. It is our moral compass, guiding us on how to live out our faith in the world. The seven principles of Catholic Social Teaching are:
Our faith calls us to love God and to love our neighbours in every situation. Following in the footsteps of Christ, we hope to make present in our unjust and broken world, the justice, love and peace of God. We work closely with the Our Lady of the Magnificat Multi-Academy Company when teaching and exposing the children to the seven principles.
Virtues and Values
Catholic schools within the Archdiocese of Birmingham ensure that as part of their Catholic teachings from Learning and Growing as the People of God, the values and virtues are a key focus. The values and virtues show how pupils are growing in their faith, as well as how schools help children to grow. Every half term there is a different focus.
These values and virtues are taken from the Jesuit Institute which is rooted in the teachings of St Ignatius. They have created a Pupil Profile in which 8 pairs of complementary words have been placed together. The Archdiocese of Birmingham have been allowed to use the Jesuit material and have renamed it the Catholic Schools Profile.
Each half term the whole school will focus on one pair of words; we will spend time reflecting on the meaning of the words; how we see these values and virtues in action in our lives and in the lives of others. Work on the meaning of the words is carried out in class and whole school assemblies. Demonstrating these values and virtues are celebrated through the class values and virtue trees.
Mini Vinnies
The Mini Vinnies are part of the St Vincent de Paul Society in England and Wales which is for children between 7 and 11 years of age. The group follows the formula ‘see, think, do’ with the simple aim of finding people in need and helping them. Here at St. Peter’s, we have a group running with some of our Year 4 children. We were established in October 2022.
They meet every Friday during lunchtime to pray, discuss and support others so they can make a difference in our community.
The sessions are led by the children with individuals taking on specific roles to assist the group. These include: secretary, reader of the weekly spiritual reflection and treasurer.
Some of the activities they have already completed are: making Christmas cards for a local care home, and organising a school fundraising day for Heart Heroes.
Introducing our Mini Vinnies
Activities completed by our Mini Vinnies
Easter cards
The Mini Vinnies have been busy making Easter cards. The cards look beautiful and we are sure they are going to bring smiles to the faces of St Peter's parishioners!
Litter picking
Some of the Mini Vinnies completed a litter pick during their lunchtime in the church grounds and along Charford Road. They picked up a lot of rubbish and were very pleased to see the difference they had made. Fantastic work everyone!
Launching our school prayer garden
The Mini VInnies have been meeting with the Liturgical Leaders to discuss plans for our new prayer garden. They helped create a presentation which they shared with the school, inviting the children to share their ideas for the design of our garden. Following this, children from across the school brought in fabulous designs and it is clear to see the care and thought that has gone into their work. Well done everyone who participated!
Christmas Food Collection
The Mini VInnies organised a Christmas food collection for the Basement Project. They contacted them to find out what items would be useful for festive hampers, made a poster to advertise the collection and helped to sort the donated food ready for it to be delivered.
Making Christmas cards
The children made beautiful Christmas cards for the residents of Heathbrook House Care Home.
Litter picking
We carried out a litter pick and tidy up in the grounds of St Peter's church and on the pavement outside school. The children did a fabulous job and were very pleased to see the difference they made.
Remembrance Day
The Mini Vinnies worked together to create a poppy wreath for our remembrance display. They each drew around their hand to create the leaves of the wreath and then made poppies in red, white and purple.
Harvest food collection
The Mini Vinnies organised our school Harvest food collection which was donated to the Basement Project. They wrote to the Basement Project to find out what foods would be most useful for us to collect. Then they shared this information on posters which were displayed around school and emailed home to our families. Once we had received the food donations they sorted and bagged all the food up. They were delighted to count 20 bags of donations!
Pen recycling
We have set up a pen recycling initiative in school. We made and distributed signs to every class to remind us all to save our used plastic pens. These will be sent for recycling and will raise funds for a local hospice.
Charity Work
Every year at St Peter’s the staff and pupils work hard to support various charities, raising large amounts of money through different fundraising events.
Charities that we have supported annually or in the past are:
We are extremely fortunate to receive the support from St.Vincent de Paul society, at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Catholic Church, Redditch. They support our families throughout the course of the year with food vouchers.
Section 48
Please see attached our last Section 48 Inspection Report.