Catholic Life & Mission
St. Wilfrid's is a Catholic School, seeking to encourage the child's deeper love and understanding of our faith and foster a desire to follow Jesus.
The family, the school and the Catholic community of our parish are three main areas of development for our children. Religious Education, although part of the Curriculum, is far more than a subject to us at St. Wilfrid's school. It influences all aspects of school life and relationships. We hope that by developing this Catholic emphasis, we are building a caring attitude in school which will be evident in all our relationships between staff and children.
Example, instruction and practice within the context of family, school and parish create an all-pervading atmosphere of Catholic attitudes, values and ethos.
As a Catholic school, we feel that the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils is a major strength of our school. It underpins the education of our pupils and establishes a caring, orderly and self disciplined learning community. We seek to encourage the children to work together and to willingly take on responsibility. They learn to share and value the achievement of others. The moral development of our children flows from a firm spiritual base.
Prayer Life
At St Wilfrid's, we always strive to provide quality experiences of prayer and worship 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 and many other sources of prayer that enable this to take place. We encourage the children to nurture a relationship with God through words, symbols, song, gestures and silence. We are really proud of the Creative Prayer books which the children help to creative as a physical representation of their conversations with God.
Prayer is such an integral part of school life that it can never be confined to ‘timetabled’ slots but may take place in a variety of contexts other than those specifically structured.
Collective Worship
What does Collective Worship look like in St. Wilfrid's school?
Collective Worship may take place at any time during the day. It may take the form of a single act of worship with the whole school community or separate acts of worship in class or phase groups. Collective Worship in our school is an integral part of our ethos, aims and relationships, as Christian values permeate all aspects of school life and all relationships. It is a way of deepening our relationship with God together and individually.
Since we are all faith leaders at St. Wilfrid's school, all members of staff lead prayer and worship. This ensures that Collective Worship remains a fundamental part of school life.
Parents and Carers are also invited to join their children in Class-Led Celebrations of the Word.
Creative Prayer & Child-Led Celebration of the Word
Central to our prayer life in St Wilfrid's is Creative Prayer and Child-Led Celebrations of the Word.
Children prepare reflective sessions themselves and are happy and confident to share this with their peers. Praying together and a commitment by all to strengthen our relationship with Christ is part of the daily experience for all pupils and staff.
The Eucharist
The Eucharist is the core of our Catholic life and therefore is celebrated regularly as a whole school and with the extended community. Children participate in a variety of ways: praying, reading and singing. The opportunity to celebrate Mass with our parishioners, in our church, helps to further the children’s understanding of the richness of the Eucharist.
The school is blessed in having very supportive parish priest, Father Quinn. Father Quinn is in school regularly helping our children to experience what it means to belong to, or take part in the worshipping community of the Church. The children are fortunate to be able to experience the richness of the liturgical life of the church in many ways throughout the year such as the celebration of the Sacrament of Reconciliation and regular Masses at St. Wilfrid's church.
Religious Education
Religious Education is a core subject which is central to our whole school curriculum design.
The Religious Education received by the children in St. Wilfrid's Primary School helps the home in laying the foundations for the formation of a Christian person, as well as instructing the child in the knowledge, skills and understanding of the Catholic faith.
The ‘Come and See’ programme of Religious Education allows children to deepen their own faith with an understanding of the Gospel values in the context of society today. Children are encouraged to ask questions that deepen their knowledge and understanding of other world faiths, whilst promoting tolerance towards others.
The programme is taught through 3 main areas: Church, Sacrament and Christian Living. In these areas, children will be taught about their family, their local community, the sacraments such as Baptism and Marriage as well as key events in the Christian Church such as Advent, Easter and Pentecost.
Within each topic, the children will follow 3 stages: Explore (discuss their initial responses), Reveal (learn, discuss and understand the topic) and Respond (reflect on and celebrate their learning).
There are also Multi-faith weeks which allow the children to learn about other world faiths.
For more information on our Religious Education curriculum, please see the Religious Education page linked below:
