Our Faith in Action 

At St Mary's Catholic Primary School, Catholic Social Teaching is at the heart of our mission to educate the whole child and develop active citizens who live out Gospel values in their daily lives. Catholic Social Teaching is not an additional curriculum subject but a lens through which all learning, relationships and decision-making are viewed.

By embedding the principles of Catholic Social Teaching across the curriculum and wider school life, we aim to help pupils understand their responsibilities to others, develop a commitment to social justice and recognise their role in building God's Kingdom on Earth.

Through prayer, learning, reflection and action, pupils will be encouraged to become compassionate, informed and courageous advocates for positive change within their local, national and global communities.

Our Mission

"As a family of faith, we seek to know, love and serve God through our words and actions."

Catholic Social Teaching provides a practical framework through which our school mission is lived out daily. The principles of CST help pupils understand how they can contribute to building a just, compassionate and loving community.

Core Principles of Catholic Social Teaching

The seven principles of Catholic Social Teaching provide the framework for all curriculum planning and school activities:

• Life and Dignity of the Human Person
• Call to Family, Community and Participation
• Rights and Responsibilities
• Option for the Poor and Vulnerable
• The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers
• Solidarity
• Care for God's Creation

These principles are taught explicitly and revisited regularly across all year groups.

Whole-School Approach

Catholic Social Teaching will be visible throughout every aspect of school life through:

• A half-termly focus on one CST principle.
• Shared CST vocabulary used consistently across school.
• Prayer and Liturgy linked to the half-termly theme.
• Assemblies, displays and charitable activities reflecting the chosen focus.
• Class projects and social action initiatives.
• CST references within curriculum planning.
• Value Ambassador awards recognising pupils who exemplify the focus theme.
• Celebration of pupils demonstrating Gospel-centred action.
• Whole-school displays showcasing CST in action.

Pupil-friendly language may include:

• Living Like Jesus
• Faith in Action
• Building God's Kingdom
• How Catholics Care for People and the Planet
• God's Way of Caring for the World
• Ways to Love Others

These approaches help children understand that faith is lived through action.

Our Journey in Faith

The Catholic life of St Mary's is rich in opportunities for children to encounter God and to deepen their relationship with Him as a loving, compassionate Father. On this page we aim to share with you and celebrate many of the elements which make our Catholic school so special. Here you will find information to help families, the Parish and the school work together in supporting the development of our children’s faith.

Our Parish

At St Mary's we have such strong links with our Parish community. We are so lucky to have the church next to our school grounds. Father Paul Embery is a regular visitor in school and all our classes enjoy joining the Parish mass at different times of the year. 

Prayer and Liturgy

Prayer, worship and liturgical celebration are central to our Catholic tradition and form an integral part of the school day. Prayer is encouraged in a variety of methods: private individual prayer, group prayer, and whole school prayer. Each child takes part in a daily act of worship (5-10 minutes) and formal prayers are used at lunchtime and to open and close the school day sessions. The children also plan and lead acts of worship within each of their classes.

Worship across every class uses the same structure.  We gather, using prayers or actions or music.  Then, we listen to scripture readings.  We reflect on the meaning of the scripture we have heard and after that we respond by doing something or saying a prayer together. Finally, we go forth by reflecting on the scripture and taking this forward into our work throughout the day. It is wonderful to see the children excited, enthusiastic and deepening their faith through prayer and liturgy. 

We celebrate together as a whole school on a Monday and Friday. On Mondays Mrs Birch leads us us in listening to, and reflecting on, the Gospel reading from Sunday. On Fridays we also recognise and celebrate children’s achievements, both in and out of school, during our weekly Celebration Assembly. 

Each class leads a liturgical class assembly once per term. These may be linked to the Church’s Liturgical Year, global issues or British and Catholic values, and the children's learning in their classes for that term. Parents and families are invited to join us for these class liturgies. It is wonderful for the children to leave us all with a reflection, mission idea or practical response to our celebration, enabling all to deepen faith, learn from the teachings of Christ and become the very best we can be for ourselves and for others.

The Intent of our Religious Education Curriculum

At St Mary's we see Religious Education as a way of becoming more human as we grow to love ourselves, love each other and love Jesus Christ. We understand that Jesus challenges us to be ‘perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect’, by the strength of our faith, hope, love and compassion. Therefore, we aspire to see ourselves and each other as ‘precious in His eyes’.

Our Religious Education curriculum aims to:

• Present comprehension content based on the knowledge and understanding of the Catholic faith;
• Enable children to deepen their religious and theological understanding and be able to communicate effectively;
• Develop an authentic vision of the church’s moral and social teaching;
• Raise children’s awareness of the faith and traditions of other religious communities to bring out respect and understanding;
• Develop children’s ability to relate their Catholic faith to daily life;
• Enable children to relate the knowledge they have gained from Religious Education to other subjects;
• Bring clarity to the relationship between faith and life, and between faith and culture.

The Implementation of our Religious Education Curriculum

At the centre of our whole school curriculum is Christ. We plan our RE curriculum with varied opportunities for children to become learned and wise.

We are currently using the Religious Education Directory ‘To Know You More Clearly’ in across the school. We are gradually introducing this using the published scheme 'The Vine & The Branches'.  Many additional resources are used to give the children the best possible opportunities to deepen their understanding and challenge them in lessons which are engaging and make them think deeply through effective questioning. Teachers use CAFOD, TenTen, Missio, Mission Together, Caritas in Action and many other resources to ensure a rich and varied RE curriculum.

Other world faiths and important Liturgical celebrations are interwoven throughout the year as children are encouraged to question and reflect on their own lives and the religious lives of others. Class teachers plan for each topic ensuring that all children have the opportunity to master key skills and to think deeply and to question.

To ensure the children can be assessed accurately teachers ensure that the expectations of the Assessment Standards are integrated into the whole planning process. This will inform the teaching and ensure that expected standards are aspired to. The critical question to address at the planning stage is ‘what must I do, in this theme, to enable children to achieve the standard I know they can achieve?’

Teachers in every year group have the opportunity to share and evaluate plans with teachers in the same year group in these other local schools, on a regular basis. This supports a consistent approach across schools and enables good practice to be shared.

The Impact of our Religious Education Curriculum

At St Mary's we view Religious Education as an integral part of learning and formation. An indicator of success will be the amount of pleasure and knowledge gained by the children from the study of RE and a deepening of their personal knowledge, understanding and response to Christ through their service of others. This will support children to love themselves, love each other and love Jesus Christ so that they are ready when they reach the end of Year 6 to commence the next stage of their life journey.

A further key indicator will be the way in which the children conduct themselves throughout our Catholic Life. As children attend Mass, receive the sacraments, build relationships etc. – with school or their families – children will be able use the knowledge from their Religious Education lessons to guide them.

Our Faith in Action

Caring for God’s Creation in the Year of St Francis

During the Year of St Francis, the St Mary's school community has been proud to take practical action to care for God’s creation, inspired by St Francis of Assisi’s love for the natural world and respect for all living things.

As part of this commitment, our PTFA organised the Great Eccleston Litter Pick, where our children joined other local volunteers to help clean up the streets of our village. The pupils worked enthusiastically, showing pride in their community and understanding the importance of looking after the environment God has entrusted to us. It was wonderful to see them living out our school values through teamwork, responsibility and care for others.

In addition, some of our children were invited to take part in an exciting tree‑planting project, working alongside Lancashire County Council, Wyre Borough Council and Great Eccleston Parish Council. The children began by sowing seeds into a micro‑forest, helping to create new habitats for bees and other pollinating insects. They then helped to plant over 300 new trees at the recreation ground off Pennine View. These trees add to the 800 already planted by volunteers over half term, making a lasting contribution to the local environment.

These activities provided meaningful opportunities for our children to put their faith into action. By caring for their surroundings and helping to protect God’s creation, they are learning the importance of stewardship — understanding that the world is a gift to be cared for and shared with future generations.

We are incredibly proud of our pupils for the enthusiasm and care they have shown. We look forward to watching our trees grow and continuing to work together as a school community to protect and cherish God’s world.