Catholic Life 

As a Catholic school in the modern world, we believe that the education, guidance and challenge pupils receive in school should permeate and be evident in all aspects of their lives.

God has a plan for our creation and how we should live our lives, this is evident through all aspects of St Bede’s life. Our belief in God, is not limited to Mass on Sunday or Feast Days but should be evident as we teach the children about growing up in the modern world as responsible global citizens. The seven principles of Catholic Social Teaching that we are called to uphold are:

Seven Major Themes of Catholic Social Teaching

• Life and Dignity of the Human Person, for example respecting the unborn child, learning about and campaigning for asylum seekers.
• Call to Family, Community, and Participation, we teach about the value of marriage in lessons and promote community cohesion with our ecumenical work.
• Rights and Responsibilities, we expect pupils to take on leadership responsibility and as a result they have the right to contribute in a meaningful way to school life.
• Option for the Poor and Vulnerable, learn about social and historical inequality and its causes, pupils will be actively supporting and being advocates for the poor.
• The Dignity of Work and the Rights of Workers, pupils know that their work adds to the treasure of the church. They are advocates for workers across the world.
• Solidarity and Peace, the school’s motto is PAX in Virtute. Let peace be my strength.
• Care for God’s Creation, being proactive and informed as guardians of the earth and all creation.

These principles of Catholic teaching are embedded across our entire curriculum and can be seen in many areas. Examples on the Curriculum maps on our website, show that we challenge pupils to look at modern issues and examine with them how they would respond, and more importantly how God would want us to respond. Our curriculum is flexible to ensure that current affairs such as Black Lives Matter are not only covered in our curriculum by reading books such as Journey to Jo ’Burg and examining slavery in the Americas but can be discussed in our reflection times each day. Coverage of the Holocaust is not just linked to History but is covered in RE in Judaism and in Art and Music so that pupils can express their views through the medium of Art.

Our Collective Worship is a huge part of school life and we tackle issues of Social Justice with worship prepared by the children to further enhance their learning and gain an appreciation of issues in the world. Our collective worship plan has dedicated sessions where we look at issues of social justice such as National Holocaust Day, Black History Month, Anti Bullying week, Human Trafficking, Martin Luther King, Migrants and Refugees and World Water Day.

As well as extensive coverage in our curriculum, we build into St Bede’s life our non-uniform days, opportunities for pupils to work closely with CAFOD and Mini-Vinnies and the Columbans at St Chads. By giving pupils the opportunity to look at the plight of refugees, pupils have worked hard to elicit responses from people in authority to try and make these people’s lives better. Staff have served at soup kitchens for the homeless in the centre of Birmingham, run by the St Vincent de Paul Society, taking sandwiches made by the pupils in school to alleviate the plight of the homeless closer to home. Such is the demand to make sandwiches that in our last full academic year every pupil in school volunteered to make sandwiches at least once. All facets of school life involves staff and pupils alike displaying servant leadership. We are all here for each other and the community we serve, and our mission is to support those less fortunate than ourselves. As a school community our Mission Statement and Ethos highlights the truth that we are all made in God’s Image and as such all have an inherent and unique dignity. This is reflected in our relationships, our focus and actions as well as our policies and governance at the heart of our School. We are all brothers and sisters together in a community which dovetails into one wider, more diverse and global community who share our common home together on our planet.

As a result, our children feel that we are making a difference to the world by having an impact on social justice.

“Come, ring out our joy to the Lord; hail to the rock who saves us. Let us come before Him, giving thanks, with songs let us hail the Lord.” _{Psalm 95:1,2 NCB} 

Our School Chapel is at the heart of our School. It is a place of prayer, reflection, and worship. During Term Time we are privileged to have the Blessed Sacrament reserved here in our School Tabernacle. We welcome the Presence of the Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist which makes our Chapel a special place where all are welcome. It is a place of spiritual rest and refreshment for pupils and Staff and is open all day to all, especially before and after school and during break and lunchtime. 

Every day, a special candle is lit for the prayer intentions of all pupils, Staff, and their families. 

For our Key Stage 2 Pupils, weekly Class Mass is celebrated in our Chapel as are all four-Year Group Masses in the Chapel and Hall area. For our Key Stage Three pupils, Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and Benediction are celebrated.  

There is a weekly Rosary group which meet to pray at lunchtime in the Chapel.  

During Advent, we have a special Advent wreath created which is blessed as well as our Nativity Crib and Christmas Tree.  

During Lent Stations of the Cross are prayed as we have some fine examples of the colourful artwork of the Benedictine Sisters of Turvey Abbey. 

Year round, we have a special memorial area and Remembrance Book where loved ones are remembered and honoured and during November, we open our special Book of Remembrance for pupils and Staff to record the names of deceased loved ones, light candles and offer prayers. The Eternal Flame is lit throughout the month of November as we honour our loved ones in a unique way. 

At key times throughout the school year the Chapel is an honoured sacred space and provides the focus for our collective Prayer, Worship and Liturgy as a Catholic School community.  

God is spirit, and those who worship must worship in spirit and in truth.

John 4:23-24

We are privileged to be able to come together frequently daily and weekly for our times of prayer liturgy and Collective Worship here in Saint Bede’s Catholic Middle School.

DAILY PRAYERS:

Every day we come together in our Form and Teaching Class Groups as we pray the four main daily prayers at key points throughout the day. Our Morning Offering, Grace before meals, Grace after meals and our closing prayer to give thanks to God for the school day now passed are pivotal moments for collective prayer and reflection.

KEY STAGE & YEAR GROUP PRAYER & LITURGY:

On Mondays, we come together for Key Stage Prayer and Liturgy. On Thursdays, we come together for Year Group Prayer and Liturgy. This is led by SLT, SMT, Form Tutors with pupil involvement and by the School Lay Chaplain for key feasts and celebrations. All our Prayer and Liturgy follows the Cycle of Prayer and the Liturgical Calendar of the Church and is celebrated within our Sports Hall facility here in School.

WEDNESDAY WEEKLY WORD:

Each Wednesday, as part of DIRT time within the RE Department there is a session of biblical hermeneutics which is reading and listening to the scripture of the week called the Weekly Word. This is an interactive presentation which lasts for 10-20minutes or so and can include video links to help explain the weekly reading from God’s Word, the Bible, and there are reflection and discussion questions which help to link the reading to daily life and experience and help the pupils and Staff to reflect on the reading for their own lives. Each reading week by week also encompasses the Half Termly Catholic Virtues and Values being adopted and fostered day to day in School.

CELEBRATION OF HOLY MASS & BENEDICTION:

On Friday afternoons, each week we celebrate Holy Mass with each Key Stage 2 Class for Years 5 and 6 in our School Chapel. Also on Friday afternoons, for Key Stage 3 Years 7 and 8 a special bespoke service of prayer and Reflection before the Blessed Sacrament when a service of Eucharistic Adoration and Benediction is celebrated in our School Chapel and Hall areas.

At key times throughout the School Year, as part of the Church Liturgical Year we come together to celebrate special Masses such as New Academic Year Welcome Mass, Year Group and Key Stage Mass, Mass for Advent and Christmas, Mass in honour of Saint Bede our Holy Patron Saint and we include special times of prayer and liturgy to celebrate our School Community and include our House Saints: Saints Bernadette, Chad, Kenelm, John Henry Newman and Wulstan.

The mission statement is the beating heart of the school. It is lived and breathed by all members of the community.

We are a GOOD Catholic School, please click below to read our full inspection.

S48 Inspection - 2022

Relationships and sex education (RSE) at St Bede’s Catholic Middle School 

Relationships and sex education is about the emotional, social and cultural development of pupils and involves learning about relationships, sexual health, sexuality, healthy lifestyles, diversity and personal identity. It is crucially linked to safeguarding, and the personal development of all pupils. RSE is taught within the SMVSC education curriculum. Biological aspects of RSE are taught within the science curriculum, and other aspects are included in religious education (RE). We use guidance from the PHSE association and alongside this, we use faith inspired resources and guidance produced by Ten Ten which has been recommended by the diocese. RSE involves a combination of sharing information and exploring issues and values.  

Whilst promoting Catholic values and virtues and teaching in accordance with Church teaching, we will ensure that pupils are offered a balanced programme by providing an RSE programme that offers a range of viewpoints on issues. Pupils will also receive clear scientific information as well as covering the aspects of the law pertaining to RSE (in secondary schools/academies relating to forced-marriage, female genital mutilation, abortion, the age of consent and legislation relating to equality). Knowing about facts and enabling young people to explore differing viewpoints is not the same as promoting behaviour and is not incompatible with our school’s promotion of Catholic teaching. We will ensure that pupils have access to the learning they need to stay safe, healthy and understand their rights as individuals. We expect and encourage all of our pupils to become ‘well-rounded individuals’. Our RSE curriculum enables pupils to understand the values and qualities associated with a responsible, tolerant and law-abiding citizen. 

During our teaching of RSE, we use resources that are aligned with the teaching requirements set out in the statutory RSE guidance. Many of resources are supported by Ten:Ten, who help our school community grow in faith, love, understanding and compassion. They do this by creating a wide-range of unique media-rich programmes and resources, inspired by our Christian faith. 

Our KS2 pupils, use a fully resourced curriculum scheme of work in Relationships and Health Education (RHE) for Catholic schools. These resources are approved by Catholic dioceses throughout England and Wales, the entire teaching is underpinned with a Christian faith understanding that our deepest identity is as a child of God – created, chosen and loved by God. The programme is fully inclusive of all pupils and their families. 

In KS3, our pupils learn about Relationship, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) within the context of a Christian understanding of human sexuality rooted in the wisdom and teaching of the Catholic Church. Addressing the needs of our pupils where they are at in today’s world, the programme is fully inclusive of all students and their families.