Mission

Loving to learn; Learning to love like Jesus.

At St Monica's our mission statement inspires and guides us in our approach to our curriculum, our additional enrichment, our behaviour policy and how we work together with all stakeholders.  Learning about the teachings of Jesus in the Gospels supports the moral and spiritual development of our pupils.  We recognise that every person has their own strengths and talents, and so our curriculum is designed to provide a wide range of enriching opportunities for learning.  Each term we hold a Mission Day, where we delve further into our understanding of our mission and how we are living it through the lens of a focus, like thanksgiving and character strengths. 

The aims of the school are summed up in our acrostic prayer: 

Share and love one another 

Together work to be like Jesus

Make people smile 

Only teamwork can make dreams happen 

Never stop trying 

Include everyone in all we do  

Care for others around the world  

Aim to be the best we can be 

The staff, governors, parents and children of the school pledge to promote the Mission of the school through our actions and prayers. 

In Autumn 2023, Year 5&6 children worked with the Headteacher, Mrs Pearson, to write a school prayer which is now said every morning in all classes:

As we gather here today,

Keep us safe in every way.

Let love of learning fill our mind,

Our hearts and hands be always kind.

Courage, hope, faith and joy we value

Working together to be more like you.

Help and guide us to make good choices,

And may we speak your word with true brave voices.  

Amen

Autumn 2023 Mission Day - Harvest Thanksgiving

Our theme in the Autumn term was Harvest and Thanksgiving, and the children spent the day exploring why the harvest is important, people who help get crops from the ground to food on our tables, things we are grateful for in our world. Following our mission line of 'learning to love like Jesus', all the children listened to stories Jesus told which are linked with this theme, and our older pupils examined pieces of scripture which help us to understand the Kingdom of God. All round it was an energy filled day full of reflection, and we ended it with a lovely prayer assembly pulling all the children's work and our thoughts together. We were joined by some parents and grandparents for this which was lovely.

Spring 2024 Mission Day - Jesus and His followers - Character strengths

Across school the children participated in learning activities focused on Jesus and His followers, and considered what character strengths it takes to be a follower of Jesus.

Each Year group also spent time on an individual focus -

Reception began with Jesus himself, and learnt about how we are called to follow in his footsteps, and what that means.
Year 1& 2 focused on Jesus calling the fishermen Peter, James and John. They thought about the character strengths that the fishermen would have and the reasons Jesus chose them. They thought about how Jesus called them (and us) to be "fishers of men".
Year 3 looked at the disciple Thomas, and considered what it means to believe without seeing something - to have faith.
Year 4 focused on two important figures in Jesus' life, Mary and Martha (the sisters of Lazarus). Although the sisters may not have left their home to follow Jesus from town to town as the men did, the class considered what the scriptures tell us about their faith and love for Jesus.
Year 5 looked carefully at the calling of Matthew, who was a tax collector and not well loved by his community due to his dishonest ways. They considered what Jesus' calling of such a man meant about Jesus - how he sees in us our true selves, and calls us back to the right path, through forgiveness.
Year 6 had very thought-provoking discussions about Judas, and used the scriptures in the Bible to help them to decide, was Judas a 'villain', or is that an unfair picture that we have of him.

The afternoon assembly began with the celebration of the word, listening to the story of Jesus calling the disciples, and then it was over to the classes to show and share their learning from the day. I have to say, it was the best Mission Day assembly we have had so far, and the learning that went on across school on Mission Day was phenomenal! It was lovely to have some parents able to join us for our celebration assembly, and join us in prayer at the end. 

Summer 2024 Mission Day - Catholic Social Teaching

“Catholic Social Teaching is rooted in scripture, formed by the wisdom of the Church leaders and is influenced by grassroots movements. It is our moral compass guiding us on how to live out our faith in the world.” CAFOD.

The seven CST principles are Human Dignity, Solidarity, The Common Good, The Option for the Poor, Peace, Creation and the Environment (sometimes called Stewardship of the Earth) and the Dignity of Work and Participation. CST is an element incorporated into our curriculum teaching throughout the year, and also through our Mission Life and especially our fundraising. On our Mission Day, each class took one of the seven principles and the assembly at the end of the day gave an opportunity to bring all of the learning together. Each class made a piece of artwork which was shown in the assembly, and these have been used to build up our large display in the main hall. Pupils in each class were able to share their learning, through poem, song, explanation, drama and thereby teach each other about the principle they had been focusing on in depth. The children consider our school mission, 'learning to love like Jesus', as they recognise how we are called to live out our faith in action every day.

Autumn 2024 Mission Day - Prayer

The first Mission Day of the academic year 24-25 focused on Prayer. We are heading towards the end of The Year of Prayer, and on this Mission Day we focused on ideas and crafts for our Prayer Garden that we are developing. Children designed their ideal prayer garden, created artwork from nature, and painted rocks with focal artwork (all of which will go into the prayer garden). Each age phase had an aspect of Catholic Social Teaching that framed their prayers and activities - Stewardship of the Earth for EY/KS1; Human Dignity for Lower Key Stage 2 and Option for the Poor for Upper Key Stage 2. Children and staff also spent time in the day on different kinds of prayer, eg. our Year 3 and 4 pupils focused on the Rosary. Each class had time in the Prayer Room with Mrs Pearson for a meditative prayer session. Our end of the day assembly, was a celebration of the word focused on prayer. We focused on love, the key word in our school Mission Statement, and how love is needed in all our Catholic Social Teaching work. The words of St Paul to the Corinthians 1, chapter 13, made a thoughtful scripture reading for us to reflect upon.