Vision and Values
Our Mission Statement
We take inspiration from the life of St Jude who displayed the qualities of faith, courage and perseverance and as a Catholic community we work together:
Achieving together in God's love
Our Mission Statement:
Inspired by St Jude who displayed the qualities of faith, courage & perseverance, our school community achieves together in God’s love.
Our Values Statement:
St. Jude's is a Catholic community where children are seen as individuals made in the image of God. We aim to provide our children with the skills and qualities that will help them become happy, successful and thoughtful adults who will actively contribute to society.
We will promote our school mission by:
- Nurturing the children's spiritual, social emotional and academic needs, helping them recognise their God-given gifts in partnership with parents and the church.
- Being a community where the Gospel values of honesty, compassion, forgiveness, mercy, equality, humility, justice and peace are at the heart of everyday school life.
- Respecting everyone by recognising that God made us different but equally-valued.
- Providing an exciting and engaging curriculum that is unique to St. Jude's and that inspires and promotes a love of learning.
- Helping our children to develop an understanding of the characteristics of an effective learner: collaboration, courage, curiosity, independence, reflectiveness and resilience.
School Rules
Be Safe Be Ready Be Respectful
These three school rules are further explored and explicitly taught in class, assemblies and other school experiences. For example, they might be expanded as follows:
Be safe
I will be kind and look after myself and others, and follow instruction from adults.
Be ready
I will help myself and others to learn by being in the right place, with the right equipment and ready to listen and learn.
Be respectful
I will listen and talk politely to everyone and look after equipment and other people’s possessions.
Promoting British Values at St Jude’s
The DfE have recently reinforced the need “to create and enforce a clear and rigorous expectation on all schools to promote the fundamental British values of democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and mutual respect and tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs.”
The Government set out its definition of British values in the 2011 Prevent Strategy, and these values are interwoven within the curriculum of St Jude’s and are promoted in the following ways
Democracy
Children in years1,2,3,4,5 and 6 have the opportunity to put themselves forward for the role of Oscar Romero Rangers . The Oscar Romero Rangers meet half termly to discuss topical issues and how we can make a difference through our actions in school. We believe that every child has a voice and has the right to be listened to: with that right comes the responsibility to listen respectfully to others and, perhaps, agreeing to differ.
The Rule of Law
The children learn about the importance of laws, whether they are those that govern the class, the school or the wider community. The children are taught from an early age the rules of the school. These include Playground Rules, Classroom Rules and Safety Rules. Children are taught the value and reasons behind rules and laws and the responsibilities that come with choice. Visits from authorities such as the Police and Fire Service help reinforce this message.
Individual Liberty
The children are encouraged to make choices, knowing that they are in a safe and supportive environment. We educate and provide boundaries for our children to make informed choices. They are encouraged to know, understand and exercise their rights and personal freedoms and are advised how to exercise these safely, for example through our ESafety and RSE/PSHE lessons.
Mutual Respect
Mutual Respect is modelled throughout the school and is a regular point of discussion during assemblies and class worship. As a Catholic community we promote the belief that everyone is made in the image of God and therefore is treated with respect. Children learn that their behaviours have an effect on their own rights and those of others.
At St Jude’s our Philosophy for Children lessons regularly encompasses the above issues and children are encouraged to think widely and critically about challenging issues.
Religious Education at St Jude's
As a Catholic community prayer is central to our daily life at school. Every day there is an act of collective worship throughout the school. Each day starts and ends with prayer and Grace is said before lunch.
- Monday : Whole school Celebration of the Word Sunday Gospel led by Headteacher or deputy head or RE Lead.
- Tuesday: Prayer Through Song
- Wednesday/Thursday - Key Stage Celebration of the Word (KS1 is led by teacher and KS2 is led by pupils)
- Friday: Celebration assembly led by SLT
We follow the liturgical calendar and we celebrate Mass at St Philip Howard on Holy days of obligation such as - Epiphany, Corpus Christi, Mass of the Risen Christ and we also observe St Jude's Feast day among others. During Advent, KS1 and Early Years help us remember the Birth of Christ in the Nativity. Before we break up for the Christmas Holidays, the whole school community gathers together for a Candle-lit Carol Service.
Penitential services are held during Advent and Lent. All children are invited to attend and they are led by our parish priest, Canon John.
During Holy Week, KS2 lead daily acts of liturgy that help us reflect upon Christ's journey to the cross. This culminates in the Veneration of the Cross, in which all the school community (including parents and parishioners) are invited to attend.
In the autumn term we celebrate Harvest Festival and the food collected is sent to a local food-bank.
Each class celebrates their class saint with a liturgy to which the parents of children in that class are invited.
Curriculum RE
We follow the Portsmouth Diocese's programme of study - God Matters
Autumn term - Creation, Prayers, Catholic Social teaching and Advent
Spring term - Christmas, Revelation, Lent, Holy Week,
Summer term - Easter, Pentecost, Enquiry and Dialogue
This is a core subject and as such is taught for 10% of the curriculum time.
Houses at St Jude's
Each child is allocated to a house when they join St Jude's. We chose four significant figures from the 20th Century as our inspiration for our Houses :
- Martin Luther King,
- Nelson Mandela,
- Gandhi
- Archbishop Oscar Romero.
Their values and beliefs incorporate the Gospel values and the learning behaviours that we believe are central to our children's spiritual and academic growth.
Each house is led by a lead teacher and two House Captains, who are voted for by the children. There is a House Assembly once a half term and house points are awarded weekly to children for demonstrating the right values and learning behaviours in and around school. The House cup is awarded every week at Friday's Celebration Assembly . At the end of each term, there is a House award for the House with the most amount of points. A number of inter-house sporting events are planned for each term, which are aimed at encouraging the competitive spirit, as well as providing an opportunity for children to work together across the school. This culminates our Sports Day held in June.