Catholic Life

Each class at St. Patrick’s has their own patron saint. Children learn about their saint, celebrate their feast day together and enjoy telling others about their class saint during school worship and liturgies.

Class	Class Saint	Saint's Day
Nursery	Saint Theresa	15th October
Reception	Saint Philip Neri	26th May
Reception/ Year 1	Saint Angela Merici	27th January
Year 1/2	Saint Theresa of Avila	15th October
Year 3	Saint Benedict	11th July
Year 3/4	Saint Vincent de Paul	27th September
Year 4/5	Saint Sebastian	20th January
Year 5	Saint Jude	28th October
Year 6- Mr Reid	Saint Maximilian Kolbe	14th August

Catholic Social Teaching is: 

The underlying insight is that everyone has the right and responsibility to live in our world constructively, not destructively, and to ensure that we leave it in a better state than when we entered it.

At the core of Catholic Social Teaching are a number of key concepts and principles. Chief among these are:

justice, human dignity, the common good, the principles of participation, solidarity, and subsidiarity, the universal destination of the world’s goods, and the option for the poor.
At St Patrick’s, we focus on the principles of Catholic Social Teaching as part of our RE curriculum and through projects that involve supporting charities and taking action.

Catholic Social Teaching in 3 minutes | CAFOD

Catholic Social Teaching in 3 minutes is a fast-paced animation from CAFOD introducing CST for young people.

 

 

At St Patrick’s, Catholic Social Teaching is incorporated into our curriculum. Children are asked to put their faith into action and reflect on how their learning enables them to do so.

Catholic Social Teaching underpins the essence of our daily school life. As members of the Catholic Church, we are all called upon to preserve the dignity of all human beings, to care for creation, and to reach out to our sisters and brothers in need. Pope Francis emphasises that it is our duty to work together to bring about a more just and peaceful world: to put love into action. It is vital that our children can articulate the connection between Jesus' teaching and doing good deeds. We use the CAFOD Catholic Social Teaching resources and the animal mascots to support the children’s understanding of principles.

The animal mascots are used with EYFS, KS1 and Lower KS2. The keys are introduced in the resources for Upper Key Stage 2.

We are called to uphold the principles of Catholic Social Teaching.

 

 

 

Human Dignity – Everyone is Special

God said, “Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.“  Genesis 1:26

At St Patrick’s we recognise the human dignity of others by:

• being respectful
• treating people equally
• raising awareness of our rights
• celebrating our unique talents

 

The Common Good– Taking Part in our Communities

“All who believed were together and had all things in common; they would... distribute the proceeds to all, as any had need.” Acts 2:44-45

At St Patrick’s we show we are part of a community by:

• working together
• working for the common good
• participating and engaging
• being active members of our community
• fundraising for CAFOD
• foodbank donations

 

Participation – The dignity of Work

“Each of us has a part to play, a gift to share, a service to offer, for building up the Body of Christ in love.” Pope Francis.

At St Patrick’s we recognise the dignity of work by:

• respecting everyone
• contributing to society
• making responsible choices
• Parish links
• carrying out roles and responsibilities within school
• sharing our talents with others

Subsidiarity– All people Should have a Say

“...together we want to give voice to all those who suffer, to all those who have no voice and are not heard.” Pope Francis.

At St Patrick’s we acknowledge our rights and responsibilities by:

• recognising our duties as members of a community
• standing up for what is right
• following our school rules
• our School Council

 

Stewardship – Caring for God’s Creation and Gifts

“...the world we have received also belongs to those who will follow us.” Pope Francis, Laudato Si’ 159

At St Patrick’s we show we care for creation by:

• taking responsibility for our environment
• caring for our school garden
• picking up litter
• making environmentally responsible choices
• having awe and wonder for the natural world
• showing respect for God’s creation

 

 

Solidarity – We are One Big Family

“... all of you are one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3:28

At St Patrick’s we show solidarity by:

• raising awareness of social justice
• the work of our Mini Vinnies
• charity work
• praying for others
• making links with our local community and Parish
• pupil leadership
• making socially responsible choices

 

Option for the poor – Some People need Extra Help

‘For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ Matthew 25:35-40

At St Patrick’s we show a preferential option for the poor and vulnerable by:

• fundraising for charitable causes
• The work of our Mini Vinnies
• raising awareness
• treating others with dignity and respect
• thinking of the needs of others

 

Distributive Justice – Being Fair

‘...we are agreed today that the earth is essentially a shared inheritance, whose fruits are meant to benefit everyone.’ Pope Francis, Laudato Si’

At St Patrick’s we recognise the need to share the worlds resources fairly by:

• celebrating Fair Trade Fortnight
• raising awareness of fairtrade products
• charity work
• by sharing our belongs

 

Promoting Peace – We can be God’s instruments of Peace

“...those who promote peace have joy.” Proverbs 12:20

At St Patrick’s we show we are people of peace by:

• treating each other with kindness
• turning away from conflict
• treating each other with respect
• playground buddies
• learning about other faiths
• creating bonds between people

Parish Priest

Canon John Cooper

St. Patrick’s Fairfield

Stockton-on-Tees

TS19 7PL

Telephone (01642) 580171

Fax (01642) 580171

Glimpses of God – Celebrating the Catholic life of our school Autumn

On 26^th September we supported the annual World’s Biggest Coffee Morning in aid of Macmillan Cancer Support.  It was wonderful to see so many of our families popping in to buy some cakes or staying to enjoy a cup of tea and a cake in the school hall after mass. Thank you for all your donations which ensured that this event was a huge success.  Thanks to our Mini Vinnies for doing such a great job serving up the tea and cakes in the hall and on the playground.

 

Fairtrade Fortnight

Our Mini Vinnies group organised and ran a successful stall selling Fairtrade chocolate. Every bar sold helped support Fairtrade farmers and communities, with all proceeds going directly to Fairtrade initiatives. It was a great way to raise awareness and make a positive impact!

 

✨ Carols by Candlelight at St Patrick’s ✨

We gathered together in the church for a truly peaceful and joyful celebration. Our Carols by Candlelight service was filled with the spirit of Christmas — from the beautiful retelling and acting of the Nativity story, to the heartfelt singing and dancing that brought the evening to life.

It was wonderful to see our community come together in faith and friendship. We ended the night with tea and coffee in the school hall, sharing smiles and conversation to close such a special occasion.

Reindeer Run

In December, all of our pupils took part in a reindeer run where we raised over £2730, which is  an incredible amount for Teesside Hospice through this year’s Rudolph Run!

 

Christmas Jumper Swap

In December, we asked parents to bring in any Christmas jumpers that their children no longer need. Parents were able to come and take a Christmas jumper for their child if they wanted one. This shows that we as a school are trying to live more sustainably. 

St. Patrick, the beloved patron of Ireland, is renowned as the bishop who brought Christianity to Ireland, who used the three-leaflet shamrock to teach about the Trinity and who wrote the often-recited prayer that begins, Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me.

 

Patrick was born in Britain, the son of a Roman official. Patrick was kidnapped by Irish pirates as a youth and spent six years enslaved, tending sheep in the Irish wilderness. During this time of isolation and deprivation, Patrick often prayed hundreds of times a day, asking for God’s protection and guidance. Eventually, he escaped and traveled 200 miles to board a ship sailing for Britain. After a difficult journey, he finally returned home.

 

Patrick visited parts of Ireland where no missionaries had traveled. Although he was often threatened and even imprisoned, he boldly preached to the most powerful Irish kings. Despite this resistance, Patrick traversed the island for 40 years — humbly grateful to God the Father and joyfully inspired by the Holy Spirit — to preach about Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

 

Before his death around 460, Patrick’s compassionate enthusiasm had effectively converted thousands to Christianity. The priests and religious formed in the many monasteries and convents he established spread Christianity into Northern Europe to inspire more missionaries, and Irish emigrants have spread love for him around the world.

 

Our parish family is of great importance to us. We look to our priest, Cannon Cooper and Deacon Wood, for spiritual guidance as they help us to find our own pathway to God. 

To read the latest news from our Parish, please visit the Parish website below.

www.parishfamilystockton.org.uk

Rainbows

At St. Patrick's we feel that supporting pupil’s mental health and wellbeing is paramount. We offer support sessions for any pupils struggling with loss or bereavement of any kind through the Rainbows Bereavement Support programme.

Rainbows is a well-respected national charity having a proven, positive impact on the lives of children, young people and adults grieving a significant and often devastating loss in their lives.

Rainbows: has three different levels and is suitable for children in Key Stage Two. Using journals, story books, games and activities, children learn to talk about their feelings in a safe secure environment with trained caring facilitators.

Quotes from children who have participated in the programme within the diocese:
“It helped me by letting all my feelings out”. Year 5 pupil
“I did not know I was not the only one”. Year 3 pupil

 

Please contact the school office if you feel your child would benefit from Rainbows Support.

For further information please feel free to visit the rainbow website: https://rainbowsgb.org/

To read the latest news from the Diocese, please visit the Hexham and Newcastle Diocese website below.

www.rcdhn.org.uk

To read the latest news from our Parish, please visit the Parish website below.

www.parishfamilystockton.org.uk