Catholic Life

St Michael’s RC Primary School is a Catholic family of faith, following the teaching of Christ.

We strive to create an environment where all members of our school community respect the values of: Church, Independence, Resilience, Caring, Learning and Enjoyment for all. Belief in these values will nurture all as individuals and instil in them the confidence to meet their full potential, providing them with the best grounding for their future place in an ever changing world.

Visit our polices page to see our catholic life policies.

Circle Values

Our Catholic ethos is central to all that we do. We promote our school C.I.R.C.L.E values which are in keeping with our distinctive Catholic nature.

Collective Worship

We believe that Christian worship in a Catholic school is concerned with giving glory, honour, praise and thanks to God. It is our loving response, in word and action to God’s invitation to enter into relationship, made possible through the work of Jesus Christ and the witness of the Holy Spirit.

RE Termly Newsletters

Diocesian Report

Every catholic school is inspected under Section 48 of the Education Act 2005. These inspections evaluate the Catholic life of the school, the provision and quality of collective worship, as well as all areas of RE. This inspection process helps ensure that all Catholic schools continue to develop in order to fulfil their mission of making Christ know.

Life to the Full

In St., Michael's we use the “Ten Ten” programme, Life to the Full, which will teach Relationships Education and Health Education through the prism of Catholic RSHE.  The framework of the programme is taken from the Model Catholic RSE Programme by the Catholic Education Service. This has been highlighted by the Department of Education as a work of good practice.  

The Way the Truth and the Life

We follow 'The Way, The Truth and The Life' scheme as the main teaching resource to support the teaching of the RE curriculum. This scheme of work exposes the children to the full catholic teaching and allows the children to embed its teaching practices in their daily lives. Our teaching provides creative and cross-curricular links with Art, English, Geography and History. Children will also have a clear and a deeper understanding of the stories written in the Bible and how to reflect on the significance and the importance in their lives.

Cultural Capital 

Black History Month Celebrations

St. Michael's have had a fabulous month celebrating Black History. During Black History Month, children learnt about black figures and icons in our society, both well known and not so well known, especially from our local area. Each year group was given a culture to study. The children learnt some of the language and traditions associated with the culture. 

Nursery: Ewe

Reception: Ndebele

Year 1: Shona

Year 2: Igbo

Year 3: Mende 

Year 4: Ga

Year 5: Yoruba

Year 6: Akan

Staff members and Parents were invited to share their culture and traditions. We experienced wonderful dancing, tried delicious foods and learnt Caribbean folk and friendship songs.

In assembly, we celebrated our new learning as a school and shared all the work we have done for BHM. Additionally, we set up a display in the hall which each class had a chance to visit. 

Please find below some examples of our Black History Month Celebration

In Nursery we have read lots of different books, our favourite was 'We all went on Safari'. We learnt how to count in Swahili, we made necklaces like the children have in Tanzania and we looked at colourful African clothing and made our own. We also celebrated similarities and differences we share. 

In Reception we have been learning about the Ndebele culture. We have created our own colourful patterns inspired by Alma Thomas. Also, we thought about what we want our futures to be like. 

In Year 1 we have learnt about Rosa Parks and how she stood up for her rights by refusing to give up her seat on the bus for a white person. We have also studied Samuel Coleridge- Taylor, who was a British composer that fought against racial prejudice through music. We made our on musical pieces with a variety  of instruments. Also, we studied Kayne West, who used music to influence change. We decorated and made paper chains to show unity no matter our skin colour, race or faith. We celebrate all our similarities and differences. 

In Year 2 we have learnt about the achievements of Barack Obama. We learnt about the composer Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, composing our own African inspired music. Also, we made our own Igbo masks to celebrate Black History Month. 

In Year 3 we learnt about Stevie Wonder and explored his music. We were taught a traditional Ugandan dance and were shown traditional clothing by Mrs Muyuka. Also, we played a game called 'Dodgeball Jenga'. 

In Year 4 we have learnt all about the first African American women to visit space- Mae Jemison. We researched the Ga tribe and made jewellery using beads similar to their designs. We learnt a song 'Che Che Koolay' and played the drums to this tune. Finally, we learnt about Faith Ringgold and created our own story quilts inspired by her work. 

In Year 5 we have been learning about the Yoruba culture. We sang a greeting song in Yoruba and created some graffiti inspired art work. Also, we learnt about Madam CJ Walker. We researched a Yoruba Orisha and made masks representing the God/Goddess that we researched. Lastly, we learnt about Olaudah Equiano. 

In Year 6 we have created Akan tribe patterns. We made a timeline which represents different significant black heroes. We also learnt about William Chuffay and how he made a difference. In music, we have also been learning about Pharrell Williams and his songs.