Catholic Life and Mission

Our school owes its existence and charism to the fact that it was established by the Church to nurture Christ’s kingdom in its children and through the nature of its teaching in all subjects, to bring them to a deeper knowledge of and belief in God and a commitment to Him.

At The Holy Family School our pupils understand and relish the distinct nature of our Catholic School. We are a Catholic community who nurture and support each other, recognising when others need support and accepting support from others. We are a strong and united community working together to achieve the best possible outcomes for our children with Christ at the centre. This is led by our school mission, 'As a family we live, love, learn and celebrate with Jesus' and our school values of Trust, Honesty, Sharing, Acceptance and Family which underpin our mission.

Rooted in Love

At The Holy Family School Catholic Social Teaching is incorporated into our school curriculum. Children are asked to put their faith into action and reflect on how their learning enables them to do so.

We show Solidarity and Peace by:

raising awareness of social justice
praying for others
making connections
making socially responsible choices

We recognise the Dignity by:

being respectful
treating people equally
raising awareness of civil rights

We show we are part of a Community and Participation by:

working together
working for the common good
participating and engaging
being active members of out community

We show we Care for Creation by:

taking responsibility for our environment
making environmentally responsible choices
having awe and wonder for the natural world

We show we recognise the Dignity of Workers by:

respecting all workers
contributing to society
making responsible economic choices
supporting wellbeing and workers' rights
sharing our talents with others

We contribute to an Option for the poor by:

fundraising for charitable causes
raising awareness
treating others with dignity and respect
thinking of the needs of others

At our school we have been working collaboratively with other local Catholic primary and secondary schools on 'Building the Kingdom.'

Through our BTK work we have through liturgical year themes explored with our pupils the concept of big questions of purpose and meaning to contextualise learning across the curriculum whilst promoting Catholic Social Teaching.

Some examples of the collaborative work we have undertaken with other schools is a cross school celebration of the feast of Pentecost. The children spent a week away from their usual curriculum and learning was based on the symbols of Pentecost, Fire, Water and Wind.

We continue to work collaboratively with our neighbouring schools on Building the Kingdom projects this academic year with an exciting project on 'Advocacy for Oracy' and 'The leaders of tomorrow.'

'Advocacy for Oracy' - Leaders of Tomorrow

This term as part of our 'Building the Kingdom ' work our Year 5 pupils have been working on a cross school project with Nicholas Breakspear Catholic secondary school and Our lady's, St Phillip Howard and Pope Paul Primary Schools.

The aim of this project was to enable our pupils to confidently speak in public about their passions and what they want to see from the leaders of tomorrow in both church and state. Ultimately we want our children to be the leaders of tomorrow!

We were very proud of our Year 5 pupils as they led a seminar about leadership at Holy Family and our pupils Amelie and Flynn who spoke with confidence and assurance in front of a large audience at Wyllyotts Theatre about the leaders of tomorrow.

This was a fantastic cross school project that we will build on across the year.

Being a member of The Holy Family School Chaplaincy Team is a significant role of responsibility at our school. The Chaplaincy Team support pupils across the school in developing and deepening their faith.

Our team help to lead and plan collective worship across our school based on liturgical themes, in particular during significant liturgical events such as Lent and Advent. During October and May they lead Rosary prayer groups in our Prayer Garden. During Harvest time our Chaplaincy Team help organise our food collection for our local food bank and during Advent our reverse Advent Calendar in support of Helping Herts Homeless.

Our Chaplaincy Team lead the faith life of Holy Family in our wider community, representing our school at Westminster Cathedral for the Diocesan Advent Service and recently at St Joseph's Church in Stevenage for the veneration of the relics of St Bernadette.

CCS Advent Service at Westminster Cathedral 2022

Information about our House Saints by the House Captains

In the academic year 2021-22 our children decided that we should review our House Saints and think about whether they reflected who they are and represented our school community and our school mission, 'As a family we live, love, learn and celebrate with Jesus.'

The House Captains took the lead on this review and researched possible alternatives to the current Saints. This was discussed at School Council meetings and the House Captains presented their research to all pupils leading to a vote for the Saint they felt represented our school community. The new Saints were introduced at the end of last year. Our new House Saints are St John Henry Newman, St Mary Mother of God, St John Paul II and St Josephine Bakhita

This year our House Captains are:

House Saint	House Captains
St Josephine Bakhita	Flynn & Sebastian
St John Henry Newman	Theodore & Ciara
St Mary Mother of God	Freddie & Taia
St John Paul II	Levente & Mia