Catholic Social Teaching
Our Chaplaincy team led a whole school assembly all about Catholic Social Teaching and so these are their words to explain Catholic Social Teaching:
'Catholic Social Teaching is something that Pope Francis and all other leaders in the Catholic church, say we need to think about and follow in our everyday lives.
But what is Catholic Social Teaching? We need to know what it is all about so we can follow it in our lives!
Catholic Social Teaching has lots of parts that show us how we can build a brighter, better and kinder world for every single person in it. And who wouldn’t want that?
There are quite a few of these parts in Catholic Social Teaching but at St Teresa’s we are just going to have six that we are going to think about all year and try our very best to follow. Luckily, that works out at one a term. We have created pictures to go with each principle which will help you remember what the principle means.'
Common Good
Every Lent the children take part in the Shine Bright Challenge. Children are supported to live out their faith doing things to improve the wellbeing of others in our world.
Community
God made us to be part of communities, families and countries, so all people can share and help each other. We are called to work for the good of each and of all.
There are many opportunities across the school year where we build community from Christmas Carol singing at the local care home to the annual Sports Day family picnic to parishioners being invited in for whole school masses to celebrating the gifts and talents of all our children in our Easter Festival.
In addition, we celebrate the diverse community that we have at St. Teresa's through our International Languages week celebrations and our environment.
Option for the Poor
Please view our Charity page which outlines all we do to support our brothers and sisters locally and across the world.
Stewardship
At St. Teresa's we aim to live out the Catholic Social Teaching of Stewardship through small acts. These include, paper recycling, paper free for all letters, reducing food waste through ordering of lunches and looking after the environment. This year, the school have planted 7 trees on the school field. These trees have increased the number of trees planted in the last 5 years to 20.
Peace
The Catholic Social Teaching of Peace is interwoven throughout the school in our ethos of respect, which is one of our school rules. Additionally, our behaviour policy is built on the principle of restorative justice. As a school we recognise that there will be times where these isn't peace between people, but they we all have a responsibility and calling to be peacemakers and learn from mistakes made.
Solidarity
At St. Teresa's, we stand together in solidarity with our brothers and sisters in the world, no matter our differences. Children have taken part in the CAFOD Eyes of the World campaign and the Greenpeace Big Plastic Count. The school has stood together with other schools across the Diocese to support the Emmaus project supporting other children in the world to have access to clean water.
