Religious Education

Here at St Patrick’s, we pride ourselves on providing pupils with a broad and balanced curriculum, which is underpinned by our Mission Statement,

‘At St. Patrick’s Catholic Primary School we grow and work together knowing that God is with us in all we do’.

The core values of our Catholic education remain central to the life of our school and we want our children to have a sense of self-worth through their experience of belonging to a caring community. We aim to develop the importance of the values and virtues, whilst respecting the differences of others.

Our curriculum is designed to develop independent, confident and successful learners with high aspirations and who are well prepared for life ahead of them. We aim to provide them with a clear understanding of the possibilities and opportunities that are there for them in life and we believe that our pupils should leave St Thomas’s with a love of learning and an understanding of the world that God has created for them.

The Catholicity of the school underpins what we do every day. All members of staff from teaching to lunchtime supervisors implement RE in a variety of different ways, whereby the choices they make promote our Catholic faith in all that they do. We ensure that families are supported in bringing their children up in the Catholic faith and we provide a well-rounded Catholic education.

For RE we follow the Birmingham Archdiocese's 'Learning and growing as People of God' for planning and coverage of the curriculum.

RE overview

Please click on the image below for The Wednesday Word weekly updates

Autumn 2021

Holiday special, 13th, 20th & 27th October

2020-2021

26th May- 9th June 2021

16th June 2021

23rd June 2021

Stations of the Cross

The Stations of the Cross are a 14-step Catholic devotion that commemorates Jesus Christ's last day on Earth as a man. The 14 devotions, or stations, focus on specific events of His last day, beginning with His condemnation. The stations are commonly used as a mini pilgrimage as the individual moves from station to station. At each station, the individual recalls and meditates on a specific event from Christ's last day. Specific prayers are recited, then the individual moves to the next station until all 14 are complete.

Candlemas

Family Celebrations for the Eight Days of Christmas. Please see below

At the Manger

Cardinals Visit

The Cardinals visit! 14th February 2020.

On Friday 14th February 2020 Cardinal Michael Louis Fitzgerald, who was born in Walsall in the Archdiocese of Birmingham opened and blessed our two new classrooms and celebrated Mass at St Patrick’s School together with Father Roberto our Parish priest and Father Chris.

"I felt happy because it's my first time seeing a Cardinal!" Joel, Year 5

The mass was beautiful and the children behaved impeccably. During his homily the Cardinal spoke directly to the children thanking them for their letters of invitation. Growing up in Walsall, the Cardinal and his family attended Mass at St Patrick’s. Although a new church has been built he spoke fondly of all his happy memories in Walsall and in the parish. As the children were professing out of the church he waited for all the pupils and high fived every child.

"It felt amazing seeing the Cardinal!" Lorenzuir, Year 6

He then went over to the school to bless the new buildings where he spoke to some of the children; Tiara, Inga, James and Nigel, all the staff, the chair Mr Quinn, the governors Mrs Holmes, Mrs Hawley, Mr Quinn and the parish priests of both schools Father Roberto and Father Chris. In this particular year ‘The God Who Speaks’ it was lovely to hear from the Cardinal the importance of the Gospel.

We would like to congratulate Cardinal Michael Louis Fitzgerald on his appointment as Cardinal on the 5th October 2019. It is a real privilege to know that we now have a second English Cardinal, and especially delighted to know that he comes from Walsall and grew up attending Mass at St Patrick’s Catholic Church.

"I felt a bit Nervous about reading in front of the Cardinal but also quite important". Brianna, Year 5

We have just received a letter from the Cardinal who was so impressed with our children’s impeccable behaviour and their singing that he said he will inform Bishop Bernard Longley about his wonderful visit. He sent a very special prayer card to the staff. The lady that escorted him here Mrs Bernie Pritchard also stated how impressed she was with our children, their singing and behaviour but also how friendly the staff and children were. She had also lived in Walsall as a child and was delighted to be back.

"When the Cardinal came, I was very excited to see him!" Rayner, Year 6

History: Cardinal Michael Louis Fitzgerald was born on 17th August 1937 in Walsall in the Archdiocese of Birmingham. This was where he grew up, and where his parents both worked as GPs. The family attended Mass at their local parish church of St Patrick. He was educated at Queen Mary's Grammar School, in Walsall, and it was while there that he decided to become a missionary.

He started at the White Fathers Junior Seminary, St Columba's College, on the border of Scotland on 22nd April 1950. He was Ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal William Godfrey in London on 3rd February 1961. For the first seven years of his priestly life, Michael pursued studies in theology at the Gregorian University in Rome, and in Arabic at the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. This time of study and learning would point him along a path both fascinating and difficult - a journey of encounter and dialogue with those of other faiths and more especially with the Muslims; a journey which would last fifty years.

After becoming a bishop in 1992, he was appointed as the archbishop in 2002 when he became president of the Pontifical Council.

Even though he retired at age 75 at the end of 2012, retirement for

cardinal-designate Fitzgerald meant going to the Missionaries of Africa community in Jerusalem to welcome pilgrims, teaching courses on the Bible and giving talks on Islam.

We would like to congratulate Cardinal Michael Louis Fitzgerald on his appointment as Cardinal on the 5th October 2019. It is a real privilege to know that we now have a second English Cardinal, and it is especially delightful to know that he comes from Walsall. Cardinal Fitzgerald has made the time to celebrate Mass and open our new classrooms, all the children and staff will welcome him on the day of 14th February 2020.