Faith in Action

At St Philomena’s, our Catholic faith is at the heart of everything we do. We believe that faith is not only something we learn about and celebrate, but something we are called to live out through our actions.

Inspired by the teachings of Jesus and the principles of Catholic Social Teaching, we encourage our children to put their faith into action through love, service, compassion, justice and care for creation.

We want every child to understand that their actions matter and that even small acts of kindness, generosity and service can make a meaningful difference to the lives of others and to the world around them.

Caring for Creation – Green Team Eco Warriors

Inspired by Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’ and its call to care for our common home, St Philomena’s is committed to protecting and nurturing God’s creation.

Our Green Team Eco Warriors help our school community to live more sustainably, reduce waste, protect wildlife and make environmentally responsible choices.

Children have taken part in a wide range of practical projects, including:

• creating birdhouses

• planting and caring for vegetable gardens

• constructing a recycling woodwork bin

• litter picking

• nurturing our school garden

• cooking with locally sourced produce during British Food Week

• upcycling old T-shirts into creative new designs

• promoting recycling and the responsible use of resources

Children have also been awarded Blue Peter Green Badges in recognition of their environmental work.

Our Green Team achieved the CAFOD LiveSimply Award, recognising our commitment to living simply, sustainably and in solidarity with people experiencing poverty.

Through these experiences, children come to understand that caring for our environment and caring for our global neighbours are closely connected.

Serving Our Community

Our faith is also put into action through the ways in which we support people in our local community.

Following our Harvest celebrations, children and families donate food to support our local food bank. This gives pupils a practical opportunity to understand our responsibility to share what we have and respond with compassion to those experiencing hardship.

We also support families within our own school community through initiatives such as our free and pre-loved school uniform provision.

As well as helping families, reusing uniform promotes dignity, generosity and sustainability while reducing unnecessary waste.

Through these initiatives, children learn that belonging to a Catholic community means looking beyond ourselves, recognising the needs of others and responding with love and practical support.

Building Relationships and Community

We believe that strong communities are built through relationships, encounter and a genuine sense of belonging.

Our links with our local pre-school provide opportunities for pupils to build relationships, share experiences and support younger members of our community.

We also value our relationship with our local retirement home. Children have opportunities to connect with older members of the community through conversation, activities, prayer and celebrations.

These experiences help children recognise the dignity and value of every person, regardless of age.

Following our Crowning of Mary celebration, children have shared flowers with residents of the retirement home. This simple act of kindness enables our prayer and celebration to extend beyond the school and bring joy to others.

Supporting CAFOD and Our Global Community

Our commitment to faith in action extends beyond our local community.

Through our work with CAFOD, children learn about the lives and experiences of people around the world, including communities affected by poverty, conflict, injustice and climate change.

Our activities have included:

• CAFOD’s Big Lent Walk

• CAFOD Fast Days

• Brighten Up events

• global climate justice activities

• Fairtrade activities

• CAFOD World Gifts

• fundraising to support communities experiencing poverty

• prayer and reflection for our global neighbours

Through these experiences, children discover that the choices we make can have an impact on people around the world.

Fairtrade activities, for example, help pupils explore how the choices we make as consumers can support producers, workers and communities.

We encourage children to develop a genuine understanding of solidarity: recognising that although people may live in different countries and have very different experiences, we are all members of one human family.

Living Out Catholic Social Teaching

Catholic Social Teaching helps our children understand how our faith calls us to respond to the world around us.

We encourage children to put these principles into practice by:

• respecting the dignity of every person

• caring for people who are vulnerable or in need

• sharing our resources fairly

• standing in solidarity with others

• caring for God’s creation

• working for peace and justice

• serving others with generosity and compassion

• contributing to the common good

We want our children to understand that Catholic Social Teaching is not simply something studied in Religious Education. It is something we are called to live every day through our choices, our actions and the way we treat others.

Our ‘Steps in Faith’ RE home learning helps children continue this formation beyond school, encouraging them to explore and live out the principles of Catholic Social Teaching with their families and in their wider communities.

Our Faith in Action

Through faith in action, our children learn that following Jesus means loving and serving others, standing alongside those who are vulnerable, caring for our common home and working together for a more just, compassionate and sustainable world.

Inspired by the message of Laudato Si’, we seek to give every child meaningful opportunities to pray, care, serve and act.

Our aim is for every child at St Philomena’s to understand that they have both the gifts and the responsibility to make a positive difference — in our school, in our local community and in our wider world.

In this way, our children put our school mission into action:

Strive for Excellence. Act with Respect. Serve Our Community.