The children, staff, parents and all involved in the community of St John Evangelist Catholic School are here to serve.

‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ (Matthew 25:40)

At St John Evangelist Catholic Primary School, children are taught the principles of Catholic Social Teaching found at the core of the Gospel.

These principles we are learning about are:

• Care of Creation
• Option for the Poor
• Human Dignity
• Community & Participation
• Dignity in Work
• Solidarity & Peace

What do the children have to say about serving others…

 

CAFOD has excellent resources to support your child to understand Catholic Social Teaching which can be found here: Catholic Social Teaching pack for children | CAFOD

“Christ has no body now on earth but yours; no hands but yours; no feet but yours. Yours are the eyes through which the compassion of Christ must look out on the world. Yours are the feet with which He is to go about doing good. Yours are the hands with which He is to bless His people.”

St Theresa of Avila

2022 – 2023

Care of Creation

Last year, the children at St John Evangelist Catholic Primary School learnt about our call to stewardship and how they could better look after God’s wonderful Creation.

The Eco-Team took part in a project led by ‘The Garden Classroom’ with our Maamulaha network of schools.

Our Eco-Team joined with the teams from our ‘Maamulaha’ network schools as Sustainability Champions to form the Council for Sustainability. The children regularly met and explored sustainability topics in hands-on, outdoor sessions at King Henry’s Walk Garden, N1. 

      

Sustainability Now! In November we had a one day whole school takeover. All classes attended an assembly and then had follow up activities to complete during the day to throw the spotlight on sustainability in the school, empowering children to make change and stick with it!  Each class had a visit from ‘The Garden Classroom’ lead teachers.

     

Supporting those in need – Option for the Poor

Children developed their understanding of preferential option for the poor. This means that the needs of the poor and vulnerable should be put first. Have a look at some of the events we have supported this year to help those who are most vulnerable:

In September, children wore an item of ‘jeans’ clothing to raise money for Jeans for Genes Day. 

For Harvest, children donated food items that we brought to our local food bank. 

In November, the Faith Leaders organised a non-uniform day to raise money for CAFOD. 

During Advent we collected food and household items for a local food bank using the reverse Advent calendar: 2022 Advent Giving Calendar

   

During Advent, we also collect gifts for those in our Parish who are less fortunate than we are. Families can donate a wrapped gift for a male or a female which will be placed under the Christmas tree in the school hall and handed out on Christmas Day when dinner is provided for those who would like to attend. The most well-received gifts for the winter season are: hats, scarves and gloves. 

Every year, staff at St John’s support a fantastic charity called ‘Giving Tree’. Each member of staff chooses a gift card for a child who will be in a refuge this Christmas and buys them a gift. You can find out more here: Giving Tree – KidsOut

During Lent, we raise money for CAFOD by taking part in CAFOD’s Walk for Hunger campaign. The children wear their sportiest clothes and throughout the day they stop what they are doing to walk, run or skip to raise money.

 

An Inclusive Curriculum for all pupils 

Over the last academic year the Headteacher and Curriculum Lead took part in training and development delivered by Professor Paul Miller with four of our network schools, ‘Inclusive Curriculum Framework’. This work took place across the year and focused on ensuring that the school’s curriculum was fully inclusive and reflected the identities of the pupils we teach. The conclusion of this piece of work was a whole staff INSET day in October 2022 with the four other participating schools. Professor Paul Miller and Baroness Floella Benjamin led an inspiring and motivational day which all staff developed from.