St. Bernadette – Our Patron Saint

Our school is named after one of the most well known, yet most humble, saints in Church history, who has inspired many people by her simple faith and incredible life-story.

Bernadette Soubirous was born in Lourdes, France, into a very poor family and she herself was in poor health.

One Thursday, February 11th 1858, when she was sent with her younger sister and a friend to gather firewood, a very beautiful lady appeared to her above a rosebush in a grotto called Massabielle.  The lovely Lady was dressed in blue and white.  She smiled at Bernadette and then made the sign of the cross with a rosary of ivory and gold.  Bernadette fell on her knees, took out her rosary and began to say it.

The beautiful lady was God’s mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary.  She appeared to Bernadette seventeen other times and spoke to her.  She told Bernadette that she should pray for sinners, do penance and have a chapel built there in her honour.

Many people found it hard to believe Bernadette until miracles began to happen when people used the water from the spring Bernadette had dug.

Bernadette became a nun when she was older.  Although she was favoured by the Blessed Mother, she remained very humble.  More than anything else she desired not to be praised, saying, “The Blessed Virgin only chose me because I was the most ignorant.”

As a school we are guided in our lives by Bernadette’s humility and her consideration for, and love of others, before herself.

Collective worship takes place daily at St. Bernadette’s and is an opportunity for children and staff to talk to God and deepen our relationship with him. Collective worship is crucial to the spiritual and moral development of our children. Meaningful prayer opportunities are provided in class worship, whole school worship, silent reflection, through music, stories, meditation and the sharing of scripture. As children move up through the school, they are encouraged to play a greater role in planning and delivering Collective Worship.

In addition to Collective Worship, each class attends the Parish Mass each Tuesday on a rota. This is in order to help the children further develop their understanding of the richness of the Word and the Eucharist and engage in active service with the wider parish community.

The school is very blessed in having a very supportive priest within the parish who visits school, helping our children to experience what it means to belong to our Parish community. The children are fortunate to be able to experience the richness of the liturgical life of the Church in many ways throughout the year such as the Stations of the Cross during Lent, Our May Procession, Carol Service at Christmas and the Celebration of Holy Days of obligation throughout the year.

In years 1-6, Religious Education (RE) is taught using ‘Come and See’- a scheme of work recommended by Liverpool Archdiocese. Each term, the children study topics to develop their understanding of: Church, Sacraments and Christian Living. Each topic lasts for 4 weeks, beginning with the children’s own lived experiences before learning about the Catholic faith through scripture. At the end of the topic, pupils reflect on and celebrate their learning, which ends with a collective worship.

As part of ‘Come and See’, we have ‘other faiths weeks’ where the children learn about other faiths, traditions, beliefs and places of worship.

In Early Years, RE is taught using ‘To know You more clearly’ from the new Religious Education Directory. It is taught in whole class teaching sessions and through continuous provision. There are 6 branches that make up the topics- these are in line with the liturgical year. In each branch children will:

• Hear- listen to the scripture from the Bible.
• Believe- explore what Christians believe from the scripture they have heard
• Celebrate- children consider how we act as Christians to celebrate what we hear and believe.
• Live- Linked to Catholic Social Teaching, children explore how we live out the scripture in our everyday lives.

Statement of RSHE

We understand and appreciate that our children are growing up in an ever-changing and increasingly complex world and here at St. Bernadette’s Catholic Primary School we believe that along with Parents as the first educators we need to ensure that the children are prepared for the wider world by equipping them with the tools that they will need in order to be safe and healthy, to be able to build positive relationships and to understand how to manage their personal and social lives in a meaningful way. We are tasked with educating young people and children about healthy loving relationships. We understand that any teaching about love and sexual relationships in a Catholic school must be rooted in the Catholic Church’s teaching about what it is to be truly human in Christ, what it means to live well in relationship with others and be presented within a positive framework of Christian virtue. 

We have worked hard to ensure that RSHE is an embedded part of our broad and balanced curriculum along with linking closely with safeguarding, Religious Education, SMSC and British Values. Our intent through our delivery of RSHE is to ensure that our children understand that they are made in the image and likeness of God, through this understanding they will be at ease with themselves and deepen their self-knowledge of how to grow and flourish healthily and holistically towards developing successful relationships. Our RSHE curriculum promotes strong links and connections with Catholic teaching and gospel values, and we have sought to ensure that this is accessible to all. We want our children to become happy, healthy and responsible members of society who understand the necessary components to develop healthy and successful relationships within their own lives. They are actively encouraged to develop a positive sense of self-esteem and to have a healthy respect and love for their own bodies and minds.

The Governors of St. Bernadette’s have adopted the ‘Journey in Love’ programme to support the teaching of Relationships, Sex and Health Education (RSHE) throughout the school. The programme of study is authentic to the teaching of the Catholic Church. Below is a brief outline of the content of the programme:

Reception: God loves each of us in our uniqueness

Year 1: We meet God’s love in our family

Year 2: We meet God’s love in the community

Year 3: How we live in love

Year 4: God loves us in our differences

Year 5: God loves me in my changing and development

Year 6: The wonder of God’s love in creating new life

As part of our commitment to parents, as the first educators of your children, we will hold a meeting annually for the parents and carers of children in years 5 and 6 to discuss the programme’s contents. You have the right to withdraw your child from certain aspects of the curriculum.

Please see our RSHE policy for more details.

At St. Bernadette’s, we are working towards our Live Simply Award. Catholic Social Teaching calls for us to care for our common home and our local and global neighbours. In working towards our Live Simply Award, we aim to:

Live Simply – slow down and take time to reflect and pray, connecting with the beautiful world God has created, and with each other.

Live in Solidarity – care for those in our local and global community who are most in need.

Live Sustainably – take care of the earth for future generations, protecting the environment and the world God gave us.

At St Bernadette’s, we work closely with the parish to support our pupils and their families on their sacramental journey.

As part of Liverpool Archdiocese, the sacramental programme is undertaken in Year 4 and is as follows:

• Autumn Term – Sacrament of Reconciliation 
• Summer Term – Sacrament of Holy Eucharist 

The programme for sacramental preparation in the parish is fully inclusive.  Children at the school who are not baptised Catholics are most welcome to join in the preparation programmes and receive special blessings as part of this important faith journey.

As the steps on this sacramental journey require a family commitment, the main resources used are such that they support home and parish led catechesis.

For more information, please contact school.