Blessed Marie Therese Haze, our Foundress, was born in Liège, Belgium, in February 1782. She had a very loving and caring family which gave foundation for her spiritual strength throughout her life. Her family were exiled during the French Revolution and ended up in Germany as a result, they lost everything.

Due to their own suffering, and uniting theirs with the Cross of Christ, Blessed Marie Therese and her sister Ferdinande had a passion to help the poor and needy. She knew her vocation at young age and sought to develop her relationship with Christ by starting a school for poor children in Liege, with the help of Dean Cloes of St Barthélemy.

Many young women were inspired by Blessed Marie Therese and joined the Religious Life with their first Constitution written for the Daughters of the Cross.

The little community responded whenever they could to the needs of the people around them- nursing the sick in their own homes, caring for the women prisoners, teaching children by day and adults in the evenings. They founded communities in Germany (1849), India (1861) and England (1863).

By the time Blessed Marie Therese died on January 7th 1876, she had received more than 900 Sisters into the Congregation and founded 51 communities. Blessed Marie Therese was beatified on 21st April 1991 by Pope John Paul II.

The Daughters of the Cross founded St Philomena School in 1893, this year we will celebrate our 130th anniversary.

The values and ethos of the Order permeates the fabric of the school as stated in the First Constitution:

“The Daughters of the Cross form

an institute of apostolic life

which has as its aim

to understand and to proclaim to others

that the love of God

has been revealed to us in the most striking way

in the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Their response to his love

is to glorify and honour Christ

by loving and serving him,

above all in his weakest and most suffering members”.

(Constitutions Article 1) 

The school’s Core Values (Community, Happiness, Generosity, Kindness, Forgiveness, Faith, Resilience, Achievement, Integrity and Fairness) developed by students, governors, teachers and staff emanates from the very foundation of ‘Service’ laid by the Daughters of the Cross. These Core Values should be visible in each person throughout the school as Christ is the centre of each school day, in the classroom, on the corridors, in the playground and on the buses, even in our homes. One should be able to identify a Philomenian through their attitude to life and the relationships they develop, grew and nurture.

As a community we learn to draw near to Christ through liturgies and the Mass, making us aware of the power of God’s mercy and forgiveness, enabling us to forgive whenever we are wronged, and standing up for what is right. To facilitate this, we have a Sacred Space in every Form Room. Each tutor group has a Prayer Monitor to help lead daily prayers. A good number of Sixth Formers are commissioned by Bishop Paul our area bishop every year, with the support of Parish Priest, to lead Eucharistic Services, help organise Masses and visit their tutor groups to lead or join them in their daily prayer. We believe every member of our community has the right to a peaceful and happy learning environment and this is evidenced by how we relate to each other and reflect Christ to others not just by praying for others, but by putting our faith into action. How we face challenges together and celebrate success is a mark of the strong community that exists. We encourage hard work and perseverance to achieve our goal.

We are proud of the collaboration between school, home and parish in support of the young people in our care, to give each member a sound mind and love of learning, helping them to become strong women of faith for others and the world in which they live.