Christ at the Centre

• Assist in its mission of making Christ known to all people.

• Assist parents, who are the primary educators of their children, in the education and religious formation of their children.

• Be at the service of the local Church - the diocese, the parish and the Christian home.

• Be “a service to society”

Consequent upon the reasons why they are provided, Catholics schools should exhibit the following four fundamental characteristics which promote the permanent principles of Catholic social teaching: the dignity of human life, the common good, subsidiarity, and solidarity.

• An integral education of the human person through a clear educational project of which Christ is the foundation” and a “systematic catechesis” of “Catholic teaching”

• “A mission in education as a work of love”

• “An ecclesial and cultural identity”

• “A service which is truly civic and apostolic”

Catholic Schools are distinctive when they

• Manifest a Catholic ethos which is evident and open to experience by all who enter the school. 

• Promote Gospel values and the teachings of the Catholic Church as an integral part of their mission. 

• Follow policies that reflect and embody the teaching of Christ and the Catholic Church. 

• Model leadership inspired by the image and life of Christ. 

• Form an integral part of the communion of the local and universal Church. 

•  Provide a religious education which comprehensively and systematically studies the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the lives of the Saints and the relationship between faith and life - all of which is integrated into every aspect of the curriculum and life of the school, and adapted to the age and ability of the pupils. 

•  Express the life of faith in acts of religion, through personal and liturgical prayer.

•  Foster conduct and behaviour governed, ordered and guided by the seven cardinal virtues36 and rooted in Gospel values.

•  Model Gospel values which unite society by promoting a citizenship rooted in a commitment to social justice and the common good.

•  Attend to the spiritual needs of children and young people as a constant priority. 

• Care for the pastoral and special needs of children and young people in accordance with Gospel values and the teaching of the Catholic Church. • Engender a culture of vocation.

• Uphold the dignity of the human person through the maintenance and care of school buildings and, through external and internal symbols and displays, manifest the centrality of Christ and the Catholic faith 

A Catholic school is never simply a school for those who choose it. A Catholic school is always, first of all, a school for Catholics. 

Of course, others who seek a place at the school are most welcome as long as space  permits. They are fully part of the school community and greatly treasured.

Gospel values “…are a guarantee of peace and of collaboration among all citizens in the shared commitment to serving the common good”.

Blessed Pope John Paul II, in his writings and homilies, consistently used the term ‘values’ in ways that challenge modern societies and cultures to re-discover the foundation of their core values and principles: “An urgent task awaits you: to re-establish the bonds which have been strained and sometimes broken between the cultural values of our time and their lasting, Christian foundation.” 

 This is reflected in statements of the Church relating specifically to Catholic schools: “For this reason the Catholic school, in committing itself to the development of the whole man, does so in obedience to the solicitude of the Church, in the awareness that all human values find their fulfilment and unity in Christ.” 

The term ‘Gospel values’ is commonly used in Catholic schools and other Catholic institutions; however, unless the term is unpacked and a common understanding formed of what true Gospel values are, there is a danger that what should be an objective Christian foundation, will itself become a random list of subjective values. 

Whilst other ‘values’ may be found within the four Gospels and New Testament writings, it is the Beatitudes which: “…depict the countenance of Jesus Christ and portray his charity”. Gospel values cannot therefore be values chosen subjectively from the vast corpus of the Old and New Testaments but are objective values revealed to us through Christ’s proclamation.

Such objective values are to be found rooted in the Beatitudes, the proclamation of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount. The Beatitudes also “…reveal the goal of human existence, the ultimate end of human acts”  and as such are the objective ‘values’ given by Christ himself.

The word ‘ethos’ comes from a Greek word (εθοσ) for custom or habit. It therefore refers to the characteristic conduct of an individual human life or group of people, the distinctive spirit of a culture or an era that can be objectively described and personally experienced.

In short, an ‘ethos’ is a way of living, behaving and doing things by people who, though diverse, follow common values and are united by a shared vision of life. It is often therefore used in a way that is closely linked with ‘culture’ and ‘philosophy’.

Notwithstanding the difficulties of adequately defining any school’s ethos, an attempt to define a Catholic school’s ‘ethos’ may help to make the distinctiveness of Catholic schools more explicit.

The outward signs of a Catholic school’s ethos, in parallel with its distinctiveness , should be explicit and clearly displayed in the following elements: 

• The school’s legal governing documents

• Mission Statement 

• Governance 

• Leadership and Management

• Partnership and collaboration 

• Religious Education and the whole curriculum

• Liturgy and prayer 

• Promotion of a Culture of Vocation 

• Chaplaincy

• Pastoral care, support and guidance 

• Charitable outreach 

• Code of Conduct

• School buildings and physical signs

The personal experiences of a school’s Catholic ethos, which parallel the outward signs, should be encountered by all who come into contact

with the school. These personal experiences will be encountered through

• Service of the Catholic Church (The school’s legal governing document) 

• Sharing a mission and vision (Mission Statement)

• Faithful stewardship (Governance)

• Personal witness (Leadership and Management)

• Communion in the family of the Church (Partnership and collaboration)

• Religious literacy of pupils (Religious Education and the whole curriculum)

• Development of the spiritual life (Liturgy and prayer)

• Encouraging the full potential of every person (Promotion of a Culture of Vocation)

• The spiritual care of pupils and staff (Chaplaincy)

• The Gospel of life and the dignity of the human person (Pastoral care, support and guidance)

• The promotion of justice and peace (Charitable outreach)

• Moral and ethical behaviour (Code of Conduct)

• The learning environment (School buildings and physical signs)