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Virtues & Values

All Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Birmingham have adopted the Jesuit Schools Pupil Profile to instil Virtues and Values into the children in their care. These virtues stem from the Beatitudes and have been well researched and had good success in Jesuit schools. As Catholics, we recognise the parallel between British values and Christian values - we therefore actively promote our Christian values as British values.

Cardinal Vincent said “But such a conviction, such a supreme advantage of knowing Christ, gives rise to a way of life which we believe fosters true virtue, true steady life-building habits of mind and action. That’s what virtue is. It’s those habits of mind and action which genuinely serve the common good….Schools are the places where such virtue is generated or where it is neglected.
 
Note that whilst the development of these virtues is in the service of God that does not mean service which is exclusive only towards other Catholics. When Jesus talks of love it is love for all: Jesus teaches us to ‘love your neighbour as yourself’; in the new commandment Jesus instructs the Apostles to ‘love one another as I have loved you’ and to make that love know to all: ‘Go out to the whole world and proclaim the Good News.’

At St Mary's we focus on a Virtue and Value each half-term. We learn what each Virtue and Value means and how we can live it in our daily life.  Each week, a child in each class receives a certificate for living out the virtue and value.

Pupils at St Mary’s Catholic Primary School are growing to be...

Schools in the Archdiocese of Birmingham help their pupils grow...

Grateful for their own gifts, for the gift of other people, and for the blessings of each day; and generous with their gifts, now and in the future.

By encouraging them to know and be grateful for all their gifts, developing them to the full so that they can be generous in the service of others.

Attentive to their experience and to their vocation; and discerning about the choices they make and the effects of those choices.

By promoting the practice of attentive reflection and discerning decision making: in teaching, in the examen, prayer and retreats; and through the practice and example of school leaders and staff.

Compassionate towards others, near and far, especially the less fortunate; and loving by their just actions and forgiving words.

By being compassionate and loving in the way pupils are treated, especially when a pupil is in trouble; and by opening pupils' eyes to those who suffer poverty, injustice or violence.

Faith-filled in their beliefs and hopeful for the future.

By passing on the living and faith-filled tradition of Jesus Christ; by having persevering faith in the pupils, and by encouraging them in turn, to have faith and hope in themselves and others.

Eloquent and truthful in what they say of themselves, the relations between people, and the world. 

By developing an eloquent language which pupils can use to understand and articulate their emotions, beliefs, and questions, encouraged by the example of their teachers to be truthful in the way they represent themselves and speak about the world.

Learned, finding God in all things; and wise in the ways they use their learning for the common good.

By the breadth and depth of the curriculum; by excellence of teaching, and the creation of opportunities to become more learned and wise.

Curious about everything; and active in their engagement with the world, changing what they can for the better.

By leading pupils to be curious about the universe and all human activity, and to take increasing responsibility for their own learning, and by providing opportunities for them to be active in the life of the school, the Church, and the wider community.

Intentional in the way they live and use the resources of the earth, guided by conscience; and prophetic in the example they set to others.

By being a school community which is intentional in its way of proceeding to build-up quality of life; and which is prophetic in the way it offers an alternative vision of education and the human person rooted in the gospel.

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