Academy Principal’s Welcome

Welcome to The Holy Family Catholic Primary School, where the children are at the heart of all that we do. We pride ourselves on our warm, friendly and family-orientated atmosphere.

As a Catholic school, we recognise that every child – and every member of our community – is unique and precious to God, and we aim to create an ambitious, supportive atmosphere where everyone can flourish. All our staff work extremely hard to ensure that all our children have the opportunity to reach their full potential. Children learn what they live, so it is vital that we give them a wide range of experiences and stimulating learning environments to ensure everyone can develop a love for learning and enjoy being in school.

We have the highest expectations for behaviour at Holy Family, and we value the partnerships we have developed with parents, carers and the local community. Ultimately we endeavour to develop the whole child and prepare each one academically, emotionally and socially to live and succeed in an ever-changing world.

I feel very privileged to lead Holy Family and our exceptionally dedicated team.  It is important to us all that parents and carers feel part of our school too, and always feel welcome. If you would like to visit our lovely school and grounds, please contact our friendly office staff, who will be only too happy to arrange a visit.

Mrs Underhill

Academy Principal

Gospel Values

At Holy Family, we all have an important role in fulfilling the mission of the church. Our six core Gospel Values, chosen by all pupils and adults in the Holy Family ‘family’, underpin our attitudes and beliefs and guide our behaviour.

• Term 1 – Love

• Term 2 – Humility

• Term 3 – Respect

• Term 4 – Forgiveness

• Term 5 – Peace

• Term 6 – Humility & Justice

These values are shared constantly and reinforced through our teaching. Most of these can be said to be ‘human values’ and inclusive for people with different or diverse faiths and also for those with no faith. As a Catholic School, however, we have rooted our values in the Bible. We are living our lives by following the words of God.

Pupils demonstrating and ‘living’ our values in their words and deeds will be rewarded with a ‘Values Champion’ certificate at our weekly Celebration Act of Worship. The awarding of this highlights the importance of each individual’s behaviour and the impact they have throughout the school.

As learning is a lifelong journey, we know that our Gospel Values will guide us along the way.

Through the parable of “The Good Samaritan” (Luke:10 - 25-37), Jesus demonstrates to us the foundation of what it means to live a Christian life. Following this teaching, at Holy Family we keep the spirit of the Good Samaritan message alive in our daily lives and put into practice the key lessons it represents:

• Loving your neighbour as yourself means loving ‘Everyone’

• Helping the person who needs help is helping Christ

• The only thing that matters is what you do

• Do not be ‘labelled’ or ‘label’ others

• Don’t search for a reward, do the right thing because it’s the right thing to do

As the civil rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. famously said:

“On the parable of the Good Samaritan: “I imagine that the first question the priest and Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But by the very nature of his concern, the Good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”

The message is as relevant today as it was more than 2000 years ago. We are called to help those in need, EVEN IF. We’re called to help even if the person doesn’t look like us, speak our language, or believe in our God. Our vision allows us to learn from Jesus, our teacher, reflecting on the messages of the Good Samaritan parable. It helps us to take forward the compassion and charity that we can show to others, and also realise that each of us at some time needs the help of others through no fault of our own. We want our school community to reflect the learning and ‘Go and do likewise’. This challenge was no easier for those who heard Jesus speak the words than it is for us today but at Holy Family, we strive to follow the Lord’s example.

If it seems to be an impossible task remember that, with God, all things are possible!

Our school entrance welcome display: individual plants and flowers made by key workers and vulnerable pupils during lockdown

Love Jesus, love learning, love each other.