Our school patron Saint is St. Bede the Venerable.  Bede was a priest, monk and scholar who is at the heart of our school values, where all pupils are encouraged to take a journey of faith, discovery and learning.

Bede was born during 673 near the English town of Jarrow. His parents sent him at a young age to study at a monastery founded by a Benedictine abbot, St. Benedict Biscop. The abbot’s extensive library may have sparked an early curiosity for Bede, who would grow up to have a love of reading and writing.

Later, Bede returned to Jarrow and continued his studies. Bede developed his passion for scripture and theology, but also sacred music, poetry and the Greek language.

Bede’s tutors could see that his life demonstrated a remarkable devotion to prayer and study and he was ordained a deacon when he was 19. Bede studied for 11 more years before entering the priesthood at the age of 30, around the beginning of the eighth century. Afterward, Bede took on the responsibility of celebrating daily Mass for the members of his Benedictine community, while also working on farming, baking, and other works of the monastery.

As a monk, Bede gave absolute priority to prayer, fasting and charitable hospitality. He regarded all other works as valueless without the love of God and one’s neighbour.  These values are reflected in our school mission, where all of our pupils are inspired to understand and live moral lives, based on the gospel values of; hope, love, forgiveness and compassion.  Bede understood that love was his life’s purpose.

During his life, Bede wrote a wide range of books about theology, the Bible, science, literature, and history. He also taught hundreds of students at the monastery and its school, which became renowned throughout Britain.

Chaplaincy is an essential part of life at St. Bede’s. With guidance from the Chaplaincy coordinator, both pupils and staff have a mission in making the love of God visible and real in the lives of everyone in the school and the wider community. We acknowledge that faith is required for us to fulfil our mission and, through the work of Chaplaincy, we aim to create an ethos where the faith of our school community will flourish.

At St Bede’s, our faith is nurtured and developed through weekly themes which are closely linked to the liturgical calendar, and provided as prayerful and reflective activities, integrated into Prep periods and assemblies. We have strong links with our local parish and a regular priest presence in school.

Our beautiful prayer room is available for all pupils as a spiritual place where our school community can experience quiet space for reflection and prayer.  The prayer room is also used by Prep groups throughout the year to allow an opportunity for each pupil to develop their own personal faith experience.

Prayer room opening times:

• Wednesday Lunch – KS3 Social Justice Group
• Thursday Lunch – A quiet space

Collective worship at St Bede’s involves our whole school community and is central to the heart of our daily school life, connecting us by faith.

Our school community meets together during Year group assemblies where they are invited to develop their faith, empathy and compassion through meaningful and reflective use of scripture and prayer.  The call to respond to the Word through action and mission is a key message given to our school community.  Throughout the Year, Prep Groups are given the opportunity to plan an assembly with their peers and Prep tutor, contributing to the faith journey of all our school family.

Fr Brian from the Catholic parishes of Darwen, celebrates Mass for our school community at important parts of the year and pupils are encouraged to participate and plan for these special occasions.  Parents, Carers and the wider school family are always welcomed to our Year 7 Welcome Mass and Year 11 Leavers Mass.

Small groups of KS3 pupils participate in the celebration of Mass at St Joseph’s Church in Darwen on a regular basis.  This gives our younger pupils an opportunity to develop their faith journey and receive the Sacrament of the Eucharist.  Parents and Carers are informed of the Mass that their child attends and are welcomed to join us as part of our wider faith community.

Pupil Prayer Leaders plan Para-Liturgies for important times of the Liturgical Year, for example during Advent and Lent.  Pupils are encouraged to use their talents during the services and contribute in creative and engaging ways.

Prayer is a daily focus within our school.  Prayer and reflection that are linked to the theme of the week form an important part of the daily prayer life and our pupil prayer leaders have an important role in planning worship.  Every Year Group has their own prayer book that has been created by our pupils.

Our prayer themes of the week are linked to the Church’s Liturgical Year, Patron Saint’s Days, Feast Days and other important times in the calendar such as Holocaust Memorial Day, Interfaith Week and Remembrance Week.  Our prayer life is rooted in scripture and the teachings of Christ.   Prayers reflect our core Gospel values as a school of hope, love, forgiveness and compassion for others.

Charity fundraising

At St Bede’s we place the teaching of Christ to show love for others through our charity fundraising.  Pupils reflect the Gospel values of love and compassion as part of our school mission by their action to help people in need.  Every term there is a charity fundraising fortnight where pupils from each Year Group have their own charities that they raise donations for.  This is often a charity that is personal and has special resonance to members of the Year group community.

Our school community comes together during Advent and Lent to fundraise for Caritas and CAFOD.  Throughout the year, our school family collects donations for a local homeless charity in Blackburn, Nightsafe, and also food donations for our local foodbank.

Social Justice Group

St Bede’s have a thriving social justice group who live out Catholic Social Teachings by following Pope Francis’s teaching, Fratelli Tutti, focusing on fraternity and social friendship.   Highlights of their work so far are planning charity cake sales to raise money for CAFOD during Lent, contributing to Caritas Salford Diocese ‘Lenten and Advent thought of the day’, supporting the school ‘Spring Stalls’ event raising money for our school garden project and getting involved in school recycling projects.

Charity visits

During the year, pupils live out their faith by connecting to those in need within our local community.  Visits are made to the local care home where our pupils use their God-given talents through dance, drama and music.  Our pupils through their English lessons, connect with the residents writing to each other through the pen pals project.  Visits have been made to the local homeless charity, Nightsafe, and the local foodbanks to deliver the generous donations from our school community.

CAFOD

Our school community supports CAFOD through many projects such as ‘The Big Lent Walk’.  Representatives from CAFOD visit school and speak with our pupils and teaching staff about our responsibility as a faith community to look after those in need and uphold the principles of Catholic Social Teaching.

Caritas

Our school community supports Caritas within Salford Diocese and during Advent, donate much needed hats, gloves, socks and toiletries for the Caritas Cornerstone Day Centre for the Homeless in Manchester.

A representative from Caritas has also visited school and spoken with our pupils and teaching staff about the core values and principles of Catholic Social Teaching.

Each term we celebrate pupils living out their faith through Gospel values.  The Caritas Love for Others Award is given to the pupil or group who have demonstrated love for others and is awarded by the Head Teacher in assemblies.  This award has pride of place in our school reception and is a reminder of the important work that our school community strives to carry out.

Laudato Si

St Bede’s has an active Pupil Ecology Group who act out Pope Francis’s message about our role to care for our common home, through his teaching, Laudato Si.  Pupils in this group have also visited Salford Diocese’ Laudato Si centre where they took part in planting and environmental activities.

Our pupils have been in involved in the ‘Guardians of Creation’ project run by St Mary’s University and Salford Diocese.  Some of the initiatives from the project have been incorporated into the daily life of the school such as ‘bringing the outside in’.  This allows each Prep group to be guardians of creation taking responsibility for growing herbs and seeds in their own Prep planter.

Currently our school community is developing a school garden area to reflect our role as guardians and stewards of God’s beautiful creation.  Sensory planting areas, flowering planters and a small outdoor seating area are under construction.

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• https://www.saintoscarromero.org.uk/
• https://www.darwencatholic.org.uk/