The Catholic Life of
St. Cuthbert's
Our links with the parish of St. Cuthbert and St. Joseph are very strong and well established, and we are supported brilliantly by Fr. Chris and the community. We also have great links with St. Thomas More, St. Joseph’s and Christ Church schools, and we have led all four schools in a regular Easter Passion at Northumberland Square in North Shields. Support from each school and our communities is always fantastic as children from each school re-tell the story of Jesus’ Easter Passion. St. Thomas More students provide singing soloists as everyone joins together in prayer, singing and liturgical dance. Music has been provided by Celia Bryce on acoustic guitar which adds another dimension to our day. During Holy Week we have prayer stations each morning at St. Cuthbert’s and families and parishioners join us virtually and in person outdoors, to reflect on the events of Holy Week and how they impacted on our own lives.
We are delighted and privileged to work with our Filipino families planning, preparing for and leading our May Procession together. We celebrate our diversity every single day at St. Cuthbert’s and our school belongs to all our children and families. Families teach children traditional Filipino songs and dances and they taught us all about the traditional May Procession in the Philippines. Each class in school celebrates a different aspect of Our Lady and children dress in traditional Filipino clothes and carry beautifully decorated umbrellas, signs, and banners made by the children. We gather together in Church and our procession often stops the traffic throughout North Shields as we make our way to Northumberland Square to join in prayer before processing back to school via The Beacon Centre. Our whole school community joins together as we place our crowned Mary in our prayer shelter and pray and sing together. During lockdowns we have kept our traditions alive and hundreds of people have watched our live Easter Passion,Nativity and May Procession on our YouTube channel,
First Holy Communions were celebrated at St. Cuthbert’s Church this year and the children and families had a fantastic day. Our parish, families and school work very closely to prepare children for this most special of days and it is was fantastic to see so many children back at Mass for their Sending Forth Mass at the start of July. St. Cuthbert’s Mini Vinnies continue to lead the way for children at St. Cuthbert’s and further afield this year. The children made up the core of our RRSA steering group and they were instrumental in St. Cuthbert’s becoming the only primary school in North Tyneside to currently hold the UNICEF Rights Respecting School Gold Award. They have also led a lot of our fundraising at school this year, planning, preparing and running our Macmillan Coffee morning and food collections at Harvest Festival.
Our most recent Diocesean RE Inspection was in March 2020 and the Catholic Life at St. Cuthbert's was judged to be outstanding, The Catholic Life of the school is outstanding. The mission statement is central to everything that the school does. All members of the school community support one another to grow in faith and fulfil the mission of the Church. You can download and read the full report below.
