‘We want to live Catholic Social Teaching, not laminate it’ – first school nationally to gain top CST rating
A primary school from the Diocese of Portsmouth is the first in the country to attain the highest accreditation of a national Catholic Social Teaching (CST)-based awards programme.
Corpus Christi Catholic Primary, in Boscombe, Bournemouth, has achieved Innovator Level status in the Oscar Romero Award programme, its highest certification for embedding CST principles within the curriculum, and involving pupils, parents, staff, governors, and other schools in the area.
Themed around CST, pupils on the school’s Oscar Romero Faith In Action Committee have led worship, presented to governors and across Key Stage 2 classes, and written to Parliament in campaigning for social justice issues. They have fundraised for local charities.
The pupils have also hosted two social justice conferences, with 150 delegates from 18 schools participating, including Anglican and local authority ones, with follow-up meetings to evaluate impact.
Refugee families of pupils are welcomed into the school to meet chaplaincy and pastoral team members, with pupils participating in national Refugee Week activities during June. The next step is to achieve School of Sanctuary status.
Induction training is provided for Early Career Teachers and new staff on the school’s Catholic approach, with support provided for subject leaders on embedding CST into curriculum planning.
The school governors have made efforts to diversify their board to represent the local community, and induction for new recruits includes CST and gospel virtues. The board has amended the school’s admissions policy to prioritise children in local authority care, and offered vulnerable families wraparound care and tickets to a family activity centre. The Chair of the governors, Anna Murphy-Sullivan, has stated previously: “We want to live CST, not laminate it.”
Corpus Christi is the first to gain Innovator Level status out of over 300 schools participating in the Oscar Romero Award. The programme was born out of a desire by leaders at Oaklands Catholic School, in Waterlooville, also within Portsmouth Diocese, to embed CST across the school following pupils’ visiting Kenya with CAFOD and their subsequent fundraising.
There are three levels of accreditation in the award, to reflect how far CST principles are interwoven within a school. At the first, Participator Level, CST is implicit in several ways, at the second, Developer Level, it is explicit in most areas, and at Innovator Level it is fully embedded and promoted externally.
Mugeni Sumba, Coordinator of the Oscar Romero Award Trust, said: “This is a wonderful achievement. Corpus Christi pupils, parents and staff are an example for others of what can be achieved by embedding Catholic Social Teaching within the school community – and beyond.”
Catherine Hobbs, Portsmouth Diocese Commissioner for Schools, said: “The Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth is immensely proud of all involved with the Oscar Romero Award. It was a privilege to present the first Innovator Level Certificate to Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School in Boscombe, and to hear and see first-hand the difference working towards the award had made to the school community.
“The pupils in the Faith in Action group who lead the work in the school, supported by the staff and governors, are role models for the 21st century citizens we want all our pupils to be. I am sure that achieving this award will further encourage the school to live out Oscar Romero’s words ‘not to have more, but to be more’.”
St Oscar Romero was Archbishop of San Salvador in central America, where he was assassinated in 1980 while celebrating Mass. He was canonised by Pope Francis in 2018.
