Catholic Social Teaching

We are called to serve and follow in Jesus’ footsteps…

At St. Paulinus, all aspects of school life are informed by the belief that God has a plan for us and God’s plan is good. Catholic Social Teaching is our moral compass, guiding us on how to live out our faith in the world. Pupils and staff are invited to champion the rights of those with no voice, seek to bring dignity to the poor and welcome the stranger among us.  Pupils are taught about the principles of Catholic Social Teaching through both the RE and RSE curriculums.

For our school family, Catholic Social Teaching is a lived experience and although pupils would not all necessarily be able to articulate the principles of Catholic Social Teaching, they do play an active role in responding to the demands of Catholic Social Teaching and are fully engaged in projects, campaigns and support for those in need locally, nationally and globally: working together for the common good and to help build a just society.

Early Years and Key Stage One

Dignity (Everyone is special)
God made each of us, which means each of us is very special. It is not important if you are tall or small, or happy or sad, or if you have many toys or no toys. What is important is that each of us is special because of God’s love, and we must treat others in a caring way because they were made by God too.

Participation (Taking Part)
Jesus Knows that people can only be happy if they have families and friends. He tells us that we can let these important people help us. He asks us to help them too.

The Common Good (Thinking of everyone)
All of God’s people need these things: food, work, clothes, a home, a school, and a doctor to help when they are sick. Every single person on earth needs these. Some people have what they need, but many people don’t. Jesus wants the people who already have what they need to help these others. Jesus wants us to take care of this.

Care for Creation (Care of God’s gift)
God made the earth and sky. God made all the people all over the world. God made the spiders and dogs and butterflies and tigers and pandas and all the other animals. God made the tulips, the trees, the tomatoes and all the plants. God tells us we must take good care of them, it is an important job.

Option for the Poor (Putting those most in need first)
You need food, water, a house, your school, a good doctor and a job for the grown-up who takes care of you. So does everybody else on earth. But there are many people who do not have these things. Jesus wants us to take extra care of these people.

The Dignity of work (Let your light shine)
All people work in some way. Their work should be safe and helpful to them because God made them. By our work, we help ourselves and others, and we show our love to God.

Solidarity (Showing that we care)
All people are God’s children. That makes us brothers and sisters. We are connected to each other. It is as if everyone in the world held hands! We can be very different from each other, but we are still one family – God’s family.

Peace (Being a peacemaker)
When we fall out with our friends we must say sorry, try to put things right and then try to be even better friends. We must always try to live in peace and get on with everyone. This is not easy, but Jesus wants us to keep on trying.

Key Stage Two

Dignity (Everyone is special)God made each one of us. This makes us incredibly special. It doesn’t matter who we are, who our friends are, what we own, or what we look like. What matters is that we are special because we are God’s children. This means that we must treat others with respect and fairness because God made us all.

Participation (Taking Part)Jesus understood that people need each other. We all need our families, friends and neighbours. He tells us that these important people can help us. Jesus says we must help them too. Doing this, we create a loving community where everyone can live life to the full.

The Common Good (Thinking of everyone)All God’s people have the right to food, work, clothes, a home, school and medical care. These ‘rights’ are things that every person on earth needs in order to live life to the full. But many people do not have them. Jesus wants people who enjoy these rights to help their sisters and brothers obtain their rights. It is not enough to feel badly for others. Jesus says it is our responsibility to see that everyone receives his or her rights.

Care for Creation (Care of God’s gift)The earth and all life on it is God’s creation. We are called to take care of it because it is a holy gift from God and only place we can live. When we make bad our thoughtless use of the world’s resources, many people suffer. When we make good choices about how we treat other living things (people, animals, plants) we help all living things to live as God intends. Making wise choices about the care of God’s creations is called good stewardship.

Option for the Poor (Putting those most in need first)Every person needs food, water, work, housing, school and medical care. Those who do not have these are poor. Our church teaches that these sisters and brothers must be treated with extra respect and extra care and have access to what they need. Those who are not poor must share must share what they have with others because the gifts of God’s world are for all people.

The Dignity of work (Let your light shine)Everyone’s work is of value. There are many kinds of work. In each job, workers deserve to be treated with respect, work safely, work reasonable hours, and earn fair wages. They deserve this because they are made by God. Our work gives us the means to live, but it is also a chance to use the talents God gives us. Our work is our way of cooperating with God to help create a better world.

Solidarity (Showing that we care)
The world’s people are interdependent. This means we need each other if we are to live. We must work together if we are to go on living. When we walk alongside our sisters and brothers around the world and learn from each other, we call this solidarity. Even though there are huge distances between us, we are still one family – the family of God.

Peace (Being a peacemaker)We are called to forgive others. When we have done something wrong we must try to put things right, not just by saying sorry but by changing our behaviour. Jesus teaches us to live in peace with one another. He says we must forgive those who hurt us and make friends again. This is not easy and we all need to work at promoting peace in order to have one just world.

Helping Others

This teaching leads us to help others. Children are encouraged to understand how they can contribute positively to the lives of those living and working in the locality of the school and to society more widely.

 

NPCAT – Called to Serve