Our Mission Statement

Our Parish School of Our Lady of Lourdes welcomes everyone in the community to share with us the joys of our Catholic Faith. We worship, learn and play together in the love of Jesus, helping one another to become the people God has created us to be.

OUR VISION STATEMENT

Our Catholic School will be a safe, happy, special place where the true love of Jesus is present and the Gospel values of hope, joy, justice, peace and forgiveness are reflected in all we do and say.
 
The warmth of our welcome and the quality of our care will be matched by excellence in academic, creative, technological and sporting achievement.
 
We will encourage a love of learning and everyone will recognise and achieve their full potential.
 
Our school will be a cherished centre of the community in which the uniqueness of each person will be valued and successes celebrated by all.
 
We will encourage an appreciation for the richness of the created world and work to improve the quality of lives for those less fortunate.

EQUALITY INFORMATION

At Our Lady of Lourdes, we aim to develop a culture of equality, inclusion and diversity – celebrating the ways in which we are each different, unique and special.

The Single Equality Act, which came into place on October 1st 2010, see HERE, brought together the duties set out in our Race, Disability and Gender policies into one single Public Sector Equality Duty. The Single Equality Act combines the existing three duties into one new Public Sector Equality Duty that covers all nine of the protected characteristics:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender
• Gender-identity
• Race
• Pregnancy
• Maternity
• Religion or belief
• Sexual orientation

We will ensure that at every level, in all our work and throughout all aspects of the school community and its life, all will be treated equally.

The General Duty covers all protected characteristics and has three main aims requiring public bodies to have due regard to the need for:

1. Eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and other conduct that is prohibited under the Equality Act 2010.
2. Advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.
3. Foster good relations between persons who share a protected characteristic and persons who do not share it.

At Our Lady of Lourdes, we are committed to:

• Dealing with and eliminating prejudiced based incidents
• Closing the gap in attainment for all children
• Engagement with local communities
• Policies and practices that promote equality and address inequalities

The Leadership Team and Governing Body will annually review how well we achieve these aims with regard to the protected groups under the Equality Act.

Please see below our Equality Objectives for 2024-25:

• To promote cultural understanding and awareness of different religious beliefs between different ethnic groups within our school community.
• To celebrate the cultural diversity of our community and show respect for all groups.
• To monitor and promote the involvement of all groups of pupils in the extra-curricular life of the school, including leadership opportunities, especially pupils with special educational needs.
• To close gaps in attainment and achievement between pupils and all groups of pupils; especially boys and girls, disadvantaged pupils, pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, and children in care.
• To ensure there are no incidents of the use of homophobic, sexist and racist language by pupils in the school.