Mission Statement and Ethos

Mission Statement

Bringing Christ to All and All to Christ

• By striving to achieve excellence in each individual regardless of ethnicity, social class, gender, faith and ability;
• by promoting a sense of personal value, mutual respect and self-responsibility in  a challenging and dynamic world;
• by fostering the love of God through active worship and an expression of our living faith;
• by seeking to grow strong partnerships with the families and parishes of those entrusted to our care and our partners for justice;
• by cultivating an awareness of the need always to give of one's best and to aspire to live as Christ taught us;
• by pursuing Truth in all things in keeping with our Dominican tradition; as a valued member of our Catholic School Community.

This is our Mission Statement

Ethos

St Michael's Catholic High School is an Outstanding (Ofsted 2014 and Ofsted Section 48 2018) Catholic Comprehensive School with the mission statement 'Bringing Christ to All and All to Christ'.

Our motto, in keeping with its Dominican roots and heritage, is 'Veritas' (or 'Truth'). The school was founded by Dominican Sisters in 1955 and since then the ethos of the school has been and is distinctively religious. Our mission statement, motto and spiritual, moral, cultural and social education permeate the whole of school life.

As a Catholic school, we aim to be a sign in the local community of the person of Christ who sought excellence in all things. As a Dominican school, it is important that our community is based on prayer and preaching the Gospel by our positive example and high academic performance.

The greatest strength of the school is the people who work here and the students who study here with a genuine desire to succeed. Teachers go well beyond their terms and conditions to ensure that students achieve their potential. Support, administration, finance, site management, catering and cleaning staff are fully dedicated to work closely with teachers to ensure educational success.

Our on-going partnership with Rwanda has seen students raise a considerable sum of money for development projects around Mubuga, Ruyenzi and Kiruhura on an annual basis. These projects have included the installation of a bio-gas heating system for a school in Kiruhura, the installation of solar panels and batteries for a health centre in Ruyenzi and replacing a reservoir in Kiruhura that was in imminent danger of collapse, to identify only a few. 

Since our 60th Jubilee in 2015, St Michael’s has supported a past student, Sister Mary Joachim, and her ‘Mission of Hope’ in Ethiopia. The students have raised money for a training college and a school, and are now fundraising to build a hospice. One way of raising money is on St Michael's Day, when the whole school demonstrates to the local community its commitment to social justice by parading in fancy dress in a sponsored walk of five miles, with the money raised going towards the various projects we support. In addition, during Lent, every tutor group is encouraged to identify an initiative and then implement it, again to fundraise for our various ventures.

Through these collaborative enterprises, the community of St Michael’s demonstrates its deep sense of social justice by not just wanting to ‘live life’ but to ‘change lives’.

Social Justice

Social Justice and the ability to support and serve those in need is living out of School Mission and we are proud to be able to support many worthwhile cauises, with key ones being outlined below:-

Mission of Hope

St Michael’s continues to support a past student, Sister Mary Joachim, and her ‘Mission of Hope’ in Ethiopia. The students have raised money for a training college and a school, and are now fundraising to build a hospice. One way of raising money is on St Michael's Day, when the whole school demonstrates to the local community its commitment to social justice by parading in fancy dress in a sponsored walk of five miles, with the money raised going towards the various projects we support. In addition, during Lent, every tutor group is encouraged to identify an initiative and then implement it, again to fundraise for our various ventures.  We are humbled and privileged to support the Mission and their work.  Please see recent newsletter below:-

Mission of Hope _ Summer 2024 Newsletter

Mission of Hope Christmas 2024 Newsletter

Lourdes

Lourdes is a stark reminder that no-one should be written off: not the elderly, the sick nor the less gifted. All are endowed with dignity and qualities proper to a human being. In Lourdes the dignity of every human is respected and valued and a true sense of community is established.

Life is an extraordinary adventure, a God-given gift to be cherished, treasured and protected. People have found that Lourdes profoundly touches and inspires them through the witness of sick pilgrims.

Our students are involved in looking after the needs of the sick and infirm, working alongside doctors and nurses and carers with the Society, taking the pilgrims around in wheelchairs, entertaining them, accompanying them to liturgies.  In recent years the school have been active in leading liturgies. The now familiar “Green hoodies” add great colour to the services and events of the week. Many students and staff return with their life changed for the better, bringing the lessons of Lourdes into the school community. Many students choose to return as helpers with the Society such is the impact of the week.

Borehole Projects , Nigeria - Bringing Water to large communities and enriching lives.

The school community, through magnificent fund raising initiatives via the Lent Campaign and Sponsored Walk has enabled the installation of Three Borehole Projects across three remote villages  Mbagbera, Mbasu and Mbashimbe in Nigeria.   This has literally been life changing as these projects have brought clean fresh water supplies to well over 500,000 people.

Details of the latest works completed can be found below.

Mbashimbe, Benue State, Nigeria

Soeurs de Sainte Marie - Rwanda

Another one of the projects close to our hearts,  has been the longstanding development and support of a school in Rwanda which we helped build several years and continue to support with building/maintenance work and the much needed educational provision of young students.  Last year, we facilitated the replacement of boilers in addition to the ongoing sponsorship of students who without this would be unable to access education.  We are humbed and proud of our ability to support this worthwhile cause.   Some further information regarding this can be found on the link below.

Soeurs de Sainte Marie, Kigal, Rwanda