The Academy’s mission statement; “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full” provides the cornerstone for our community. The aim of the academy is to help each child grow in faith and to make the most of their ability. The culture and ethos at St Peter and St Paul Catholic Voluntary Academy promotes respect for the differences and diversity amongst the students. We all acknowledge that each individual learns differently and that by making errors and taking risks we learn important skills for life.

St Peter and St Paul values and loves the uniqueness of every child as being created in the image of God. Our students are wonderful, they are our ambassadors: hard-working, friendly, fun to be with and genuinely pleasant and polite young people.

Value and Ethos

“Our school is a community where Jesus Christ is our role model and his message the guiding principle behind all we do. Every member of our community is responsible for creating an environment that is caring, fair and respectful of each individual. We develop our potential, celebrate our talents and go forward together in faith.”

Christ is the foundation of everything we do and the Gospels provide us with our influence and inspiration. We are therefore committed to promoting:

The uniqueness of the individual
We believe that every person is a unique individual, created in God’s image and loved by Him. We are therefore committed to treat every person with equality of esteem and the respect and dignity due to a child of God.

The search for excellence
We are called to seek perfection in all aspects of our lives. We celebrate the enrichment of the total community, which flows from diversity of age, gender, racial and social origins, abilities, culture and religion. We are therefore committed to ensure that all are to be given every opportunity to develop their talents to the full.

The education of the whole person
We offer young people the experience of life in a community founded on Gospel values and working in harmony. Through this and a variety of educational experiences and interactions we aim to prepare young people for a life working with others in communities which maybe diverse socially, culturally and religiously. We recognise that it is also important to help pupils to understand their own ethnic identity and cultural heritage as well as helping them to understand that of others irrespective of whether the school serves or is located in an ethnically diverse community.

The education of all
We have the duty of care for all to ensure that we provide for those who are socially, academically, physically, emotionally or financially disadvantaged.

Moral principles
Our belief in the Gospel message commits us to be in the forefront of the movement for social and racial justice and harmony. We believe this is fundamental to the common good. We aim to prepare our young people to serve as witnesses to these moral and spiritual values in the wider world.

Consequently, we still strive to ensure that:
Any person recruited to the service of the school, whether as a member of staff or as a volunteer, is made fully aware of our aims and objectives and required to support them;

Children who are admitted to the school and their families are fully aware of our aims and objectives and undertake to support them;

All of our structures and policies are evaluated and kept under constant review in order to see that no individual is subject in any way to unlawful discrimination, whether intentional or unintentional, and to ensure that all are enabled to reach their full potential.

British Values

At St Peter and St Paul, we are dedicated to promoting values which ensure our students develop a strong sense of social and moral responsibility, and which prepare them for life in modern day Britain.  SMSC (spiritual, moral, social and cultural development) underpins every aspect of our provision and is supported by the Catholic nature of our academy.

Through PDP, we promote British Values in order for our students to:

• develop their self-knowledge, self-esteem and self-confidence
• distinguish right from wrong and to respect the civil and criminal law of England
• accept responsibility for their behaviour, show initiative, and 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
• acquire a broad general knowledge of and respect for public institutions and services in England
• acquire an appreciation for and respect for their own and other cultures and promote tolerance and harmony between different cultural traditions
• encourage respect for other people
• encourage respect for democracy and support for participation in the democratic processes, including respect for the basis on which the law is made and applied in England.