Catholic Social Teaching
Catholic Social Teaching addresses social, economic and political issues. It is rooted in scripture and tradition to promote justice, peace and the common good.
At St James we follow the nine principles of Catholic Social Teaching:
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Common Good: Society should be structured in ways that benefit all people, promoting the wellbeing and flourishing of every individual and community.
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Option for the Poor: The Church is called to prioritize the needs of the poor and vulnerable, recognizing that their well-being is essential to the overall health of society.
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Solidarity: All people are interconnected and share a responsibility for one another's welfare, requiring us to stand with and for those in need.
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Dignity of Work: Work is more than a means of earning a living; it is a dignified participation in God's creative work, requiring fair wages and respect for workers' rights.
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Dignity of the Family: Family life is fundamental to a well-ordered society and is central to human development, calling for support and respect for family structures.
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Care for Creation: The Earth is a sacred gift, and humans have a responsibility to protect and cherish it for present and future generations.
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Human Dignity: Every person is made in the image of God and possesses an inherent dignity that must be respected and safeguarded.
In school we use CAFODs images which help the children follow the nine principles.
Prayer Stations
As part of our commitment to the Year of Hope 2025, our children took part in a reflective school pilgrimage, journeying through seven prayer stations set up across the school. Each station focused on a core Catholic principle, carefully prepared by class teachers to create a space for prayer, reflection, and discussion.
As the children moved from station to station, they explored how these principles guide us to act with compassion, kindness, and justice - both in our local communities and across the globe. Our children shared how they can be a force for good and help build a better, more hopeful world for everyone.
An audience with Pope Leo
Father Chris, brother of Mrs Scott and friend to St. James School had an audience with Pope Leo XIV to discuss the work he does with Citizens UK. Citizens UK is an organisation which supports social issues and tries to implement changes such as fair living wages for all.
CAFOD – Creative for Justice
We took part in CAFODs get creative for climate justice campaign. We understand how important it is to care for God’s beautiful earth.
Our school artwork featured in part of the exhibition at the Houses of Parliament. What a fantastic opportunity to show our love.
We are proud to feature in CAFOD’s celebration of 10 Years of Laudato Si’
Joanna Scott, St. James’ Catholic Primary School in Hebburn
“CAFOD’s LiveSimply Award gave our school the perfect opportunity to support Pope Francis’ plea in Laudato Si’ to live simply, sustainably and in solidarity with the poor.
To help our families to live more sustainably, we asked them to reduce their carbon footprint -including fewer school drop offs in cars, waste free packing for school lunches and purchasing recycled clothing and school uniforms.
To live more simply we encouraged our families to get out into their local environment and to play games which rely less on technology.
To show our solidarity for the poor we promoted the importance of buying Fairtrade goods, raised funds for CAFOD’s global projects, and supported CAFOD’s efforts to protect small famers.
Our LiveSimply Award is now displayed proudly in our school. However, our mission to look after God’s world and the more vulnerable people who live within in it goes on indefinitely through the continued selfless work of our children, staff, families and wider school community.”
Eco Warriors – Uniform
At St. James we know that recycling clothes is crucial for environmental conservation, resource management, and reducing waste. We are delighted to showcase our pre-loved uniform. We will be rotating our rail once every two weeks; this weeks category is sweatshirts and PE kit. The uniform is all freshly washed and pressed, thank you to our lovely Mrs Snaith and our SVP for their help with this. Our uniform rail will be at the front office and anyone is welcome to browse, this is entirely free of charge as part of our eco vision and ongoing love and protection of God’s beautiful earth.
Eco Warriors – Battery Recycling
At St. James we are proud to be Eco Warriors! We even have a battery recycling point in the school office.
Battery recycling is essential for protecting our environment and is an easy way to play your part in protecting the planet and showing our ongoing love and respect of God’s earth.. So, next time your battery runs out—recycle it! Let’s make battery recycling a bright spot at St. James. Any batteries can be brought into the school office where they will be collected for recycling!
Red Nose Day
On Friday 21st March children were invited to attend school in non-uniform to raise money for Comic Relief.
Comic Relief is there for people who are facing the toughest times of their lives. All year-round, the money donated to Comic Relief works hard to support some incredible projects making a change to people’s lives across the UK and around the world. In fact, over the last few years, Comic Relief funding has helped to support 3 million people.
Together we raised over £100. Every donation makes a very real difference to people in the UK and around the world.
NSPCC Number Day
We were delighted to support NSPCC Number Day by raising money to support their vital services, such as Childline- the helpline that’s always there for children and young people whatever their problem or concern.
The theme for the day was Dress up for Digits and children were invited to come in non-uniform, wearing an item of clothing with a number on it. Together our cake sale raised £223.36 for NSPCC!
LiveSimply Award!
As you already know this year we have been working to achieve CAFOD’s Live Simply Award. This is an award given to schools and parishes in response to Pope Francis’ invitation to ‘Laudato Si’ – to work with generosity and tenderness in protecting God’s world.
We are DELIGHTED to confirm that our school has now achieved the LiveSimply award. Despite the fact that our children are currently split over three sites we have still come together to demonstrate that we can live simply, sustainable and in solidarity with the world’s poorest communities.
This award celebrates what we have already done and inspires us to do more. It helps us to live not just more simply but more fully. LiveSimply is very much a journey which we hope to continue for many years to come.
This is a huge achievement for our school and we hope to celebrate our success by continuing our faith inspired actions. Our commitment to LiveSimply is a vital part of our Catholic life and the overall mission of our school.
Thank you to everyone who has supported us in achieving this award, special thanks to Mrs Scott, our Faith in Action Group our Mini Vinnies and for all those who have donated to our many fundraising events, most recently, CAFOD’s big Lent Walk. The feedback we have received is wonderful “the pupils were outstanding in the clarity and commitment they show to your LiveSimply journey.” We have produced outstanding work and this is a credit to our community.
