Catholic Life and Mission

‘When Jesus is asked which is the greatest commandment, the answer is the same in all three of the Gospels in which the question is asked: to love God with all your mind, heart, soul and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself. This call to love is at the heart of the educational mission of every Catholic school. Its first purpose is to ensure that all pupils understand the faith that gives the school its identity as a Catholic school. The second, is to ensure that all are invited to learn how to worship God in spirit and truth through the prayer and liturgy of the Church. The third, is the formation of all to live in conformity with the pattern of human goodness, truth and justice that we find in Jesus Christ.

Why is St Oswald Our School's Patron Saint?

We inspire to be like St Oswald.

committed to God and the Gospel Values
generous
caring
brave
determined
selfless

Who was St Oswald?

St. Oswald was born into a royal family. Due to much fighting between kingdoms, St. Oswald was sent to live with monks on island of Iona as a child. Here he was safe and was able to be educated and grow in faith. Many years later, St. Oswald became King of what we now know as Northumberland and tried to spread the Good News of Jesus throughout his kingdom. He was describes as being a ‘saintly king’.

St. Oswald knew he needed help to spread Christianity, so he invited St. Cuthbert to join his journey spreading the Good News on the Holy island of Lindisfarne. When he was back in his kingdom, St. Oswald lived out the Gospel values by looking after the poor and gave food and silver to the poor who knocked at his door.

As a king in the Middle Ages, St. Oswald had to fight many battles to protect his kingdom. During each battle, St. Oswald carried a cross to show he was fighting for Christianity. St. Oswald died in battle defending his Christian Kingdom and is remembered still as a King and Martyr.

St. Oswald is the patron saint of soldiers. He always took a cross into battle with him and prayed at the foot of the cross to ask God to protect him and his soldiers. In our daily life, we also take inspiration from St. Oswald and pray at the cross during Collective Worship