SMSC

SMSC refers to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural education that students at Newman Catholic College receive.

SMSC is at the heart of all we do at Newman and the opportunities that students have to extend their understanding and experiences of the different elements of SMSC. It is of extreme importance to us due the Biblical teachings, Newman Values and faith role models that are at the core of our school and community.

SMSC is reflected in our Newman values of love, dignity, courage and service. SMSC is delivered through the whole curriculum and also through the wider curriculum and extra curricular opportunities and experiences our students engage with.

Spiritual

SMSC refers to the spiritual, moral, social and cultural education that students at Newman Catholic College receive.

We develop our students spiritually by:

Giving students the opportunity to explore values and beliefs; including our Newman values and our Catholic faith, and the way in which this impacts on their live and the lives of others;

Providing an engaging curriculum, with Christ at the centre, which allows our students to develop a love for learning and explore life’s big questions;

Exploring the principles of Catholic Social Teaching across the curriculum, to create students who are agents of change and work for peace and justice;

Developing an ethos where all life is recognised as a gift from God, recognising the dignity of all and where all can grow and flourish;

Allowing students to understand human emotions and feelings and the way they impact on others;

Having three moments of prayer daily; morning, afternoon and end of day, to allow for reflection on the day, on our lives and on our responsibility towards others;

Celebrating the Word through weekly Collective Worship assemblies, which celebrate the liturgical year and allow students the opportunity to connect with themselves and God;

Hosting annual internal and external retreats, which provide the space for the stillness of silence and God;

Celebrating other faiths through enrichment experiences such as Macfest;

Having a Pupil Chaplain team who are committed to creating opportunities for reflection and community.

Moral

Our vision for the moral development of our students is that they can understand the difference between right and wrong and take this into wider society to be the global citizens that our world needs. We want to develop students who act with integrity, justice, compassion and respect for themselves and others. We want to celebrate and respect all life as a gift from God, recognising the dignity in all life, including our responsibility to the environment.

We develop our students morally by:

Having a clear behaviour for learning policy which is pupil friendly and understood by all;

Holding students accountable for their actions and celebrating when they make the right decisions;

Addressing moral topics throughout the whole curriculum which can guide debates and discussions on moral issues across our world;

Promoting and celebrating our protected characteristics and ensuring all students understand these via the Personal Development curriculum;

Modelling the quality of relationships and interactions that the world needs;

Reinforcing our values and moral codes through ad hoc pastoral assemblies at the start of every term and when necessary throughout the school year;

Having a virtual assembly calendar which allows education on and discussion of wider societal issues and our moral duty towards these;

Hosting charity events, alongside the liturgical year, which are focused on local e.g. Oldham Foodbank, national e.g. Caritas and global e.g. CAFOD;

Regular pastoral interventions from the pastoral and safeguarding team using our values and providing support;

Our engagement with outside agencies who can support and strengthen the moral development of our young people in times of need and crisis;

Having a student leadership team who are role models of our values and are committed to developing a sense of morality in all;

Using our faith role models of Jesus, Mary and Saint John Henry Newman as beacons of morality and using their teachings to develop a sense of love, dignity, forgiveness and service to all.

Social

Our vision for the social development of students is based on creating individuals who can live and function effectively and positively in society. We want to develop students who understand what it means to be an active citizen and participate in society. We want to develop students who understand what it means to be a British citizen, whilst also understanding their role in the global world. We want students to be able to work together well, during their time at Newman and beyond and have the courage to serve others in all they do, just like Christ did.

We develop our student socially by:

Our lived values of love, service, dignity and courage which foster a sense of community and respect;

Our use of the term ‘Newman Family’ which aims to create a sense of welcome, belonging and community in all we do during and beyond our school day;

Having a mobile phone ban during the school day which encourages our students to develop their social skills with their peers;

Intervening when students are struggling with how to respond to their peers socially, through the use of our pastoral, safeguarding and link team and putting the correct interventions in place for our young people;

Helping students resolve tensions and conflict through the use of restorative justice with both their peers and adults around them;

Providing education in the curriculum, especially through the Personal Development and RE curriculum, on how to see ourselves, our role in the lives of others and our personal qualities which are valued in society;

Having a range of extra curricular activities both in the school day and after school which foster a sense of team, commitment and community;

Engaging peer conversations, debates and teamwork throughout the school day in curriculum lessons;

Having a successful Debate Mate team who are role models of communication and how to use your voice for good;

Using student leaders such as the Student Leadership Team and Pupil Chaplains in assemblies and Collective Worship as role models;

Hosting career events such as Career Fairs and Mock Interviews which allow students to reflect on their place in the wider world.

Cultural

Our cultural development of our students is based on them having knowledge of who they are and their place in the world. We want to create students who have an understanding of who they are, their culture and their place in society including their immediate area, wider UK and the global world. We want students to understand what it means to live in the UK and be a citizen in modern Britain. We want to nurture and foster students who are respectful of the diversity around them.

We develop our students culturally by:

Providing opportunities throughout the whole curriculum to explore their own culture and the culture of others;

Providing opportunities across the whole school for students to recognise our diversity and why this is a gift;

Recognising and nurturing the unique gifts and talents of our young people;

Having a zero tolerance approach towards bullying of any kind, in reference to the Equality Act 2010;

Providing extra curricular opportunities for our young people to develop their gifts and talents, for example, whole school productions (musicals, concerts), team sports, filmmaking etc;

Teaching our students about bias and developing an understanding of celebrating our protected characteristics;

Having a number of trips and visits available to the students so they can experience culture, for example, theatre trips, geographical trips, pilgrimages and trips abroad;

Presenting the views of others and experiences of culture through interactive panels with members of the community and wider;

Having a Diversity and Equality policy which is lived and reviewed annually;

Having British values as one of the pillars of knowledge in the Personal Development curriculum so that students know what it means to live in modern Britain;

Developing partnerships with outside agencies and individuals to extend student’s cultural awareness;

Developing positive relationships with parents via engagement evenings to ensure we maximise the potential of all students.