St Vincent's Catholic Primary School

“Caritas Christi Urget Nos –

The love of Christ urges us to care for each other and strive for excellence in everything we do.”

KS1 Mary Seacole Day

In our project-based learning journey, we have been exploring the big question: “How can we be compassionate, caring, and loving towards others?” So far, we’ve learned how to care for our plants, and now we’re discovering how people have used plants to care for others and how compassion is shown in modern-day professions.

To deepen our understanding, we had a Mary Seacole Day, a special event that brought history and modern care to life!

A Visit from Nurse Sambrook

Our day began with a visit from Nurse Sambrook, who shared insights into what it means to be a nurse today. She talked about the qualities and training needed to care for others, giving us a glimpse into her daily responsibilities. The children were fascinated by her uniform and enjoyed hands-on exploration of some medical equipment she brought along. Nurse Sambrook’s visit helped us appreciate how modern nurses provide care with both skill and compassion.

Meeting Mary Seacole

Next, the children were transported back in time with a visit from Mary Seacole herself (a wonderful reenactor!). She took the children on an adventure through her life, sharing the challenges she faced and how her determination and ingenuity made a difference during the Crimean War. The children were captivated as they learned how Mary used plants as medicine to heal soldiers, showcasing her compassion and resourcefulness.

Continuing Our Journey

This exciting day has set the stage for the next part of our project, where we will compare the work of nurses in the past with those today. Though the tools and methods have evolved, the common thread remains: compassion and care are at the heart of nursing.

Mary Seacole Day was an inspiring reminder of how we can all make a difference through care and compassion, whether by helping others like nurses do or learning from the incredible examples of history.

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Curriculum Intent

At St Vincent’s it is our INTENT is to enable ALL children to thrive through the opportunities we provide them with, in order to:

  • Live their lives by the Gospel and Vincentian values instilled in them at school.
  • Understand that everyone has the right and responsibility to live in our world constructively and ensure that we leave it in a better state than when we entered it by living and working through the principles of Catholic Social Teaching in line with the UNCRC (United Nations Conventions on the Rights of the Child)
  • Experience creativity across the curriculum through specialist art and dance lessons and opportunities to take part in art, music, dance and creative writing competitions.
  • Know the joy of outdoor learning, the rich biodiversity within our school grounds and locality and develop a responsibility for the environment we share as stewards.
  • Understand their place in the world, globally and locally, knowing the history of our school, Mill Hill and the Daughters of Charity and knowing where our diverse community members have their roots across the world.
  • Be ready and well-prepared for their next steps in life, having high aspirations for themselves and for others because they have experienced success and a belief in learning from mistakes.
  • Have a life-long curiosity, stimulated by the driving questions of Project Based Learning approach to the curriculum fostering inquiry and independent learning skills, which give confidence to ask big questions about the world.
  • Be literate and numerate having experienced a rich variety of texts to stimulate and excite the mind while developing skills in investigating and problem solving to enable them to excel in their future passions.
  • Be confident and happy young people that have a broad understanding and tolerance of the world and others around them with excellent communication skills honed by their experience of Restorative Justice and respect of the dignity and wishes of the individual.

Curriculum Context

St Vincent’s is a 1.5 form entry school with 285 children ranging from 4 -11. Children come predominantly from the parishes of Sacred Heart in Mill Hill and St Anthony’s in Edgware.

Children come from a diverse range of socio-economic backgrounds, speak 17 different languages and hail from 26 different ethnic groups. The curriculum we present, and promote, to the children is an endeavour to reflect these differences by providing opportunities to explore the different countries, languages and customs our children are part of through the projects they investigate. We have looked closely at the context of our school, the backgrounds of the children and how life is for a child growing up in North London today. We have used the underlying principles of our Catholic Faith and the example of our namesake St Vincent to create a set of values which lie at the heart of our curriculum.

We are aware of the changing nature of society and the pressures faced by young children as they enter the next stage of their education. The rise in Mental Health related issues has been widely documented across the media. Therefore, issues such as internet safety and the enormous impact across society of social media are at the forefront of our minds when planning our curriculum. With the current worldwide concerns relating to Covid 19, racial justice, equality and diversity, as well as gender and economic background, we feel it is our duty to prepare the children through a concerted focus on building independence, resilience and communication skills linked to our Vincentian Values.