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St BernardʼsCatholic High School

Welcome to St Bernardʼs Catholic High School. We have been serving the Furness community, and beyond, for many years and have a long established tradition of providing high quality education and pastoral care for our children and their families. Our core values of kindness, hard work and resilience underpin the high standards and expectations that we have for all of our school community. As a school, we provide a positive learning environment where every child is nurtured to realise their full potential and strive for excellence. As a dedicated staff team, we take pride in knowing our children and fostering strong relationships with them so they know they are valued as individuals. Each child is supported in developing their own unique talents to flourish and achieve personal success.We have high aspirations for all our young people and want them to attain at the highest academic level possible, whilst also equipping them with the values, skills and knowledge to tackle the ever increasing demands of our modern world. To achieve this, we offer a broad and balanced curriculum that is delivered by a team of experienced and talented teachers and tailored to meet the needs of your child. Alongside this, we offer an extensive programme of activities and a high level of pastoral care to ensure that your child can widen their horizons and deepen their understanding of the world around them. St Bernardʼs is incredibly proud of the progress and achievements that our young people make over the five years they are with us, both academically and personally. Many go on to pursue successful careers locally or onto further and higher education, leading to careers in a diverse range of fields and professions. As a Headteacher and a parent myself, I know that choosing a secondary school with your child is an important and oen difficult decision. While we strive to include all the information that you need in this prospectus and through our open evenings, we strongly believe that to fully experience life at St Bernardʼs, you and your child need to visit us. I, therefore, invite you to arrange a visit to see our school in action. I look forward to meeting you in the future and working in partnership to provide a positive and inspiring school experience for your child. Mrs J WhittamHeadteacher

Kindness“A big thank you for making me feel at home and for accepting me for who I am. I will never forget my time at St Bernardʼs!” Pupil“Pupils respect each other”Ofsted 2022

Our FamilyThe pastoral life of St Bernardʼs is central to our core values and beliefs and is a visible strength of our school. Our young people are cared for, valued for who they are and nurtured from the day they arrive until the day they leave. Our Pastoral Team is central to the care and support we give our young people, which creates a family within a family, and ensures that each one of our young people is cared for by their Form Tutor, their Pastoral Leader and the wider pastoral team.The Pastoral Team actively works together with teachers and support staff to ensure that each of our young people receives the individualised support they need and that they are safe and happy.For pupils who are transferring to St Bernardʼs from primary school, we provide a specific programme of support and guidance. We aim to enable that all Year 7 pupils settle in quickly, make new friends and thoroughly enjoy the challenge and excitement of their first few weeks at St Bernardʼs.

Our FaithSt Bernardʼs is truly a Catholic school. Catholic means universal and we pride ourselves on being a welcoming family, supportive of everyone regardless of faith or creed, baptised or non baptised.Our values underpin everything we do and are fundamental to how we want our young people to live and grow. Our values help our young people to fulfil their intellectual, spiritual and physical potential and prepare each one of them for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of adult life.While St Bernardʼs serves the Christian community of Furness, our doors are open and welcoming to all young people regardless of their faith or background. Our school is made up of young people from almost every Primary School in Barrow and Walney and some from Millom, Dalton and Ulverston. The one thing that all our young people have in common in attending our school is that they benefit from our commitment to helping them grow and develop. As a family, we support each other and our wider community in everything we do.

Hard Work“The schoolʼs ethos and values underpin good behaviour and encourage students to become respectful and courteous citizens.”“Students are given opportunities to grow spiritually and morally by exploring their values and beliefs.” Ofsted“Pupils enjoy coming to school to learn and feel safe.” Ofsted 2022

ResilienceOur Literary Canon is designed to inspire a love of reading and literature in our young people. Our School Canon is a set of 15 novels which we believe all pupils should read in their first three years at St Bernardʼs. Each Form Group in lower school spends approximately two hours per week reading along with their Form Tutor.

Our School DayOur school day is a little different from most secondary schools. Our commitment to our young people is to provide the learning environment they need now, rather than relying on how things have always been.We have three lessons a day which are each 95 minutes in length. This serves to reduce cognitive load, to reduce loss of learning time and to give pupils time in the classroom to really explore their subjects. This slows down the frantic pace which sometimes comes with a five or six period day. It allows us to get to know our pupils and promote depth of understanding and a love of learning.In addition to three lessons of formal teaching each day, we have Personal Development time where our young people spend 30 minutes with their Form Tutors. This time is valuable to their development. Those in lower school spend the majority of this time participating in our Literary Canon which is our lower school reading programme. Those in upper school use this time for PSHE, Careers and Study Skills.

Our CurriculumSt Bernardʼs offers a curriculum that is highly aspirational, enabling both academic success and personal growth. The aim of our curriculum is that all students leave St Bernardʼs as confident, well-qualified and responsible adults ready to take their next steps.The curriculum in each subject area is carefully designed to build on the core skills and knowledge that pupils will have mastered in Key Stage 2. It ensures a deliberate blend of academic core content, disciplinary knowledge and enriching opportunities. This ensures that, as well as gaining a secure understanding of the curriculum content, pupils gain a curiosity and passion for each subject they study.All our students experience the same challenging curriculum in Key Stage 3 which then leads to their option choices at the end of Year 9. We offer a highly academic curriculum, but also recognise that students have different talents and interests and, therefore, offer some creative and vocational courses at Key Stage 4.Reading, writing and numeracy skills are critical to pupil progress and we regularly monitor numeracy and literacy development. We offer additional support to our young people in these key areas whenever required, ensuring a secure grasp of the core skills and knowledge they need to access the full curriculum.

Kindness“I just wanted to let you know Iʼve got into four colleges for next year. I wanted to thank you for getting me back on track this year; if you hadnʼt helped me figure things out I wouldnʼt be going to college next September, as I wouldnʼt be getting the grades I need.Thank you!”PupilLeaders have high aspirations for pupils. Ofsted 2022

Hard Work“I have been a member of the St Bernardʼs family for 17 years as a pupil and now as a teacher. Every day, I feel incredibly lucky to be surrounded by such caring, compassionate colleagues and students.School life presents its challenges, but these are far outweighed by the rewards as there is something new to learn every day. Our school thrives by celebrating all achievements, not just those in the classroom.” Mrs Dunn

Our Personal DevelopmentAlongside the academic and extracurricular activities available at St Bernardʼs, we place significant importance on personal development. Our personal development programme is intertwined throughout each of our year groups to ensure our young people develop the skills they need to be successful when they leave our school.Beginning in Year 7, our Careers Education Programme ensures that our young people develop the skills and knowledge they need in order to choose their future careers. Throughout their five years at St Bernard's, pupils are given the opportunity to learn about a variety of careers through our Visiting Professionals Programme, mock interviews, college and university experience days and Work Experience in Year 10.Personal Development is important to us as it ensures that our young people leave with not only excellent qualifications, but also as rounded individuals with a holistic view of the world in which we live.

Our Inclusive ApproachHere at St Bernardʼs, we believe each one of our young people has a unique set of skills and talents that need to be nurtured and developed to help them realise their full potential on leaving school. Many pupils will achieve this by accessing high quality lessons delivered by our subject specialist teachers and through participation in our extra-curricular activities. However, our inclusive approach recognises that for some young people to fully participate and succeed, they need some additional support and modifications to their education.The Inclusion Department is based in Furness Hub and provides a dedicated space for those pupils who may need to access a more individualised learning environment, including 1:1 sessions, small group interventions and a more personal social space. We have a team of subject specialist Teaching Assistants who provide in class support across the range of curriculum areas. The Inclusion team also includes our school counsellor and Inclusion Mentors to support the emotional and mental well-being of our young people.

Resilience“Thank you for all your hard work looking aer my four children over the last 11 years; it is the end of an era for our family! Your support and encouragement has helped me raise hard-working, kind young people.Keep up the good work!”Parent“Pupils value the extensive programme of activities that are in place for them. Through this programme, pupils are given a wealth of opportunities to widen their horizons and deepen their understanding of the world.” Ofsted 2022

Kindness“Our son is doing really well with his Apprenticeship in Electrical Engineering; he finished his first year at college with distinctions and is now at BAE with one day release at college. Thank you for all the support and guidance you gave him; he thought you were the best and I agree! You believed in him and, sometimes, that one teacher believing can be the difference between people growing and developing to the best they can be, or not.”Parent

Our Extracurricular ActivitiesEducation at St Bernardʼs extends far beyond the walls of the classroom. Our young people enjoy a wealth of extracurricular clubs, activities and trips, all of which help them develop new skills and make lifelong friendships. Competitive sports teams enable our young people to compete against other schools and hone their skills. Our young people begin life at St Bernardʼs with a residential visit to an outdoor education centre in the Lake District. This allows our new Year 7s to form friendships and bond with each other from the very start of their St Bernardʼs journey. We regularly run trips to France for pupils in Year 7 and Year 8, Rome for pupils in Years 9, 10 and 11 and Skiing in the Alps for pupils in Years 10 and 11. Our popular retreat to Castlerigg has been running for over 40 years and gives pupils in Year 10 a chance to really discover who they are.We believe that our extracurricular programme helps our young people make friends and experiences that will last a lifetime.

Our Learning EnvironmentOur pupils benefit from superb facilities across our beautiful school site. Over the last three years, we have invested heavily in ensuring that the fabric of our school helps deliver outstanding learning opportunities for our young people. Pupils benefit from our dedicated Science Labs, Engineering Workshops, Computer Suites, Art & Design Rooms, Music Practice Rooms, Food Technology, Library, Chapel and Sports Halls. This is in addition to our traditional classrooms which are all designed to be light and spacious.Our Inclusion Programme, based in the Furness Hub, is designed to offer dedicated learning spaces to pupils who need small group teaching and quiet, supported social times.Our young people find our school spacious and they enjoy our extensive outdoor areas which they frequent at break and lunch times.

“Our time at St Bernardʼs has been amazing so far. We all love our PE lessons in addition to the rest of our lessons.It was a tough transition to Secondary School, but we have all made lots of new friends and settled in extremely well.There is a wide range of food available at break and lunch that we enjoy eating.Although the buildings may seem bigger and scarier than your primary school, it is easier than you think to find your way around. There is a big variety of sports to experience and lots of clubs to attend.We are really excited to meet you in the future and we hope you grow to love our school as much as we do!”Isla, Lily, Darcy, Macy and Esmé

St Bernard’s Catholic High SchoolRating LaneBarrow-in-FurnessCumbria LA13 9LE01229-814560contact@stbernardsschool.ukwww.stbernardsschool.uk