St Andrew’s Catholic Primary School, Polworth Road, Streatham in the London Borough of Lambeth

13th February 2015

Awarded Beacon Peaceful School status in December 2014! This is a large, voluntary-aided Roman Catholic primary school with a deep commitment to peace - they even have peacemaker prizes for the pupils. They undertake very impressive work with parents aiming to build relationships between ethnicities through the Unity Group; an annual Heritage fortnight to celebrate different cultures and countries and also ‘Peace One Day’ activities on the International Day of Peace on 21 Sept. The Head Teacher has a massive commitment to children’s spiritual development in a very inclusive way.

The school works with families whose children have died through violence – especially with Margaret and Barry Mizen of The Jimmy Mizen Foundation http://thejimmymizenfoundation.tumblr.com and their initiative ‘Release the Peace’, which has a strong emphasis on forgiveness. The school uses the ‘Missdorothy.com’ learning programme which is an innovative approach to learning about personal behaviour and safety for seven to eleven-year-olds. It is designed to tackle behavioural issues including bullying, crime and disorder, social inclusion, racism and good citizenship.

Staff, pupils and parents have done peace walks out in their area. Of course ‘safety’ is vital to ‘peace’. They work with the Mayor’s Fund for London charity and the Metropolitan Police on the London Safe Project. They have had safety conferences with other schools. There is very strong participation of Schools Council members in this work. They have strong links with schools in Tower Hamlets and Hackney.The school does a lot of fundraising and prayer for children in need in other countries and they develop close links with those children.

St Andrew's Head Teacher Denise Assid holding the Beacon Peaceful School certificate, with Margaret Mizen (red scarf!) inspirational speaker and school supporter and Wendy Phillips, St Andrew's Learning Mentor on the day that Anna Lubelska presented their certificate - 13 February 2015.

http://www.st-andrewsrc.lambeth.sch.uk