‘The Catholic Life at the school is outstanding because the well-being and personal and
spiritual development of pupils and staff is at the heart of the school’s vision and
mission.’ (Section 48 Denominational Inspection – October 2019)
‘Pupils show an excellent development of their spiritual understanding in their everyday lives. They lead prayers with as strong blend of confidence and humility. Pupils express their thoughts and prayers with spontaneity as they show thanks and appreciation for other people in their lives. They consider those less fortunate than themselves, for those suffering and for refugees in areas of the world. Pupils are enriched by the strong Catholic ethos and Gospel values that are central to the school community.’(ISI Inspection February 2022)
Local Community
Laleham Lea School has always been and remains an inclusive family at the heart of the local community. Our mission statement is at the heart of everything we do as the Laleham Lea family, both in and out of school life.
As part of our local community, the school hosts a variety of community events and opportunities including:
- Parents and are invited to attend our Masses at the John Fisher Chapel and our Christmas and Easter Concerts and School Production and prize Giving.
- Classes take it in turns to attend Mass at John the Baptist on a weekly rota.
- Four of our Year 6 students represented the school at the annual ‘Start of a New Year’ Mass at St George’s Cathedral.
- Our Choir visits local care homes to sing carols at Christmas and also attended the St Mark’s Church Christmas Fair.
- During the month of May we have been running a weekly Rosary Club for students and parents on Tuesday mornings.
Little Disciples
Our ‘Laleham Lea Little Disciples’ have been tasked with promoting our mission statement and spreading love across the school. They will be leading prayers and assemblies as well as promoting the Catholic Social Teaching principles and embedding them into our daily school life.
Charity
We support a number of charities including local, national and global campaigns. Our ‘Mini Vinnies’ are dedicated to helping those in need. Students wrote applications to be a ‘Laleham Lea Mini Vinnie’ and two students from each Year Group have been chosen to help lead our charitable efforts. Recent appeals we have supported include:
Charity 2023/4
 | Food Hub – We regularly make donations to Purley Food Hub as part of our Harvest celebrations as well as at other points during the year. |
 | We raised over £700 for Children In Need this year with our mufti-day. |
 | We choose a Lenten Charity each year and this year students chose to dress up brightly and raise money for CAFOD. |
 | Operation Christmas Child – We have supported The Samaritans’ Christmas Shoe Box Appeal for many years. Last Christmas we collected shoe boxes full of lovely Christmas gifts that were sent to children all over the world. |
Representatives from Laleham Lea take part in the annual Remembrance Service and Parade at at The Lord Roberts at Woodcote Green. Two Year 6 pupils are chosen to attend the Memorial and lay a wreath on behalf of the school.
The NSPCC visit school to work alongside our students with assemblies and workshops as part of their Speak Out, Stay Safe Campaign.
Links with local Churches/Parishes and other Schools
We have close links with The John Fisher School and enjoy the use of their Chapel for our Masses. As part of our partnership, John Fisher’s Head of Football runs a Football Club for our Year 3 & 4 students.
We also work closely with St Mark’s Church, Purley and have held our Christmas Carol concerts, Easter Concerts, Summer Play and PTA Disco there. Many of our Pupils are members of the 25th Purley Beaver, Cubs, Rainbows and Brownies groups which are based at St Mark’s.
Previously, we were partnered with Ceip Parque Eugenia de Montijo school in Madrid and communicated regularly with them via Skype calls, cards and pen pal letters which pupils wrote in Spanish.
Visits and Visitors
Our Year 6 pupils take part in First Aid workshops run by St John’s Ambulance, and Travel Safety workshops run by TFL. Volunteers from Natwest bank have visited school to deliver ‘Money sense’ workshops with students from Year 1-Year 6.
The Anaphylaxis Campaign visited school to deliver an assembly on allergies and reminded us of responsibilities to our friends and colleagues who may have allergies.
We welcomed M.P Chris Philp to officially open our Nature Trail (now Eco-Garden) which was designed and funded by our PTA.
The Lord Mayor also paid a visit to the Laleham Lea to talk to our Student Council about the role of democracy and British Values.
Father O’Gorman from John the Baptist visited school to officially open our ‘Buddy Bench’, which was created by our Student Council team.