Catholic Life|Ethos

''God is love, and he who lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him''

(1 Jn 4:16)

Cardinal Newman Catholic School is the fifth largest secondary school, with the largest school sixth form, in the country. At all times we serve as a witness to the Catholic faith through our mission statement “God is love” and core values of Caritas, Excellence and Togetherness, based on the teachings of our patron, St John Henry Newman.

We are part of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton and the deanery of Brighton and Hove. Religious education in the school and college is taught in accordance with the teachings of the Catholic Church, and is in line with the Bishop’s Conference, the requirements of our Bishop Richard Moth and the new Religious Education Directory. Our prayer and liturgy policy is in line with the new Prayer and Liturgy Directory.

We believe that CNCS is special because Christ is at the heart of all that we do. In a Catholic school we are all ‘spiritual leaders’ and ‘shepherds’ in the community. We do this through our pastoral care, by being positive role models and leading by example. Everyone is warmly invited to participate fully in the extra-curricular life of the school, in our fundraising, and our campaigns for social action.

Our work is underpinned by the principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Rooted in scripture and Church teachings, they are principles that call us to live out our faith, but they are principles that all people of goodwill can live by. They help us journey with the students as they (and we) explore the words of Jesus in the school Mission Statement, to discern our mission and do God’s work.

We have a strong sense of community, and we refer to ourselves as the Newman Family. We are proud of the strong relationships between teachers and students. Following the Newman Way encourages us to find our purpose and become the person God has created us to be.

Prayer & Liturgy Policy

Our wonderful staff come from the full spectrum of religious and non-religious backgrounds but every single one of us contributes to the spiritual development of our students. This is what some of them have to say about working in a Catholic school.

“I go to Newman everyday feeling excited about the day ahead because I know that something I do today will help a young person and that is because Newman is Caritas. After 30 years of working at Newman I am still learning and developing as a teacher due to the positive and exciting teaching and learning environment that has been created.. I have always felt incredibly supported not only in my teaching but personally. Colleagues look out for each other, friends are made and Caritas is central to this.”

- Ms Cunningham

"The thing I love most about working at a Catholic school is that our phrase, "known, loved and heard" means we can focus on the wellbeing of everyone in our community. This feels unique to our catholic school, where our desire for them to have the best possible outcomes does not eclipse our belief that they should feel valued."

- Mrs Cross, English Teacher

"For me the chapel is, and has remained, a focal point of our school and offers a peaceful environment for prayer and reflection. Throughout my time here the religious aspect of our school has enabled us to embrace students from all different faiths and for us to live together as one."

- Mr Stevens, Maths Teacher and PPL

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion at CNCS

At Cardinal Newman Catholic school we are a community of equals driven by the principles of Catholic social teaching. We are on a journey to become an anti-racist school.

“Racism is a virus that quickly mutates and instead of disappearing, goes into hiding, and lurks in waiting. Instances of racism continue to shame us, for they show that our supposed social progress is not as real or definitive as we think.”

Pope Francis, Fratelli Tutti 97

We acknowledge that historically, schools have not always recognised the unique experiences and challenges faced by students and staff of colour and our aim is to ensure that all people of colour feel heard and safe in our school.

Steps we have taken so far on our journey:

Created an anti-racism group and Equalities Ambassadors to give students a voice and a platform to make change within the school.
Started work on decolonising and diversifying our curriculum.
Developed a policy on dealing with prejudice-based incidents informed by students of colour and student Equality groups.
Integrated staff anti-racism training as part of our CPD programme.
Signed up to the Halo hair policy.
Developed a well-established peer mentoring programme for students of colour focused on academic excellence and building confidence.

Catholic schools are places of prayer, nurture and learning. We are aware that we have a long way to go and that mistakes will be made but our commitment to anti-racism is firm; we want to learn and grow and create a thriving, safe community for all of our students.

2024 Vision Statement

Cardinal Newman Catholic School is dedicated to achieving Excellence for all. Our vision is to create a joyful community of Caritas where Together we support, inspire and care for one another, placing Christ at the centre of all that we do. We will achieve this through:

Excellent 4-19 Catholic education and experience
Removing barriers to excellence
Developing leadership at all levels in exceptional Catholic environments; spiritual, physical and on-line.