What does it mean to be a Catholic Heritage School?
Priory School welcomes children and families of all faiths and beliefs. We thrive in a community that is committed to discovering deeper meaning and eternal value in this life and the next. We are in awe of the visible and invisible universe and world, whose origins and future continue to be great mysteries to be explored and exist to inspire us each and every day.
As a Catholic Heritage School, we believe that God encourages us to embrace knowledge over ignorance, compassion over judgment, courage over hopelessness, curiosity over complacency, and creativity over conformity.
The Roman Catholic Church, as exemplified through the work of Mother Cornelia Connelly and the The Society of the Holy Child Jesus, has sought to extend education and schools for the many over the few. This is inspired by the belief that it is the pursuit of knowledge that brings us closer to God and makes us more certain of happiness and contentment.
Meanwhile, whilst our school remains a truly inclusive environment, we continue to embrace the Gospel values that provide a torchlight on a darkened day. We seek to act with forgiveness, humility, and love, knowing that these are the foundations for a just and joyful community. These virtues are not confined to a single faith; they are universal truths that empower our pupils to build a better world, offering a spiritual compass that guides them through the challenges and opportunities of life.
Our School Prayer – “Let Us Love One Another”
Let us love one another and pray.
Let us love one another and be faithful.
Let us love one another and be humble, be filled with the charity of God.
Let us love one another with God, in God, and for God.
And we shall thus be one with Him for all eternity.
Amen
Our Founder – Cornelia Connelly and The Society of the Holy Child Jesus – “Actions not Words”
Mother Cornelia Connelly was the founder of The Society of the Holy Child Jesus. She led a life of overwhelming fortitude coupled with spiritual diligence in the face of immense personal tragedy. Despite the hardships and challenges she encountered, she found peace and emerged resolute with her place in the world, confident in her role as a mother and educator and defiant in her resolve to serve God.
The first Holy Child School in Birmingham was established in 1881 by Mother Angelica Croft on the Hagley Road – near to the Oratory church, at a time when the elderly Cardinal Newman was still in residence. Due to the poverty and squalor that the local people lived in (and the nuns also), the nuns withdrew in 1885.
It was not until August 1933 that the Society returned to set up another school at St Gabriel’s in Harborne and later moved to the current site at Priory School. It was in 1936 that the sisters moved into the existing buildings with thirty-six children – and a kitten called Mayo.
Cornelia Connelly taught that generosity or charity must be the beginning and ending of our life. She appears to have been impatient in the face of inaction and instead called upon The Society of the Holy Child Jesus for ‘actions and not words’.
We recognise the importance of being and doing, over merely saying today. Cornelia Connelly, founder of the Society, developed an educational system based on trust and reverence for the dignity of every human being. She wanted Holy Child educators to carry this spirit to pupils of diverse backgrounds as they sought to respond to the wants of the age in which they lived.
Priory School is proud to be a member of The Society of the Holy Child Jesus network of schools worldwide. Holy Child schools worldwide are rooted in the educational tradition of the Society, sharing in its mission to help others believe that God lives and acts in them and in our world. London’s Cavendish School, as well as Holy Child Community School, Scoilan Ghleanna, and Tahilla National School in Ireland, are our Catholic Heritage School partners and we are honoured to trailblaze schools that are rooted in Catholic heritage and traditions, and continue to serve diverse communities, drawn to that central emphasis on family, love and forgiveness.
Priory School is committed to supporting a range of charitable causes through our many fundraising initiatives and volunteering programmes. We regularly support the following charities as well as raising money for our Sister Schools across the World in underprivileged areas.
The land upon which our school is built was once owned by the Middlemore family. It was Humphrey Middlemore, a young Catholic priest, who was martyred for his faith on 19 June 1535, after he refused to swear on oath that his conscience would not allow.
Hundreds of years later, in the 1930s, it was Archbishop Leighton Williams who requested that a school for local girls be established. In 1936 our school opened and flourished to this day. Either though sheer luck or perhaps divine intervention, the bombs that fell upon our city narrowly missed our school: The statue of the Virgin Mary at the back of the hall was given as thanks for the saving of the school by the Mother Superior of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus the time.
Please read more about the fascinating history of our school by following the link to this webpage.
