St. Augustine’s is justifiably proud of the community spirit which the school has. We are committed to promoting:

• Teamwork and Co-Operation
• Respect for Self and Others
• Consideration for Others
• Tolerance
• Truthfulness and Honesty

Mission Statement

St. Augustine’s has one main aim. It is:

“to provide for its students education of an assured quality within a caring, Christian community in which all individuals are given the opportunity to develop their full potential.”

We have to be sure we focus on our main aim. To this end have developed more specific aims.

St. Augustine’s High School is committed  to ensuring that:

• we prepare students for the challenges, responsibilities and opportunities of adult life
• we have high expectations for the continuous rise in attainment of all our students
• we provide learning and teaching opportunities of the highest quality
• we provide a wide variety and a high level of support for all our members
• we nurture a Christian community through partnership of school, home, business, Church and friends
• we secure and allocate resources for the delivery of learning and teaching opportunities of the highest quality
• we improve continuously in all aspects of our work through effective Continuing Professional Development

Charities

Staff and pupils of St. Augustine’s have a great record of raising money for charity. Charity fund raising takes place practically all year round.

St Augustine’s have supported SCIAF charity for several years with pupils and staff raising a total of £55,662.44 since 1993.Their latest fundraising effort saw the school hand over a cheque for £7000.

Money has always been raised for charity but a few years ago it was decided to make SCIAF our main focus because they help some of the poorest people in the world make a better life for themselves.

The contribution that St Augustine’s made will enable SCIAF to fund life changing projects helping the world’s poorest people to work their way out of poverty, injustice and inequality.

Eco School

At St Augustine’s we encourage our students to become responsible citizens.  This includes showing care for the school’s environment and the wider community.  We are a school to be proud of and we want our pupils to contribute to improving the school environment by putting their rubbish in one of the many bins provided throughout the grounds.

St Augustine’s is also working in joint partnership with the West Neighbourhood team of Environmental Wardens and the Neighbourhood Action Unit (Police) to tackle and significantly reduce the amount of litter being dropped in ands around the school area.  This partnership has involved carrying out surveys to gain the views of school pupils, local residents and businesses and has also involved visits to the school on parents’ evenings.  To help change students attitudes towards dropping litter, educational workshops are being piloted for S1 pupils.  We hope to maintain these strong links with the community in the future.

What students can do:

• Use the bins provided in the school.
• If you go out for lunch dispose of any rubbish in the street litter bins.
• If you cannot find a bin, put it in your pocket or bag and bin it later.
• Show respect to the Environmental Wardens, Police and local residents who are doing their best to maintain the cleanliness of the streets.
• If you see someone drop rubbish, ask them politely to pick it up and dispose of it properly.
• Voice your opinions!  We welcome your views on how we can tackle the problem of litter in the school and the community.

Religious Instruction

“With respect for each other, let’s make a difference”

The tag-line at the end of the school’s Values and Aims sums up the ethos of St Augustine’s, an ethos based on positive relationships between people, and aspirations for excellence in all that we do.

‘Making a difference’ involves establishing a culture whereby staff, pupils and parents take on board leadership roles in various aspects of school life, and managers actively seek opportunities to develop leadership in others. The school will then be in a better position to manage change and be successful.

This culture is a result of:-

• The talents, knowledge and personal qualities of all, being encouraged, appreciated and used to enhance Learning and Teaching
• Encouraging staff to:-
  • be innovative and creative in their approaches to Learning and Teaching and
  • evaluate the impact of new initiatives on pupils
• Encouraging all staff to be a proactive part of the change and improvement agenda in the school, through self-evaluation, in order to enhance Learning and Teaching.
• Managers building an atmosphere of trust. New initiatives can bring an element of risk. Falling short of excellence affords an opportunity for self-reflection, evaluation and improvement!

• An honest and open approach to the handling of Complaints. These should be investigated thoroughly, recorded where appropriate (HT File), and seen as issues to be resolved via conciliation, not confrontation. (See CEC Top Ten Tips). Those investigating should meet with each party to ensure fairness and impartiality, including pupils who, by their actions, may be under consideration for Exclusion.

• Positive, considered, decision-making, based on a responsible approach to the deployment of resources.
• An emphasis on gospel values that helps develop a strong moral nucleus in all members of the school community as we support each other in our individual faith journeys. The Charter for Catholic Schools in Scotland provides the basis upon which our School’s Values and Aims are based and have guided us in our Policy making.

Uniform

St Augustine’s is rightly very proud of its distinguished school uniform. We work hard to ensure that all pupils wear uniform and really appreciate the support we receive from parents. We are delighted that students wear their uniform. This shows they are proud to belong here.

Why do we expect students to wear school uniform?

• to emphasise that school is a place of work
• to show they belong to a community
• to make it easy to recognise our students so we can guarantee students’ safety
• to show that St Augustine’s is a school committed to high standards.
• helps to prevent bullying.

In certain circumstances, families can apply for a clothing grant.  Forms are available from the school office.

Our uniform consists of :

• plain tailored black trousers or skirt
• white shirt or blouse
• school blazer, tie
• black school shoes

Jeans, trainers, tracksuits and other such casual gear are NOT part of the school uniform!

School ties can be purchased at the school office.

For PE we expect students to have

• shorts
• T shirt/polo shirt
• socks
• trainers/ football boots as appropriate
• swimsuit/trunks + towe
• (A tracksuit is optional.)