Class Saints at St Edmund’s

At St Edmund’s, every class is entrusted with a Class Saint — a holy role model who helps guide, inspire, and accompany our children throughout the year. These saints are not chosen by chance. They are selected with care, prayer and purpose, reflecting the rich cultural and religious diversity of our Tower Hamlets community, where children from Catholic, Christian, Muslim, Hindu, and non-religious backgrounds learn and grow side by side. 

We believe that saints show us what courage, faith and compassion look like in real human lives. They help us face challenges with strength, remind us that holiness is possible for ordinary people, and encourage us to be the very best of who God created us to be. As Pope Francis reminds us:

“The memory of the Saints leads us to raise our eyes to Heaven:

not to forget the realities of the earth,
but to face them with greater courage, with more hope.”

— Pope Francis, Angelus, 1st November 2019

Our Class Saints reflect the diversity of our children — in culture, ethnicity, gender and global identity. We deliberately include saints who faced real modern challenges such as poverty, injustice, homelessness, persecution, exclusion and even modern slavery. Saints like St Teresa of Calcutta, St Ignatius, St Patrick, St Paul, St Thomas Becket, and St Lawrence speak powerfully to the lives of our pupils today. 

They show them that faith can be lived with courage, joy, and determination.

How Our Class Saints Are Chosen

As with all aspects of our Catholic Life at St Edmund’s, we want our pupils’ voices to lead.
Each class explored a selection of saints through stories, videos and discussion. Children look at:

• what challenges the saint faced

• what virtues they lived

• how they served others

• why they inspire us today

• how they connect to issues our children care about (justice, charity, courage, inclusion)

Together, the class decided which saint feels like the right fit for their community. This shared decision builds ownership, unity and identity within each classroom.

Our Class Saints then became a spiritual companion for the years ahead — someone the children talk about, pray with and learn from along with our Patron Saint, St Edmund's.

How We Live With Our Class Saints

Children get to know their saint deeply through:

• stories and research projects (including pupil-friendly biographies) 

• artwork, writing and drama in RE lessons

• celebrating their feast day

• linking class virtues to their saint’s life

• displays and prayer table symbols

• worship and quiet reflection

Our Class Saints help to shape the culture of each classroom.
They give pupils a shared identity and a sense of belonging — something especially powerful in a community as beautifully diverse as ours.

Whether a child is Catholic, Muslim, Hindu, Christian or has no religion, each class saint offers a story of hope, resilience and goodness that every child can relate to.

Why Class Saints Matter at St Edmund’s

In a borough as vibrant and multicultural as Tower Hamlets, our Class Saints help us:

• Build unity in diversity

Every saint has a different background, story and culture — just like our children.

• Strengthen our Catholic identity

Class saints root our worship, prayer and formation in the lives of holy people.

• Teach children how to put faith into action

Saints show us what courage, service and compassion look like in everyday life.

• Offer role models who speak to real, modern challenges

Many of our saints understood suffering, poverty, injustice and exclusion — themes important to our pupils’ lived experience.

• Inspire academic learning

Saints become writing models, art inspirations, history connections and RE research projects.

• Guide our spiritual formation

Children learn to talk to their saints, ask for their help, and recognise them as companions on their journey of faith.

Our Current Class Saints

(as celebrated in our RE Thematic Week) 

• Year 1 – St Teresa of Calcutta

• Year 2 – St Paul

• Year 3 – St Patrick

• Year 4 – St Ignatius of Loyola

• Year 5 – St Thomas Becket

• Year 6 – St Lawrence

Each saint offers something different — courage, charity, justice, leadership, service, faith — helping our children grow spiritually and personally.

A School Community Walking With the Saints

At St Edmund’s, our children know that saints are not distant or unreachable.
They are real people who lived real challenges with faith and bravery.
They help our pupils see that holiness lives in small acts of kindness, courage and service.

Our Class Saints remind us that, whatever our background or story, we can all grow in goodness.

They walk with us.
They pray with us.
They inspire us.

And together — Through Christ, We Learn.