St Bonaventure’s school was founded by and is part of the Catholic Church. It is steeped in Christian principles and enriched by the cultural and religious diversity of its environment. We endeavor to be a community where each individual can grow spiritually, academically, and socially while at all times serving as a witness to the Catholic faith.
St Bonaventure’s has a long and distinguished history. Our school has been providing the very best education for Roman Catholic boys in this area since before 1875. The school was founded on its current site in 1877 by the Franciscan Friars, making St Bonaventure’s one of the oldest Catholic boys’ schools in the country – only the London Oratory is older.
Our school motto, “In Sanctitate et Doctrina” symbolizes what we expect from all members of our school. We are a community, based upon faith which impacts every element of our academic and personal lives and we expect everyone, adult and child, to ensure that they learn something new each day.
We aim to:
- Enrich pupil’s understanding of the Roman Catholic faith and cultivate respect and understanding for other religious traditions. Prayer and Worship are central to school life.
- Create an environment that is warm and welcoming, well-ordered and disciplined, reflecting the mutual trust and respect between staff and pupils where each person is recognized as an individual, valued, and enabled to fulfill their potential to the highest possible standard.
- Provide a full and comprehensive curriculum for all students to enable them to develop their full potential in all areas of school life – spiritual, intellectual, physical, creative, moral, and social.
- Promote a spirit of collaboration and co-operation. We recognize that all staff has a contribution to make to our school. All teachers and non-teachers must be valued and treated with respect.
- Reflect the principles of equal opportunity for all in our structures, curriculum, values, and policies.
As an institute of Catholic education, St. Bonaventure’s is rooted in the Gospel values of respect for life, love, solidarity, holiness, and learning and we endeavor to harmonize faith and culture, build a better society and pursue the Common Good by:
- Fostering links with our local community, parents, parish, and industry to prepare our students for the challenges and opportunities of adult life.
- Recognizing the effort, personal development, academic achievements, and pupil’s contribution to the school and community life.
- Preparing and enable our pupils to meet and gain from the opportunities, responsibilities, and challenges in an ever-changing secular society.
We are a Roman Catholic school, founded on gospel values and our boys are an important and integral part of the faith community. Christian principles are at the very heart of all that we do at St Bonaventure’s.
We expect everyone in our school to make the most of their opportunities, to learn something new each day, and to reflect upon their experiences. We expect our students to work hard and always try their very best at everything that they do. We will assist them, by providing them with the best possible learning environment and outstanding teaching, in an atmosphere of order, discipline, and Christian love.
St Bonaventure’s continues to be an outstanding school”. We are very proud of our school and our students. It is very heartening to have a professional and external organization confirm what we already know. They were also able to support our mission statement and said: “St Bonaventure’s provides a community where each student can grow spiritually, academically, and socially”.
We support charities on a local, national and international level. Our boys give freely of their time and their money. Our CAFOD group raises over £2000 each year and we support Brentwood Catholic Children’s Society, Caritas Anchor House, Richard House Children’s Hospice, and other charities.
