The Catholic Life
At St. Mary’s School we grow and learn by walking in the footsteps of Jesus.
At St. Mary’s School staff, children and parents were asked to think about the school and what makes our school catholic. The children were asked to create a shield that would then be judged by staff. Every child that took part in the competition were given a Bible.
Even more special was the fact that every Bible school purchased another Bible was sent to a child in a third world country. As a school we had been working hard to change our mission statement it had been discussed at staff meetings, governors meetings, in classes and class and school council.
The winning shield had the statement ‘At St. Mary’s We Grow and Learn in the Footsteps of Jesus.’ It was decided that this was a perfect mission statement as this is exactly what we do ‘Put Christ at the centre.’ Well done Kye!
Treasures
In Year 2 the children have been learning about ‘Treasures’ through the CAFOD units of work on justice. They have reflected on what a treasure is. They found out about the story of Creation. They learnt that God created this wonderful world as a gift that we are to treasure. They also found out that things such as water is a treasure and not everybody is as lucky as us to have easy access to water.
Prayer and Liturgy
Father Ed and Billy, our RE Governor, came to join in with Year 2’s prayer and liturgy. The children reflected on a conversation with God and heard the poem Footsteps.’ They learnt that God is always with them even at difficult times. At the end Father Ed blessed us and we were given the mission to say thank you to God and those who help us.
R.E. Displays
Below are a selection of R.E. displays across the school. They really help us think about how Jesus wanted us to act.
Our Visit to St. Bridget’s School
A selection of children were chosen to go and share some of RE work with the children from St. Bridget’s School. Whilst there the children made St. Bridget’s crosses and made cross biscuits. It was a lovely afternoon and we can’t wait for St. Bridget’s to visit us!
New Year Mass in School
The children, staff and parishoners joined together in the school hall to celebrate Mass led by Fr. Ed. The focus of Mass linked into the Catholic Schools’ Week theme: Called to Serve. The children acted with great reverence throughout and we have all been working hard to carry out Father’s mission to ‘let our light shine so Jesus can be seen in each one of us’.
KS2 Choir – Carol Singing at Tesco
The KS2 choir had a great morning carol singing at Tesco in town. They were raising money for CAFOD and the Special Care Baby Unit at West Cumberland Hospital and made almost £200! Amazing! Thank you to everyone who donated and to Tesco for kindly giving the children juice and biscuits!
Working for Justice – Christmas Play Programmes
Year 6 designed programmes for each of the Christmas performances in school: Foundation Stage (The Sleepy Shepherd), KS1 (A Little Bird Told Me) and KS2 (Baboushka). They then sold them for 50p per copy to raise money for St. Mary’s Church – the charity they decided to help as part of their R.E. topic on ‘Justice’.
KS2 Choir
Some members of the KS2 choir visited The Bethshan and Bethany Care Homes to sing for the residents. They all had a wonderful afternoon and the staff and residents of the care homes loved their singing.
KS2 Advent Liturgy
The children in KS2 organised and took part in an Advent Prayer and Liturgy session based on reconciliation and repentance during the season of Advent. Representatives from each year group lit a candle whilst asking Jesus to be the light in our lives during Advent so He can help us all become better Christians. Other children read Bible extracts and led us in prayer.
Advent Promises and Advent Mass
All of the children in St. Mary’s School have made an Advent promise. They have learnt that Advent is a time for preparation for the birth of Christ. Our Advent display is just outside the hall to remind us all that this is a special time of year.
The children have also been to an Advent Mass with the rest of the parish. They sang ‘Light the Advent Candle’ beautifully.
Messy Nativity
Pastor John from the Woodbank Community Project visited school to introduce the ‘Messy Nativity’ activity to all of the children. This is an Advent treasure hunt for the children to complete in shops around town with their parents. There will be prizes for the winners in each key stage. Good luck looking for the sheep!
Helping Out in Ghana!
Miss Gregg, one of our STAs, spent three weeks of her summer holidays volunteering at a school in Mpresso, Ghana, Africa. Before she went, we decided that we wanted to send some resources and money with her to help the children who attended the school. Year 6 organised a coffee morning and we also held a non-uniform day to raise money. In total, we raised over £500! We purchased a sports set that included equipment for rounders, rugby, football and a variety of other fun games. Miss Gregg took this with her and taught the children how to play the games. She said they were delighted with the equipment and would use it for many years to come. There was another £350 left for her to take with her to aid a project while she was out there. The money went towards funding the building of, and roof for, a new indoor toilet facility for the children. The money our school and the local community pulled together to raise has made a real difference. Thank you everyone!