Welcome to our Whole School Catholic Life page for 2025/2026 – Mrs David’s opportunity to share aspects of faith formation and OLOL experiences that have an impact on a child’s perception of what Catholic Life is all about. At OLOL, we ensure that Catholic Life infuses every aspect of our school day so that our work, our prayer, our curriculum and policies, our play is all rooted in personal faith development, and our school, parish and the wider life of the Church is greatly enhanced as a result. Our engagement with Catholic Life prepares us to be globally aware Catholics with moral and ethical understanding to serve God.

It would be impossible to share everything we do at OLOL but these pages should be a sample of the Catholic Life we live daily. Please take a look at our Twitter/X feed (@ourladyoflourd1), Class Catholic Life pages and other pages in this section of the website, as they are filled with more active faith at OLOL. 

Canonisation of Two New Saints - 7th Sept 2025

This weekend we will celebrate the canonisation of two new Saints into our Church - the Holy Father announced that Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati and Blessed Carlo Acutis will be canonised together this weekend (after a short delay following the death of Pope Francis). We were very lucky last term to have a relic of Blessed Carlo Acutis in the Parish of St Dunstan's as part of the preparations and we are blessed as an archdiocese to have the first UK Parish dedicated to Carlo Acutis.  Carlo was only 15 years old when he died but in his very short life he showed his joyful and heroic faith, and love of God and the eucharist, announcing at the age of 7, that he knew he would be destined to serve God, and creating a website to teach others about miracles involving the eucharist. He serves as a wonderful example to us all, but especially our youngest faithful, of the power of love for God and its inspirational impact on our capacity for holiness (no matter what challenges are before us). Please try to watch the canonisation and Mass on Sunday (it should be live on ETWN and Vatican News).

St Teresa of Calcutta - 5^th Sept 2025

Today, children in St Teresa of Calcutta’s House Team remember the life of their House Patron Saint. She started her vocational life with missionary work, and then with the Sisters of Loreto taking her final vows in 1931 and becoming a teacher in the Loreto community in Calcutta. Her special calling to work in the service of the poorest people came as she saw the hardship of the community she lived and worked in. She worked tirelessly to support the ill, disenfranchised and neglected men and women in Calcutta and over time founded the Missionaries of Charity. Mother Teresa, as she had become known, sent her sisters to all parts of the world to serve the poorest communities with love and dignity. She died on 5^th September 1997 after a life filled with faith, hope, love, charity and unwavering compassion for those unable to help themselves. St Teresa of Calcutta’s House Team strive to know about her active faith and to use her as a role model for their response to social justice.

What can we do every day to be like this Saint and to show compassion, care, love, healing and service to those in need?

“Whatsoever you do to the least of my brethren you did it to me.” (Mt 25:35-40)

Our First Whole School Liturgy Sept 2025

Today we gathered (as an almost full school - just a few Year R left to join us) to share prayer, scripture, and to reflect on being back together for another school year. We talked about how we can proactively be part of God's plan for us all in our prayer life, with hard work, those good choices and following the example of the Saints that came before us. We reminded ourselves that we are unique beings, made in His image and likeness and with that comes certain truths. God does not make mistakes so who we are is exactly who God intended us to be (and this means we are perfect as we are!). We talked about how cruelty, name calling, taunting is disrespectful to God’s creation and we must celebrate difference and immerse ourselves in this community of faith. We talked about our talents and how we must nurture and develop the gifts that God has given us, so that we can reach our potential, our hopes and dreams and fulfil God’s plan. We will keep reminding our OLOL family that God loves us in our uniqueness and our entirety even when we do not love Him as we should, and we forget to love ourselves…Our school is full of children with amazing aspirations and for those who haven't started thinking to grown up futures, we decided that it is ok to not be sure what God's plan for us is...until we are ready but that we can build skills, knowledge, wisdom while we wait and grow in understanding. New beginnings, new goals, new challenges and a school ready to do God's work! It is so wonderful to have the school family back together and we p[ray that we will serve God faithfully and with our whole hearts, in all we do this year.

St Gregory the Great, Pope - 3rd Sept 2025

Today we remember St Gregory who was alive at the time of the Roman Empire (540-604 AD) and who led our Church in the first great missionary drive to convert the Anglo-Saxons in England to Christianity.  He spent his whole papacy bringing the Word to others either himself in person and in his writings, or by sending other missionaries out to bring the faith to those with no faith or those who believed in idols or false gods. St Gregory is buried in St Peter's Basilica in Rome. He is the patron Saint of musicians, singers, students, and teachers.

The Season of Creation 2025

The Season of Creation has begun (1st Sept – 4^th Oct) and is a special time when we think about stewardship and our obligations to develop our relationship with the creator, to protect and care for creation, gifted to us by our heavenly Father to be our home and to be safely handed over to successive generations. Each year there is a theme for the celebration of this season, and this year the focus for over 2 billion Christians is "Peace with Creation".

As a school we will think about what this justice and peace looks like in relation to climate and ecological awareness and action, alongside consideration for those communities affected by the impact of man-made and natural ecological disasters. We will become more aware that our wellbeing is linked to the wellbeing of the Earth. The future is endangered by humankind’s unequal use of resources and inability to separate personal need from global justice and we want our OLOL children to see that they will be the generation that has the power to make the greatest change.

The symbol for this year is a dove carrying an olive branch bringing life to the Garden of Peace. In the Biblical story of the flood, the dove plays the role of the blessed messenger: The dove sent out by Noah returns to the ark with a fresh olive branch in its beak, signalling that the flood is receding. As the flood story begins with a situation where “the earth is filled with violence” (Genesis 6:13), the return of the dove with the olive branch came to be known as a sign of new peace.

During this season, say the Prayer for the Season of Creation and the small things to make family change (all of our small actions put together then create greater change over time!).

We have just this week received our 4th Eco School's Green Flag with Distinction for the practical and child led efforts we go to as a school to be stewards for creation, and this alongside our deep commitment to Laudato Si and to Live Simply (CAFOD) we are supporting Catholic Social teaching in the best way - with direct action! 

"May our lives become an opportunity to sing our love for God and care for our common home." Pope Francis

Prayer To Protect and Heal God's Creation
We praise you for your goodness, visible in all the diversity that you have created, making us a cosmic family living in a common home. Through the Earth you created, we experience love and nourishment, home and protection.

We confess that we do not relate to the Earth as a Mothering gift from you, our Creator. Our selfishness, greed, neglect, and abuse have caused the climate crisis, loss of biodiversity, human suffering as well as the suffering of all our fellow creatures. We confess that we have failed to listen to the groans of the Earth, the groans of all creatures, and the groans of the Spirit of hope and justice that lives within us.

May your Creator Spirit help us in our weakness, so that we may know the redeeming power of Christ and the hope found in him. May the groans of the Spirit birth in us a willingness to serve you faithfully, so that we may hear and heal Creation, to hope and act together with her, so that the first fruits of hope may blossom.

Loving and Creator God, we pray that you will make us sensitive to these groans and enable us to have the same compassion as that of Jesus, the redeeming Lord. Grant us a fresh vision of our relationship with Earth, and with one another, as creatures that are made in your image.

In the name of the one who came to proclaim the good news to all Creation, Jesus Christ. Amen.

Ordinary Time...

Ordinary time is anything but ordinary! We are in Ordinary Time now and it is the longest time in the liturgical calendar – split into two pieces separated by what we traditionally think of as the big seasons of Advent and Christmastide, then Lent and Easter. Our classrooms are covered in green to symbolise this season, and during this season, we think about the life and ministry of Jesus. During this time we are asked to deepen our prayer lives and our interaction with scripture so that we know Him more clearly. It is a time when we should be looking for opportunities to be active messengers spreading the Word.

It has been a long tradition in our faith to have special prayers for each weekday during Ordinary Time

• On Monday we honour the angels
• On Tuesday we honour the apostles
• On Wednesday we honour St Joseph
• On Thursday we honour the Eucharist
• On Friday we remember Christ’s death
• On Saturday we honour Our Lady
• On Sunday we relive the joy of Easter each week

Ordinary Time is not telling us that this season is “ordinary” or unimportant, it is a history of the life and work of Jesus and as we journey through it we grow in our faith and our relationship with God. It is filled with vital feasts and solemnities that mark key people of God, who formed our faith and events in the life of Jesus and the Saints.

Welcome Back to School OLOL

It is so wonderful to welcome you all back to school, safe and sound, after the long summer holidays ready to start another busy and exciting school year. Treasure the happy  memories of time spent with loved ones and adventures had, and get ready to challenge yourselves in all aspects of life and learning in this school year.  Mrs D

May God watch over the children, staff and families at OLOL for this coming school year as we embark on new adventures in faith and learning together. Help us to see the excitement that comes from new learning and to treat this as a fresh start. May we all share in the joy of witness, sharing of the Good News and living lives where all of our words and actions in play, in prayer, in work and in family life are considered, and lead us to proclaim God's glory in all things. Help us to speak truth to justice and give service in what ever way we can. Amen