Ordinary Time are two long periods between the great Church seasons of Advent/Christmas and Lent/Easter. In the periods of Ordinary Time, we live our daily Catholic lives. The Liturgical colour changes back to green as a sign of new growth and hope. Readings during Ordinary Time tell us the stories of Jesus’ ministry and his adult life as he shared the Good News with those he encountered. During Ordinary Time at OLOL we think about prayer life and the different types of prayer we use in school.

Year 4 wrote some amazing letters to Pope Francis last term…imagine the excitement when they received a reply from one of Pope Francis’ Assessor’s (the Assessors help Pope Francis manage all of the business they receive from many different countries, important people like Prime Ministers AND most importantly children who wish to talk to the Pope!

World Meeting of Families 2018 - Let's get ready!

It will be a busy summer this year with the International World Meeting of Families taking place in Dublin in August and the National Eucharistic Congress taking place in September. Pope Francis has themed the Meeting of Families as “The Gospel of the Family: Joy for the World”. The Eucharistic Congress will take place in Liverpool and will be an opportunity to renew our love for the Mass and to understand more deeply the relevance of the Eucharist in our lives. We will certainly be having Parish and school events to mark these two special events for our faith.

Family Prayer (for World Meeting of Families 2018)

God, our Father, We are brothers and sisters in Jesus your Son, one family, in the Spirit of your love.

Bless us with the joy of love. Make us patient and kind, gentle and generous, welcoming to those in need.

Help us to live your forgiveness and peace.

Protect all families with your loving care, especially those for whom we now pray:

Increase our faith, strengthen our hope, keep us safe in your love and make us always grateful for the gift of life that we share. This we ask, through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Mary, mother and guide, pray for us. Saint Joseph, father and protector, pray for us.

Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us. Saints Louis and Zelie Martin, pray for us.

Staff Retreat Day - January 2018

The staff at OLOL attended a full day spiritual retreat in January to refresh us spiritually at the start of the new year but also to open our hearts to issues of peace and justice in our world – so many issues for us to think about. From the persecution of Iranian Christians, to the refugees perishing in the icy waters trying to reach a safe haven. From equal access to education for all to the issue of dwindling yet expensive health care…we could go on but really at the heart of every injustice is a core issue that as humans we do not always protect the human dignity of others. The result being for some, their most basic human rights are taken.

Our school and parish community are truly generous and the monies raised by our children and families do so much for others but I wonder is there anything different we could do? In this half term where we are curious and active, let us think of ways that we can learn more, see more, listen more and do more so that we will be the change in our community and in the world. From our small actions in Yardley Wood, we can start to really help those in need in the wider community and world.

The staff are really looking forward to our planned encounters with refugees at St Chad’s Sanctuary over the next 5 weeks so that we can use some of those curious and active skills getting to know the real people behind the label we read about so much.

We are proud to be Catholic at OLOL!

Over Christmas holidays we had our hall improved to show some outward signs of our Virtues and House Teams. Our new Team Saint Banners proudly fly from the rafters to tell all who come to our school what we are about – our teams chosen by our pupils! At the front of our hall we have our Mission and very large Virtue images to help us focus and think about how we can work and play like Jesus and the inspirational Saints that adorn our hall.

Year 2 - Year 6 Carol Service for Advent - Dec 2017

Our Year 2 and KS2 children sang their hearts out for our Advent Carol Service – a really wonderful way to end the term and prepare for the impending arrival of Christmas.

Father Sean's Vocation

What a special day for Father Sean, on the 21st December he celebrates the 45th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood. In our Mass today we thought about his vocation and the blessing it is when men and women dedicate their lives to God. We are so lucky to have Father Sean with us and the children gave him cards to show how much we appreciate him!

Prayer for Priests
By St John Vianney

God, please give to your Church today many more priests after your own heart.
May they be worthy representatives of Christ the Good Shepherd.
May they wholeheartedly devote themselves to prayer and penance; be examples of humility and poverty; shining models of holiness; tireless and powerful preachers of the Word of God; zealous dispensers of your grace in the sacraments.
May their loving devotion to your Son Jesus in the Eucharist
and to Mary his Mother be the twin fountains of fruitfulness for their ministry. Amen.

Confirmation Certificates – Dec 2017

Year 6 received their Confirmation Certificates in Mass today (21st December).

KS1 Nativity – Dec 2017

Our wonderful Key Stage 1 children and staff presented the story of the Nativity with song and dance this week to two very eager audiences! It was so great to see the developing confidence and the joy of performing for some of our youngest children. A really fitting way to continue our preparation in the third week of Advent...

Christmas Cards to China…

Children in every class made some Christmas cards to send to our partner schools in China to teach them a little about how we celebrate Christmas as Catholics and people from Britain. The cards were so creative and have already started their long journey to Chengdu – it will take 20 days to get there! Just in time for Jesus’ birthday!

Advent Retreat for Staff – Dec 2017

Dan Callow of One Life Music joined us at OLOL for an evening of Advent preparation and reflection so that the staff could ensure their spiritual preparedness as we enter this time of watching and waiting. The session was full of fun and staff had time to consider the times that we make to listen to God, the effort we make to prepare our hearts for Advent and also to acknowledge the times when we need the presence of the Spirit in our lives. As we wait with Mary we are renewed…

Our OLOL Prayer Bags - Dec 2017

We have just bought some new themed prayer bags to use in each year group…and the staff also have a prayer bag that they can take home or use in school to help them have some quiet prayer and reflection about their vocation. Children will be able to bring the prayer bags home to share with their family from the new year!

First Holy Communion Preparation – Dec 2017

We are really excited to start preparing for this most special Sacrament with our Year 3 children and their families – we see this as a school/parish/family event and so the involvement of all is very important. Father Sean invited us to explore the 7 Sacraments through the artefacts and evidence in Church and so with many puzzles to solve we found ourselves learning more about our church, our faith and ourselves during the evening…

Advent Prayer Area – Dec 2017

At this busy time of year we enter the Season of Advent. A time of waiting for the coming of Jesus when we should be full of prayer, penance and reflection...Christmas is coming but we should not focus on the decoration, the food, the gifts we should look for the messages within our Christmas traditions and notice how they lead us back to Jesus in the stable so long ago...

Advent – Dec 2017

It's starting to feel a lot like Advent at OLOL! Classes have demonstrated their preparedness for Advent in their new displays and Prayer areas...Have a look...

Confirmation – Nov 2017

Our Year 6 children received the Gifts of the Holy Spirit through the Sacrament of Confirmation in November. This strengthening Sacrament that finalises our young people’s initiation to their Catholic Faith was celebrated with Bishop Byrne and our Parish. Year 6 are already demonstrating the powerful impact of the Spirit in their lives through their good works and mature response to their faith.

Remembrance – Nov 2017

OLOL remembers the fallen of all conflict…in Mass and at school during November.

We pray for all those we know and love that have died.

We pray for those we do not know, for those souls in purgatory that they find their way to Jesus.

Eternal rest grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen

Prayer, Rosary and Refection at OLOL – Autumn 2017

Mrs Martin has been donating her time each week to run our OLOL Prayer and Rosary group. We are extremely grateful to Mrs Martin for her time; the children have thoroughly enjoyed having the opportunity to learn more about the Rosary, prayer, the lives of the Saints and important liturgical feasts.