Advent Stay, Pray, Create

Parent Workshop

This week, parents joined us for a reflective and creative Advent workshop.  As we lit the first candle on our wreath, we explored the theme of hope, where pupils led us in prayer and shared the word.  Together, we prepared for the coming of Jesus by creating simple crib scenes and attached stars of hope to pray for those in need of hope in their lives.

We recognised that Advent is the season of waiting.  We wait for the saviour Jesus Christ and open our hearts to him.

Jubilee Year Finale Livestream

Pilgrims of Hope

Today, we gathered with our diocesan family, for the Jubilee Year Finale livestream.   We gathered to listen to God's word and reflect upon how we have all put our faith into action and fulfilled our role as Christ centred Pilgrims of Hope.

As the Jubilee Year comes to an end on the Feast of the Epiphany, we take time to reflect upon this year of hope and social action and recognise ways in which we can continue on our journey hope, spreading love through all the world. 

Red Wednesday 

Aid to the Church in Need

As part of our Catholic Life this week, the children wore red to school to support Aid to the Church in Need and raise money for persecuted Christians around the world.  By wearing red, the children showed solidarity with those who suffer for their faith and learned how small acts of kindness can help bring hope to others.

Learned and Wise

Elm Class gathered for prayer and liturgy this week to think about this half term’s Jesuit Virtues, ‘Learned and Wise’.   We were able to reflect upon the Jesuit Virtues that help us to become the people God that wants us to be. By focussing on the qualities needed for these virtues, we learn about ways to be the best version of ourselves at Our Lady of Lourdes School.  We are growing to be learned, finding God in all things; and wise in the ways they use their learning for the common good.

The Month of Remembrance

In Year 1, we have been learning about remembrance and how November is a special month in our Catholic Faith. It is the Month of Remembrance, when we pray for and remember all the Holy souls in Heaven. As part of our learning, we created beautiful artwork to show love, hope, and thankfulness for those who have gone before us. During our assembly, we shared how God holds every soul in His gentle care, and how we can keep their memory alive through our prayers, kindness, and creativity.

We will remember them.

"Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them.

May they rest in peace."

Year 1 Class Assembly

Creation and Harvest

This week, Year 1 led a beautiful class assembly where parents were invited to join us to listen to the Word of God.  The children retold the Story of Creation through drama and led the whole school in thoughtful prayer.  We made links between God’s wonderful gifts and the Season of Harvest.  We gave thanks for all of the produce the Earth provides us with and reflected on ways in which we could be excellent stewards if God’s creation, protecting and preserving our world for those who will need it after us.  Our Go Forth message was to help others in need by donating items of food to our Harvest collection that would support the vulnerable in our local community.

Pupil Prepared Prayer

Elm Class have taken ownership of developing their own Faith this week through pupil prepared prayer.  The children looked at the four aspects of worship, choosing how they would like to lead each part, including creating a prayer focus to gather, listening to hymns and the word of God using scripture, responding through open prayer and going forth with a special intention to pray The Rosary and give time to God and Mary in this special month.

The Month of The Holy Rosary

As we enter the month of October, we celebrate the month of The Holy Rosary.  This week, we focussed specifically on The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

We gathered as a class, where the Liturgy Leads set up our prayer focus, choosing Rosary beads as our main artefact which allowed us to explore the importance and power of The Rosary Prayer.  The children listened carefully to The Hail Holy Queen Prayer and recognised how The Rosary links us together with Jesus, Mary and God.   

Year 1 Retreat Day

This week, Year 1 have participated in a special retreat day with Mrs Antony, where we have prayed together to strengthen our Faith and develop our understanding of scripture and the lives of Saints, particularly St Francis of Assisi who is our class Saint.  The children came dressed in their own clothes to mark the Feast of St Francis.  We explored his life and praised him through song and actions.  We continued to share Bible stories such as Noah's Ark, where children made rainbows to represent the promise God made to us about protecting our world.  We then linked this with our Catholic Social Teaching Principle- Stewardship, making promises to God about looking after his wonderful creations. 

Classroom Blessing

This week, we had a visit from Deacon Tim who came to share a special blessing with us and for our prayer areas.  We took this time to listen and pray together as a class.  Asking for guidance from God, on our journey through Year One.

Service of the Word

This week, we gathered as a whole school family to share the word of God.  We prayed for God's blessings on all of us as we continue our school year.  During our time of prayer, we asked God to be with us and always guide us in all that we do.  Going forth, we were able to reflect on the Gospel message, knowing the importance of faith and forgiveness and how we can always strengthen our faith if we follow in the footsteps of the Lord.

The Story of Creation

In the beginning, God made the whole world because He loves us. He made the light and the dark, the sky and the sea, the land and the plants, the sun, moon and stars. He made the animals and, most of all, He made people to love Him and care for His world. Year One have been learning all about The Creation story and understand that reminds us that everything is a gift from God, and we are invited to look after it with thankful hearts.  We used role play and props to retell the story day by day and finished our lesson with prayers of thanks to God for all that he had made.  The children made clear links with our CTS Principle- Stewardship, highlighting ways in which we can be good stewards for our common home.

Our Class Saint

St Francis of Assisi

As we enter the season of creation, the children gave thanks for all of the wonderful creations that God has blessed us with.  The children then began to research the life of our new class saint, St Francis of Assisi.  St Francis cared for all of God's creatures and was well know for his love of animals and nature.  We explored some of the Catholic Social Principles, recognising how we can treat each other with human dignity, care for our world by always striving to do the best for the common good and recognising how we can be stewards of God's creation and looking after our common home and all of the creatures in it.  The children then used salt dough to mould different symbols of nature and animals to represent the love of St Francis. 

Welcome to Year 1

Our Mission

As we returned to school, we came together to explore ways in which we could live out our school mission in both word and deed.  We recognised how Christ is at the centre of our school community and that everyday we should try to follow in his footsteps.  We used music to reflect and created a prayer through colour where we designed a cross to remind us that Jesus is at the centre of all that we do.  The children were then able to suggest many ways in which we could be excellent role models to our peers and live, love and learn together, establishing clear rules and expectations for our class charter.  We explored the Catholic Social Teaching Principles to further our understanding of how we could take these rules into the wider community.