Year 3

September 2019

Our class prayer area reflects that we are in Ordinary time in the Liturgical Year. It is a very special place in our classroom and reminds us that Jesus is at the heart of everything that we do.

Mission Accepted!

In our Religious Education lesson, at the start of our new school year, we reflected on our school mission,

'Christ is the centre of our school community

where we live, love and learn together.'

We thought of so many ways our class family can live, love and learn together and displayed them on our 'Mission Tree' display.

Year 3 Class Saint

St. John Vianney

The Cure d’Ars (the Parish Priest of Ars in France)

Our class Saint was the parish priest of Ayrs in France and we learned so much about him when we listened to his story. We decided he had many qualities which will inspire us this year. 

St. John Vianney...

• loved God with his whole heart and had a strong faith,
• made the right choices,
• was obedient,
• was generous and compassionate and helped people, especially the poor, 
• persevered when his work was difficult,
• followed the Gospel messages, 
• was a good role model to other people,
• always worked hard,
• cared for sick people, 
• was brave in new situations,
• was never afraid to talk about his faith and as a little boy, was brave enough to receive the Sacraments in secret, even though he risked punishment from the French soldiers if caught.

What an incredible person he was!

Why is St. John Vianney our class Saint?

St. John Vianney is the Patron Saint of priests.

His feast day is the 4th August.

Beginning our work on 

'Belonging - We gather as God's family'

Team work was definitely dream work when we worked in groups to decide on what responsibilities and qualities were necessary in our school family. 

Would you be a fisher of men?

In our Religious Education lesson we read the story of the 'Call of the Disciples' and sorted reasons for and against the disciples answering Jesus's call. Beech class have yet to decide what they would have done so watch this space for an update! They have decided however, that they are definitely Jesus's disciples TODAY!

October 

Blessing Service

Beech class were delighted to welcome Deacon Tim to their class for their class 'Blessing Service'. It was a really reverent and special occasion when we gathered to ask God’s blessing on

• us, as we live and work together as his family
• on our classroom, where we learn together
• on our prayer area, where we show our love together for Jesus and all the time remembering that Jesus is at the heart of all that we do.

Our new class Bibles were blessed and we know we will treat them with great respect because they are the 'Word of God.'

Walk to School Week

These children have been walking to school this week instead of travelling by car. Did you know the average drive to school and back releases 800g of CO2 into the air? This is enough to inflate over 60 balloons! Certainly makes us think about how we should care for our common home, the earth! 

Laudato Si...

care for our common home, the earth. 

“I urgently appeal, for a new dialogue about how we are shaping the future of our planet. We need a conversation that includes everyone, since the environment challenge we are undergoing affect us all”

Pope Francis

In class today we watched the CAFOD Laudato Si film clip, which helped us to understand why Pope Francis is so concerned. He calls on "every person living on this planet to make urgent changes to our lifestyles and to think about how we consume energy in order to protect the planet."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3Lz7dmn1eM

Did you know Laudato Si means 'Praise be to you?'

Laudato Si taught us about environmental issues including pollution, climate change and use of water but the focus of our lesson was to think about how people can live more simply, by reducing the amount of food they buy and throw away.

We learned about a large group of volunteers who live in Todmorton, West Yorkshire, who plant and look after vegetable and herb beds and fruit trees all over their town. These all provide food to share with anyone who wants to pick it. Only take what you need! 

• Young cherry trees have been planted at the police station.
• The entrance to the health centre is decorated with raspberry bushes and apple trees.
• The local train station's platform is green with mint and rosemary.

We quite liked the idea of planting herbs on the platforms at Yardley Wood train station and using the Dingles for vegetable plots. We were a bit worried about vandals and animals though! 

We leave you with this thought...

Pope Francis implores us to work together to create a better world for future generations and asks us to make the necessary changes in our lives in order to take care of, respect and value our ‘common home’.

Praying the Rosary live with Archbishop Longley

To celebrate October as an Extraordinary Missionary Month, Beech class and our school family, joined thousands of children from the schools of the Archdiocese and spent time praying the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary with Archbishop Bernard. 

Archbishop Bernard reminded us that during this Extraordinary Missionary Month, Pope Francis asks that we spend time in prayer, follow God and do his work as his disciples, just as Jesus did. Pope Francis also wants us to be inspired by the lives of the saints and Blessed John Henry Newman. 

To pray the Rosary we used a special set of beads called the Mission Rosary. This is a special symbol of prayer for each of the continents. As we prayed, we remembered all people around the world. Each bead is connected to another, which reminds us that we, like the beads, are links in a chain. We are connected to each and every person on this earth because of our love for Jesus and his for us.

Watch the live stream here

https://www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk/blog/praying-the-rosary-live-with-archbishop-bernard

• Africa is represented by the green decade which stands for the forests and grasslands there.
• The Americas are red representing the fire of faith.
• Europe is white because it is the home of the Holy Father in Rome.
• Oceania is shown in blue for the oceans surrounding the islands there.
• Asia is represented in yellow as a symbol of the sun rising in the East.

Prayer time led by members of the Chaplaincy Team

“God has created me to do Him some definite service. He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission... I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons."

St John Henry Newman

Morning Prayer 

Our day began by thinking about the focus for the day on our Extraordinary Missionary Month calendar.

Find out about children in South Africa

who are loved and cared for by Sister Anece.

We learned about St John's Care Centre, where Sister Anece works and guess what? The children there learn exactly the same as us. They are important members of God’s family with the responsibility to love themselves, other people, and all God’s creation.

Someone thought that Johannes, an eleven year old boy who lives at St. John's Care Centre, would be excited to know that we were talking about him thousands of miles away in Yardley Wood! 

"I'm so happy that the children look happy in the picture. They are loved because they are being hugged. "

" I am glad Victor thinks living there is wonderful. It could be hard not living at home with your own family."

" Look Miss, I can see the money box that we have in the picture!" Miss hadn't spotted it! 

We decided we must really make an extra big effort to fill our boxes at home and do little things with great love!

We prayed the Our Father, for all the children at St John's. 

Harvest Mass 2019

We have had our final practice before leading our school Mass. We will join together with our school and parish family to rejoice in the wonders of creation and to thank God for all his gifts of creation, especially the food we receive each Harvest.

We will remember all those people, both in this country and in other parts of the world, who may not have enough to eat.

God asks us to share with others and with this thought in mind, we will remember all those people who are supported by St Chad’s Sanctuary, where our Harvest donations will help to make such a difference.

November 

Month of the Holy Souls

Say this prayer at home and remember family and friends who have sadly passed away. 

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord

and let perpetual light shine upon them.

May they rest in peace.

Amen

There are many who have no one to pray for them. Pray for them also. 

Living the Jesuit Virtues in Beech class!

Our excellent role models who won certificates

for being 'Grateful and Generous.' 

Pupils in Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School

are growing to be..

Grateful for their own gifts, for the gift of other people, and for the blessings of each day; and generous with their gifts, becoming men and women for others.

I wonder who will be our certificate winners for being 'Attentive and Discerning' at the end of this half term?

Always an I wonder question Beech class! LOL!

We say thank you! 

At the end of Assembly, Mrs David set a challenge as part of our work on Remembrance. We had to write a letter to a serving soldier in the Welsh Guards, thanking them for following their vocation for the service of others.

We discussed the role of a soldier and what it entails and thought carefully about what we needed to say thank you for. Year 3 have written some lovely letters which will be sent off very soon to the Welsh Guards.

Homework Challenges! 

'Interview adults about your Baptism. Write down all their memories of the day you were baptised into God’s family. Explain why it was a special day for them. Include pictures/drawings.'

We have shared some lovely homework challenges about our Baptism. They were filled with happiness and special memories. We enjoyed talking about receiving this sacrament at home. 

Oscar Romero House Group Meeting

How can we be 'Attentive and Discerning?'

In Oscar Romero's house group meeting today, Year 3 participated with such confidence and were full of ideas about how they can demonstrate our new Jesuit Virtues' focus.

• We can be attentive by listening to the Liturgy of the Word.
• We can be discerning by going to Mass.
• We can be attentive by listening to Father Sean's homily.
• We can be discerning by putting others before ourselves in all ways.

We even decided that Samuel was both Attentive and Discerning! Super link to previous learning in RE. 

'His Goodness Never Fails' Retreat Day

Dan and Emily from One Life Music came to school for our ‘His Goodness Never Fails’ retreat day. 

Our image of Jesus today was as the Good Shepherd. We thought about what it means to be a shepherd and how much care a shepherd takes of his flock.

Red Wednesday 

Christians around the world are being persecuted because of their faith. Today we showed our support by wearing red. Beech class were shocked to hear that Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world. 

Learning about the 'Memorial Acclamation' in RE!

Did you know? 

We sing or say this acclamation directly to Jesus himself. We are proclaiming to him that we understand and believe what has just happened in the Consecration. We believe the bread and wine are now Jesus’ Body and Blood.

December

....and the start of Advent

Our class prayer area reflects that we are in the Holy Season of Advent. Purple is the liturgical colour for Advent. Look around school and in church. Where is the colour purple being used?

Our Advent calendar has an act of kindness task inside it. We are trying to be 'Advent Angels' and are working hard to be even kinder than we need to be. When we do this, people will know Jesus is present in us. We will be living and loving like he did.

When we have completed our act of kindness, we will write in on an angel on the tree. 

How can you put others before yourself this Advent?

The Annunciation

In our Religious Education lesson this week we have been reading the Annunciation and reflected on how Mary felt before, during and after this wonderful event.

International Migrants Day

In our Advent prayer service today, we thought about the idea of ‘home’ and what that means to us. We particularly thought about those who do not have a home, those who have been forced to leave their homes because of violence and war, and those who are trying to make a new home and life for themselves.

Living the Jesuit Virtues in Beech class!

Our excellent role models who won certificates

for being 'attentive and discerning.'

Pupils in Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School

are growing to be..

Attentive to their experience and to their vocation;

and discerning about the choices they make

and the effects of those choices. 

Let's remember Christmas is

About our Saviour's birth;
That's the way to happiness,
The way to peace on earth.

Beech class wish all their family and friends a very

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

January 2020...

...and we are in the season of Christmas until the Baptism of Our Lord.

Our class prayer area reflects the Christmas season and the Liturgical colours are white and gold.

Our task to complete after our Epiphany assembly...

It has been one of the oldest traditions of the Church to bless chalk at the Masses of the Epiphany, and then to use the blessed chalk to say a prayer of blessing on our home for the New Year that has just begun. Above the doorway of our home 20+C+M+B+20 is written and the prayer of blessing is said.

The three Wise Men  

(C) Caspar  

(M) Melchior, and

(B)Balthasar, followed the Star to God's Son who became man

(20) Two Thousand and

(20) Twenty years ago,

+ May Christ  

+ bless our home  

+ and remain with us throughout the new year .  

+Amen

Sacramental preparation begins...

...and our first sacramental preparation mass

Children and their families gathered together to celebrate Mass  on the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord. Amazing singing from Beech class today. We were so proud when a parishioner came to congratulate the children on their behaviour, responses and singing.

Our First Sacramental Preparation Meeting

Nowhere better to start than with the Seven Sacraments all stationed around our beautiful church for children and parents to explore and discuss. It was lovely to welcome children from other schools to our meeting. 

Thank you to Father Sean and Mrs Anthony for leading us in tonight's meeting! 

St. Oscar Romero House Group Meeting

How can we be 'Compassionate and Loving?'

The girls flew the flag for Beech class today in our house group meeting. (Our other members were absent). They had an abundance of ideas and could explain how they will demonstrate our new Jesuit Virtues' focus in their lives. 

Our mantra....walk the walk, not talk the talk. Words into actions show that we are living these virtues everyday. 

February 

...and our preparation for the

Sacrament of Reconciliation continues. 

'Hands' was the theme of our Reconciliation retreat day. We heard about Albert and Franz Durer and how the famous 'Praying Hands' originated. 

The Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes

What a lovely celebration of our feast day it was! 

Back in class we learned about some of the 18 apparitions of the 'beautiful lady' to Bernadette in the grotto in Lourdes. We discovered that later, during the sixteenth apparition, Bernadette finally found out that the lady was the 'Immaculate Conception.'

 Our Lady - “Go and tell the priest to build a chapel here and to have people come in procession.” It happened! 

We looked at how the that small chapel grew into the Basilicas that are there today because of the many thousands of pilgrims who visit every year. And wow! The torch light procession looks so beautiful! Many of us decided that one day we would like to go and see the veneration of Our Lady for ourselves.