Second Week of Lent 

Y6 led pupils and parish in St Patrick's Day Mass 

St Patrick's Day

N, I and E led us in our St Patrick's Day assembly ahead of next week's Mass and Feast Day.

Community & Participation

St Vincent De Paul

S, I and M led us in a presentation this morning about St. Vincent De Paul and how he participated actively in helping his community. They also talked us through ways in which we can help our community and how we can live our lives like St Vincent De Paul.

OneLife Lent Livestream

Jubilee Retreat Day 

We Will Go Out

Today, Y6 participated in the OneLife Pilgrims of Hope Retreat. 

We took some time for quiet, personal prayer while we considered the importance of this Jubilee Year. We also offered our prayers for Pope Francis in the hope of his recovery. 

We completed an activity book which guided us to think about how we can bring hope this year and who we can bring it to. 

Ash Wednesday 

We gathered this morning at church with our school family and our Parish community to mark the beginning of Lent. 

We were led in Mass by Y5 and received the ashes on our foreheads to symbolise our sins and our desire to repent during the season of Lent. 

Father Sean proclaimed the Gospel of Matthew and guided us through ways in which we can have a purposeful, repentant and rewarding journey through Lent.  

Stay, Pray and Create 

Jubilee Pilgrims of Hope Workshop 

This afternoon, our Y6 children took some time to gathered with their family to take part in our Jubilee Workshop. We looked closely at the Jubilee 2025 logo and shared what we had found out about the symbols during our RE lessons and our Jubilee Launch Day with BDES. 

We looked closely at the anchor within the logo and talked about how we can be an anchor of hope during this Jubilee Year. Then, we turned to scripture and looked at what the Bible tells us about being a pilgrim and spreading hope. With our grown up, we selected our favourite bible verse and created a Jubilee prayer bracelet. 

The Presentation

of Our Lord

Today, our Liturgy Leads led us in a class-based assembly about the Presentation of Our Lord. We discussed the CST Principle; 'The Common Good' and how we can use hope to spread Jesus' light throughout the world. 

Jubilee Year 2025 

Pilgrims of Hope 

We have kick-started the Jubilee Year with a Jubilee theme-day. 

First, we watched a live-stream launch to mark the beginning of the Jubilee Year in school.

We completed a range of activities throughout the day, including analysing the 'Pilgrims of Hope' logo and participating in a reflective Visio Divina using the Icon by Mulugeta Araya from Ethiopia. 

Grateful and Generous 

Year 6 have been focusing today on the Jesuit Virtues of Grateful and Generous. We listened to a reading from Mark's Gospel and discussed the importance of sharing our gifts and blessings with others; how we can imitate Christ through our thoughts and actions.

Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

Advent

Throughout the season of Advent, we have been preparing for the birth of Jesus. 

We gathered with our loved ones to take part in an Advent workshop during the third week of Advent; we focused on the theme of Joy and reflected upon ways in which we can spread joy during this time. 

We created Joy jars which we filled with memories of our time at OLOL and special family memories with our families which we can re-visit during the season of Advent. We also created joy-themed ornaments to hang on our Christmas tree - we decided on an area of the world that we think needed our prayers at this time, or somewhere close to our hearts that bring us joy. We included the map of this place on our ornament and added a quote from the bible about joy. 

The Faithfully Departed Mass 

CST - Human Dignity

Mrs Teall led us all today in an assembly about the principle of 'Human Dignity'.

Month of the Holy Souls 

Y6 have led and participated in weekly 'Celebration of the Word' assemblies. Every Monday, we join together and follow the direction of our Liturgy Leaders in prayer and reflection about the weekly Gospel. This week, we turned our attention to those who are no longer here with us. We reflected upon scripture before noting down the names of those we would like to remember during this special month. We placed our prayer intentions into an envelop which will remain on the altar throughout the course of the month.

Year 6's visit to St Chad's Cathedral

Year 6 had a fantastic day at St Chad's Cathedral in Birmingham. They spent some time in the Crypt, learning all about the people who contributed to funding the 'Mother Church', before heading upstairs to explore the relics and artefacts. They discovered that St Cecilia was the only female Saint who was depicted in stained glass at the Cathedral and they learnt about the story of St Chad and how his bones were rescued from Lichfield Cathedral. 

Celebration of the Word

Our Year 6 children have taken on a range of additional roles this year as part of their wider commitment to their faith. They have led us in a variety of weekly celebrations and really stepped up to their position as being faith models to the other children in the school.

Confirmandi Inscription Mass

Year 6 participated in their first Parish Inscription Mass today. They led the congregation in prayer and performed a special hymn as part of the Communion Reflection. 

Rowan Class Lead Mass

The Feast of Ss. Cosmas and Damien

Year 6 led the whole school and members of the Parish in mass this morning to celebrate the feast of Ss. Cosmas and Damien. 

Our readers eloquently proclaimed the Word and set the example for the rest of the school.

Christ at the centre of our school where we live, love and learn together 

It has been a wonderful week for the children in Rowan Class this week as they have had so many opportunities to spend time with their adults and involve them in so many aspects of their OLOL life in school.

We have gathered as one big family, with our family, to enjoy a delicious roast dinner in our school hall. It was a beautiful opportunity for Rowan Class to enjoy some quality time with their family members. 

Confirmation Preparation Meeting

Thank you to all of our adults who took time out of their evening to bring our Confirmandi to their Confirmation Preparation Meeting on Tuesday. It was wonderful to see the flurry of support that our children have as they prepare to receive this sacrament. 

Shout! Praise!

Glorify his name!

What a wonderful week we have had in Rowan Class this week!

We started off our week by familiarising ourselves with our class prayers. We looked in detail at the 'O Come Holy Spirit' prayer and discussed the importance of the words. We talked about what 'kindle' meant and the symbolism behind the flame, recalling our knowledge of Pentecost and how the Holy Spirit blessed the Apostles. 

In our RE lessons this week, we have been focusing on preparing for our Confirmation. We looked at the Rite of Confirmation and discussed the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit. We also started to consider designs for our glass candle holders, thinking about which fruit, gift or symbol we wanted the Holy Spirit to instil in us. 

We have gathered together in prayer on a number of occasions this week; for classroom prayer and assemblies as well as our Confirmation Retreat. 

Classroom Blessings 

To end our week, we were lucky enough to welcome Deacon Tim into our classrooms for a special blessing. After guiding us through scripture, Deacon Tim blessed our prayer area and all of us in the hope to guide us through this new year.

New Beginnings

Mass led by our OLOL staff

On Thursday, our school community gathered together to celebrate Mass for the first time this academic year. 

We listened attentively to Miss Molloy proclaiming reading from St. Paul’s letter to the Ephesians which beautifully highlighted how lucky we are to be chosen by God. Chosen to live through love in his presence. 

Mrs Teall and Mr Connolly led us in the Prayers of the Faithful, paying special consideration to our leaders, our community, our new staff and pupils, those who are sick and those who are no longer with us.

Catholic Social Teaching

Stewardship

On Wednesday, Y6 joined together with the rest of the school for an assembly about Stewardship. They were inspired to be stewards of God's creation and immersed themselves in this half-terms Virtues, Curious and Active, thinking about how they can be a good steward and care for the wonderful Creation God has given to each and every one of us. 

Hymn Practise

This week, Rowan Class gathered as a school family for the first time this academic year to rejoice in song. Y6 set a fantastic example for the rest of their peers and set the standard by adhering to their addition commitment roles. What a fantastic way to start our Tuesday! 

Our School Mission

We have revised our understanding of our school mission and studied our new School Mission prayer. We discussed what the mission means to each of us and shared ideas on how we could live out our mission in both word and deed. 

New Beginnings 

'Turning over a new leaf'

It has been a wonderful day in Rowan Class today, seeing friends reunite after a well-deserved rest over the summer.

Today we have spent time getting to know our new classroom and creating our Y6 Classroom Charter. Rowan Class spent time exploring their desired ethos for the year; deciding they wanted to complete their final year at OLOL in an environment which was fully focused on the Jesuit Virtues. We decided on our classroom rules and committed to them with our handprints.