Easter Live Stream Retreat with OneLife Music

Year 6 took part in OneLife Music's online Easter retreat today. 

They learnt and sang new upbeat hymns which encompassed the freshness and enthusiasm of spring; surprisingly bringing the sun out at one point! The children had a wonderful morning rejoicing in prayer in the classroom for their final Easter celebration here at OLOL. 

Easter

Year 6 Liturgy Leads changed our prayer area this morning to gold to celebrate Easter. 

We looked at artwork images of the 

Holy Week

Stations of the Cross Led by Year 4

Year 6 attended the Stations of the Cross at Church this afternoon led by Year 4,

It was a beautiful service, where Year 4 took us through each station with scripture, reflection and prayer. Year 4 blew out a candle after each station and reflected on the words ‘You gave up your life to save us’.

Lenten Workshop

We had a prayerful, reflective Lenten workshop with our families today. It was a lovely opportunity to pray together and think about the importance of Lent for us. The theme of our workshop was 'forgiveness' and we looked at the story of Jesus in the Wilderness to understand how sometimes in life we are tempted to do the wrong thing and steer away from the path of righteousness. 

We worked with our friends and members of our families to make Lenten Pretzels, a traditional Lenten food which was used to remind people to pray, eat simple meals (or fast) and to ask for God's forgiveness in order to prepare ourselves properly for Easter. 

Cafod National Assembly

Year 6 gathered within our class this morning to watch the CAFOD National Assembly.

The children discovered a range of strategies and suggested actions that they could follow to help fight global poverty this Lent. After the assembly, they discussed proposed activities/events they could hold for their lent fundraiser at school. 

Lent Live Stream with OneLife Music

Year 6 marked the beginning of their journey through Lent by joining an online retreat with Dan and Emily from OneLife music. They will be participating in short retreats each afternoon; looking at scripture, reflecting on the Gospel and singing hymns all in an attempt to prepare them for a purposeful and practical Lent season. 

Entering the Season of Lent

We dress our prayer area in the classroom with a purple cloth, some stones, a handful of sand and the Bible. The colour purple represents penance, preparation and sacrifice, which reminds us at this time of the sacrifice that God made by giving his only Son for us all. 

Year 6 will be participating in a non-uniform day to raise money for their chosen charity later on in the month by wearing purple to signify the importance of the colour. 

The Presentation of the Lord

The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

We gathered as a school family this morning in preparation for Our Lady’s Feast Day Mass on Friday. Our Lady of Lourdes is a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary recalling her apparitions in 1858 in the grotto at Lourdes, France to Saint Bernadette Soubirous, a fourteen-year-old peasant girl. Our Lady instructed Bernadette to dig in the ground nearby, from which came a spring with healing properties, active to this day.

The children sang Hymns, such as Ave Maria and the Magnificat, reflecting on the lyrics and considering how Mary demonstrated the Jesuit Virtues, particularly how she was 'Faithfilled and Hopeful' throughout her life. Mrs Anthony led our Hymns and our responses in order to prepare us for Mass where we will honour Our Lady.

Saint Maximilian Kolbe 

Today, Year 6 looked at their Historical Figure 'Saint Maximilian Kolbe'. Year 6 watched a video, outlining the life of Saint Maximilian Kolbe and how he went on to sacrifice himself for another in Auschwitz. Kolbe was a selfless, faith-filled and compassionate person who lived his life in a exemplary way. 

Year 6 created a shine for Saint Maximillian Kolbe in their RE books, not only to remember his story but to reflect on how they can be like him in their lives today. 

The Baptism of the Lord

In preparation for Year 4's Mass on Thursday, we joined together as a school family in celebration of the Baptism of the Lord. 

We looked at a range of religious artwork and discussed the meaning and symbolism within the pieces of art. Using their knowledge from Unit E, Year 6 described the role of John the Baptist and how he was given the sacred job of Baptising our Lord. 

End of Term Mass

What a lovely way to end our End of Term Mass!

Year 6 were presented with their Confirmation Certificates after a beautiful Mass led by Year 1

The solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

We gathered as a school community this morning to prepare for a very special Mass on Thursday; the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. 

We discussed the importance of this day and the special job that Mary was selected to do. 

Year 6 used their knowledge of the Holy Spirit to guide their understanding of the important gifts and fruits which were bestowed upon Mary during this time.

Our Lady Of Lourdes 2023 Confirmandi

Year 6 visited by Bishop David Evans

This afternoon, Year 6 were visited by Bishop David ahead of their Confirmation on Sunday. Bishop David spoke to the children about their upcoming sacrament and asked them about the Saints they have chosen to follow. 

Year 4's Mass

Y6 attended Mass this week, led by Y4, at our Parish Church. Some of our Y6 children supported this Mass: playing a musical instrument, singing in the choir and assisting with the PowerPoint. 

Year 6 remember

Throughout the month of November, Y6 have taken part in a variety of activities and collective reflections to remember all of the faithful departed. They gathered with the rest of their peers in a special assembly, where names of those who are no longer with us were brought forward and placed in a basket on the prayer table. They reflected on the focus of the month and paid particular homage to all of the individuals who made the ultimate sacrifice. Y6 also made poppies in preparation for Remembrance Day and wrote a speech during their writing lesson with Mrs Beard. 

Christmas Carol Rehearsal 

Year 6 took part in their first rehearsal for the Christmas Carol concert this week. 

It was a joy to spent the morning rejoicing in prayer; they sang beautifully and were led graciously by Mrs Anthony who gave them some targets to work towards for the next rehearsal. 

All Souls Day

We started our first week back by gathering together to remember all of those who have died. Before we gathered, we wrote down the names of family members and friends who have died and placed them in an envelope so that we can pray for them all throughout the month of November. 

The Holy Rosary

This week, our Chaplaincy Team led us in a decade of the Holy Rosary.  We were led in the Joyful Mysteries and talked about the Visitation.

With our Class Rosary Beads to hand, we followed the Chaplains in the prayers that Jesus taught us. It was wonderful to gather together and pay tribute to Mary, Our Mother, during this special month of October. 

Creation Assembly

Today, we were led in celebration of God's creation by the children of Y3.

We listened to the Gospel message, praised God's creation in song and talked about St Francis of Assis in preparation of his Feast Day on 4th October. 

Mr Connolly set all of the children the task of taking care of our school environment to show God that we are looking after the special gift he gave us. 

Back at class, we talked about St Francis' Canticle of Creation and used it as inspiration for our prayers in our RE lesson. 

Adam and Eve

We have been learning about important characters from the Bible. 

This week, Year 6 recapped the story of Adam and Eve and immersed themselves in gaining a deeper understanding of what the story meant and how we, as Catholics, should apply this knowledge to our lives today.

Year 6 compared what life was like for both characters when they followed God's word in truth, to what it was like after they had given into temptation and sin. We represented our thoughts in the form of trees to symbolise the Tree of knowledge and demonstrate how fruitful and plentiful life is with God at the centre of everything that we do. 

Visio Divina

'Keep awake therefore, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming' Matthew 24:42.

A picture is worth a thousand words, they say, and recently in Year 6 we have been using the practice of Visio Divina (“divine seeing” in Latin) to help us to focus more deeply on God in prayer. Drawing on the principles of Lectio Divina, Visio Divina is the slow, thoughtful contemplation of a picture, photo, work of art, or really anything visual that invites God to speak to us in a deeper way.

This week, we have looked at the artwork 'Jesus Light of the World' by William Holman Hunt. We discussed what we could see in the artwork and what we thought God might be saying to us through this painting. In Lectio, we read Matthew 24: 37-44 and reflected on how we can shine our light like Jesus. 

The Feast of St Matthew Y6 Mass

Year 6 led us in Mass this week to celebrate the Feast of St Matthew; the Evangelist and author of a gospel. In the readings today, we heard that St Matthew, a tax-collector, was not a very well-liked man before he became a disciple of Jesus. Thank you to the children who read and led our offertory procession. 

Learning in RE

During our first unit in RE, we have been looking at the Bible and all of the different books within it. We have looked at different types of writing (Psalms, Poetry, Parables, etc) and talked about why we think there are different styles of writing within our Holy Book. Year 6 pupils had the opportunity to raise questions and work collaboratively as they attempted to respond to and answer their peer's questions. 

Classroom Blessing 

This afternoon, Deacon Tim visited Rowan Class to perform a very special blessing upon the classroom, the pupils and the teachers. Deacon Tim talked to the Year 6 pupils about the coming year ahead and asked God to watch over them as they venture through an important stage in both their educational and spiritual journeys. 

Our Class Saint - Saint  Thomas Aquinas

We learned all about St Thomas Aquinas. We discussed his patronages and reflected on ‘A Student’s Prayer’ before completing an information leaflet all about him.

Our Mission

Year 6 discussed our School Mission and identified ways in which they can live, love and learn with Christ at the centre.

Virtues

Our Jesuit Virtues for this half term are Grateful and Generous.

Year 6 came up with ways that they can embed these virtues into their lives today. We also talked about how extraordinary, Ordinary Time is and did some investigating of the elements of the life of Christ that are a focus during this liturgical season. 

New Beginnings and Welcome

Welcome to Year 6’s Catholic Life page. We have gathered together this week for our first act of Collective Worship. We took part in a 3-minute retreat and spent a moment reflecting on the events of last year before we turned our attention to the year ahead. With the Parable of the Sower in mind, Year 6 discussed ways that they can plant their seed in good soil this year.