What a busy Holy Week! We made crosses, celebrated God’s creation, prayed, told the story of Holy Week and tried hot cross buns. We thought about how we can feel happy to hear about Jesus being greeted in Jerusalem with cheering crowds. We are sad about Him dying. 
 

What lot we learned. Now we are waiting for Easter to celebrate Jesus rising again. 

We had a Lent workshop to share our prayers and learning with our families. We made crosses to use at home. We added our own prayers to a prayer chain for our prayer table. 
 

We talked about the promises we made in Lent to help others by sharing and tidying up. We also promised to show we care for others by saying please and thank you. Most importantly, we will pray more to grow closer to God. 

We have made our Lenten promises and are trying very hard to keep them. 
 

Have you made a Lenten promise?

We have heard the parable of the 10 Silver Coins. We made coins with our faces on to remind us that God wants all of us just as the woman wanted all 10 of her coins. God loves us. 

Nursery were inspired by gathering with our school and parish for Ash Wednesday. They decided to build a church, add themselves and other people and act out Father Sean giving everyone their ashes. Can you spot the big church doors? Where is Father Sean?

We noticed lots as we listened and joined in the Mass. 

S: it was very quiet and peaceful.

N: I got ashes on me …are they still there? 
C: I got a ash cross too. 
R: I saw lots of grown ups and children lining up to see Father Sean for ashes.

A: We did Sign of the Cross and Father Sean did it on my head with that stuff. 

We celebrated St David’s Day in school by wearing the colours of the Welsh flag. St David was a teacher who founded monasteries. We said a thank you prayer for St David’s wisdom and for help to do all the ‘little things’ that make a big difference to others. 

We went to school mass for the first time on the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. We gathered with our school and parish to listen and pray. 
 

After we celebrated with a French treat. Our croissants nd hot chocolate were delicious. 

Inspired by other artists images of Mary, we have created our own. We noticed that sometimes she has a halo. Sometimes she is holding Jesus because ‘she’s his Mommy so she looks after him.’ (NH)

We noticed she is often praying. Who is she talking with? 

We dressed for the job we want for a day. How does it feel to be a doctor or astronaut? What skills do they have? Are they kind, helpful or brave? We thought hard about how we can serve our communities through the jobs we do. 
 

Who will we grow up to be? We live, love and learn together everyday to make sure we all feel part of our school community. 

We opened the Jubilee Year of Hope with a prayer service and reflection on a picture of Jesus. We noticed a rainbow over his head and decided to draw our own rainbows. They are a beautiful symbol of hope. 
 

We asked God to open our eyes, ears and hearts to Him. 

We went to visit the crib in church. We checked to see if it had Mar, Joseph and baby Jesus. We noticed the crowns worn by the Wise Men. We wondered why Jesus has a halo and what instrument the shepherd was playing. 
 

We sang a hymn and said a prayer. Have you visited the crib? 

Nursery danced and danced and danced to raise over £300 for CAFOD. We have chosen to Trees for Life, Water for a Family, a Terrific Toilet and Marvellous Moo Cow from the CAFOD World Gifts.
 

Thank you to our generous families and friends for your donations. We prayed for those who receive our gifts and those who donated.

We lit our pink candle for joy on the Advent wreath this week. We tried to spread joy in everything we do. We were so joyful during our fundraising dancethon. 

We lit our second Advent candle this week. We prepare by praying. We thought of things we are sorry for and asked for God’s help. We know the Sign of the Cross is a special sign used by God’s family when we pray. 
 

How are you getting ready? 

At our Advent Workshop, we made Advent wreathes for our homes. We gathered together to pray and hear a bible story. We learned that a poor widow gave all she could. Jesus told us that she gave more than anyone. 
 

We reflected on how hard it can be to give or share something we really like or need. We took our wreathes home to remind us that Advent is a time of prayer and helping people in need. 
 

How can we help people we do know and people we don’t know? 

We heard the story of Our Lady of Lourdes. Our school is named for her. Who is she? 
 

We looked carefully at images of Our Lady of Lourdes and drew her. What can you see her holding? 

We donated a pound to wear red clothes to school. We learnt that the money will help other members of God’s family who are not allowed to pray, gather and worship as Christians. We prayed for them and we’re grateful that we can sing hymns with joy. 

We visited church to look at the altar, font and images. We talked about how God’s family gather in church. We had lots of questions and observations.

R: Why is it red? It should be green everywhere. It was green on the other day.

E: I like that big cross up there for Jesus.

S: Why is that man holding a baby? (Statue)

N: Father Sean put my brother D in the water there and bless him.

We thanked God for our families in our prayers.

We made a poppy wreath to remind us of the service people who gave died in conflicts. We sat in silence for two minutes. We said a prayer of thanks for their lives.

We love to play instruments when we sing hymns. We make a joyful sound to praise God. How can you praise God? 

We have gathered food and hygiene products to donate to people in our community who need it. We can share the harvest each year. God made our earth for us to look after and share. We said a prayer asking God to help make choices that look after others. 

We share our class prayer bag each week. We love to lead prayers for our friends. We especially like to use the Holy Water to bless ourselves. Our theme is Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for? 

We acted out the parable of the Good Samaritan to helps us to understand it better. When we Celebrate the Word, we listen and think about what it can teach us. How can we be good neighbours? 

We learn more about God through the stories Jesus told. In the parable of the lost sheep, a shepherd needs to find a missing sheep. He will not stop until the sheep is found.

We explored this story with our own sheep and some props. What do you remember? 
 

We know that God is like the shepherd. He loves us. 

We have added our own prayers and drawings to our prayer area. What do you want to thank God for in Creation? 

What can you see that God made? We noticed lots of things we love that God made. Some children wondered if He made our toys. We talked about God making people and giving us talents to make things. Lots of us love the beauty of everything made by God. 

We are learning about God creating our beautiful world. What do you love that God made? 

‘I love the animals. I like animals that are dangerous.’ C

‘I love all the animals like seagull and heron. Birds have tails and wings and they can fly in the air.’ E.N. 
‘I think I love ladybug. I think I don’t understand how God made all that.’ S

’I love the sun…God made that?’ A

Can you say a prayer of thanks for Creation? 

It has been lovely to welcome our newest and youngest pupils to school. Here is the prayer we share at the end of every session together. We hope you enjoy learning it too.

God Our Father, I come to say

thank you for your love today.

Thank you for my family 

and all the friends you give to me.

Guard me in the dark of night

and in the morning send your light.

Amen