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