Stations of the Cross

In preparation for Holy Week, all year groups will attend Stations of the Cross at St Mary and St Andrews church. During this service, pupils will listen to, reflect on and respond to the Stations of the Cross, listening to the journey of Christ in the lead up to his death.  The children will also be joined by different year groups from the Infant school. Year 4 and Year 1 went first and had a very special time of reflection together, thinking about this time of preparation.

Buy Less - Share More 

Pre-Loved Book Swap

As part of our Catholic Social Teaching on protecting the environment and promoting sustainability, we encouraged the children to "buy less, share more" with a World Book Day Book Swap. Each child was invited to bring in a book they have read and were happy to pass on. The children then swapped it for another book donated by their peers. This initiative aims to help us to be good stewards of the earth as well as celebrating the joy of reading while giving children access to a wider range of books. 

CAFOD Big Lent Walk

As we celebrate Lent in this Jubilee year, let us all embrace the theme Pilgrims of Hope, chosen to inspire peace-building in a world threatened by climate change and ongoing conflicts. Thousands of school children are taking part in the ‘Big Lent Walk’, becoming ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ by standing with, and raising money for, our brothers and sisters living in poverty.

This Lent we are going to step into this energising journey as a school by walking 200km! This will help us to enjoy the outdoors, get active and make a difference. This is a wonderful opportunity for our children to bring Catholic Social Teaching principles such as Solidarity, Human Dignity and Preferential option for the poor into a real life scenario as they raise money for our global family and learn more about the work of CAFOD and the impact their action will have.

Every class will have time each day to go for a walk around the playground over Lent so that we can achieve our goal of a total of 200km! The children will come home with a sponsorship form to raise donations for this event for CAFOD. Please support if you can and encourage your friends and family to as well!

Catholic Children's Society Lenten Appeal

On Ash Wednesday, the children will be given Lenten appeal boxes to help raise money for the Catholic Children's Society. The school has supported this charity for many years and a representative from the CCS will be coming in to speak to the children about all of the special work that they do. During Lent, the children are being asked to put in any spare coins they have to collect money to support the CCS. The boxes do not need to be returned to school until after the Easter Holidays.

Prayer Bags - Lent

This Lent, the children take turns each day to take home a prayer bag. The prayer bag offers an opportunity for families to come together at home in prayer and reflection during this special time of preparation.

Each prayer bag includes:

• A purple cloth.
• A candle.
• The Stations of the Cross
• Rosary beads.
• Prayer journal.
• Walk with Me - Prayer book.
• A Lent Calendar
• A holding cross.
• Three Pillars of Lent sorting cards.

The children have the opportunity to write their own prayer in the prayer journal which is then shared with the class the next morning.

Racial Justice Sunday

Racial Justice Sunday was celebrated in the Diocese on Sunday 16th February. This is an important day for Catholics to reflect on racial justice and commit to making a difference. The children have discussed the importance of this day in their classes and created their own prayers to ask for God's guidance in helping to create a world that supports racial justice. Some examples of these prayers are now displayed in our front entrance.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation

Father Michael Visits Year 4

In RE lessons, Year 4 have been learning about 'Communities' and how they are a very special and valued member of many different communities including our class, school and parish. The children interviewed Father Michael about his role as the Parish Priest for our parish community and they learnt a lot about all of the different jobs and responsibilities he has within the community. A big thank you to Father Michael for taking the time to talk to the children.

Prayer Bags - Advent

This Advent, the children take turns each day to take home a prayer bag. The prayer bag offers an opportunity for families to come together at home in prayer and reflection during this special time of preparation.

Each prayer bag includes:

• A purple cloth.
• A candle.
• A nativity scene.
• Rosary beads.
• Prayer journal.
• Walk with Me - Prayer book.
• An Advent prayer.
• A holding cross.

The children have the opportunity to write their own prayer in the prayer journal which is then shared with the class the next morning.

Year 4 Trip to Westminster Cathedral

The Year 4s had a fantastic trip to Westminster Cathedral for the Catholic Children's Society Christmas Carol Service. The children really enjoyed singing the songs as Angel Penelope told the story of Christmas. They were particularly excited when an actual donkey and goat arrived to take part! We also had time to get a few pictures outside Buckingham Palace which we passed on the journey. Everybody had a fantastic time. A big thank you to all of the parents and staff who were able to help.

Diocesan Christmas Card Competition

The children were asked to create different designs to take part in the Diocesan Christmas card competition.

The theme this year is from Luke 2:8-15 and the children could focus on any aspect of this scripture: 

'And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.  An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favour rests.” When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

We had so many fantastic entries but we were only able to send one entry from our school to the Diocese. Congratulations to Viktoria in 6K who was our winning entry to go to the Diocese. Please see the winning entry below and all of the other fantastic designs that were entered! Well done to everyone who took part!

Father Michael Visits Year 3 Collective Worship

As part of our Collective Worship this week 3S looked at Mark's Gospel reading of how Jesus will come again. We reflected on how we get ready for visitors and how we can get ready for Jesus. We looked explicitly at how the 'Fig Tree will teach us a lesson when it becomes green and tender' and linked this to our learning in Science. We discussed how God's power and beauty can be seen in the world around us. We planted seeds that we are going to look after in the coming weeks and months. As these seeds grow they will be a reminder that we need to ensure that we are doing everything in our power to be ready for the coming of Jesus, we can be kind to others, support charities and include others, even something as small as a smile can make a big difference in living out God's message. We were lucky that Fr Michael joined us for this Collective Worship and he blessed both us and our seeds. We are looking forward to watching them grow, being responsible for them as we are responsible for our faith. 

Rosary Competition 

To celebrate October being a very special time where we focus on the Rosary, the children were asked to design and create their own Rosaries as part of a whole school competition. The children made a fantastic effort and we received so many amazing entries. It was a very difficult decision picking just one winner for each year group! 

The winning Rosaries were:

Year 3 - Daria (3S)

Year 4 - Sara (4F)

Year 5 - Lily (5I)

Year 6 - Holly (6L)

A massive congratulations to these children and a big thank you to all of the children who took part! The winners will receive a certificate and a statue of Mary in next week's assembly. 

November: The Month of the Holy Souls

As November is a month of remembrance, children were given the opportunity to write their intentions which have been added to a prayer book, presented in the front office. The book provides a safe space for children to write their reflections and intentions.

November: The Month of the Holy Souls

To mark this special month, 6L presented the school with a very moving assembly about Remembrance Day and members of our School Council have been selling poppies in the playground.

A Special Visitor to our Parish!

Father Michael Visits Year 6!

Year 6 were very lucky to have a very special visitor to their classrooms - Father Michael. As part of their current RE Topic on Vocation and Commitment, Father Michael was interviewed by the children to discuss why he chose to be a priest, how he was called, what his training was like and what his day to day life as a priest entails. The children really enjoyed this visit and learnt a lot about what it is like to be a priest. A big thank you to Father Michael for taking the time to be interviewed by the children.

Year 3 - Baptism Re-enactment

Year 3 visited the church and witnessed the re-enactment of a baptism. The children watched Fr Michael welcome the baby into the church's family, blessing the baby with the oils, baptising her with the water, lighting the candle, placing the baby in a white shawl and praying over the child. They learnt about what all of these stages of a baptism mean.  Fr Michael spoke to the children about how this is a Sacrament of Initiation and that the rituals that happen at a baptism have been taught to us by Jesus. The children asked questions about the Sacrament and understood that baptism is the beginning of our Catholic journey and the growth of our faith. 

Mini Vinnie Chaplaincy Team

Commissioning Ceremony

On Tuesday 8th October, Year 4 had their year group Mass in the Church and were joined by Year 2 from the Infant school. During this Mass, Father Michael commissioned the Mini Vinnies from the Infant and Junior School where he spoke to them about the important task they are taking on and the children made their pledge. This was a very special moment for the children and they are very excited for the important role they now have. 

Harvest Festival

On Thursday 3rd October, 4F hosted our annual Harvest Festival assembly. The children did a fantastic job explaining to all of the children the importance of this festival and how we are celebrating this year. We were very lucky to welcome Gerry from Ashford Place to receive our Harvest donation and she spent some time speaking with the children about the importance of our donation and all of the amazing work they do to help those in need. The children will also celebrate Harvest by having an own clothes day with a £1 donation to give to CAFOD's Family Fast Day. Well done and thank you to all of the children and their parents/carers for so many donations!

Mini Vinnie Chaplaincy Team 2024-2025

A big congratulations to our newly appointed members of the OLOG Mini Vinnie Chaplaincy Team!

Year 3 – Sean, Ella, Desi, Oisin.

Year 4 – Rex, Eliza, Elijah, Alice.

Year 5 – Niall, Blessing, Anna, Rylan.

Year 6 – Ivy P, Noah, Sylvester, Chloe.

Catholic Children's Society - Lenten Appeal 2024

Make your voices heard!

This year’s appeal is inspired by Pope Francis’s call for young people to use their voice to make a difference in the world. Every penny raised by your school will support our work with local disadvantaged children and families.

Pupils will be given Lenten Appeal collection boxes to collect spare change in order to raise money for the CCS. We hope you will be able to support us - every penny counts!

There are also some resources and links provided by the Diocese of Westminster which families can interact with at home in preparation for Easter which can be found under 'Parents and Carers'.

Holy Week 2024

This year, we observed Maundy Thursday at school through a Liturgy led by the Mini Vinnies. The Mini Vinnies worked hard to prepare a liturgy based on the events of Holy Week and re-enacting some of these events in preperation for Easter. This has built on pupils learning about Holy Week in RE lessons.

RE Resources for Holy Week: