Hello,

I hope that you are all well and that you have been enjoying the recent summer sunshine!

This week at St. Peter’s, the children have all been learning about St. Peter and St. Paul’s apostleship, as part of their RE learning. Each year group has been taught about the lives of both saints, their unique callings from God as well as the personal commitment of each disciple to the Christian faith. In particular, we look forward to taking part in our Whole School Mass to celebrate the Feast Day of St. Peter and St. Paul – where we remember the sacrifices made by  both saints and their subsequent ascension to Heaven following their deaths – on Tuesday 2nd July 2019. Please see the photos below for an example of children’s work from Year Three. Each student discovered the collaboration of both saints as they continued God’s work on earth, through the video link below, then created a ‘twin statue’ to represent their partnership in the process of continuing their Mission. Pupils also included symbols to decorate their Feast Day statues,  e.g. a pair of crossed keys for St. Peter (who was believed to have been given the keys to the gates of Heaven) and a sword for St. Paul (who had transformed from a persecutor named Saul, to a promoter of Christianity as the disciple, Paul).

Prior to whole school preparations for the Feast Day of St. Peter and Paul, the children at St. Peter’s completed their unit of learning on Pentecost and Mission. Once more, the children explored the way in which the Holy Spirit had changed the lives of the twelve apostles, who had been bestowed the ‘fruits’ of knowledge, courage and wisdom that had enabled them to spread the Word of God around the world in multiple languages. The children enjoyed learning about the symbols of Pentecost, before making booklets to teach others about the importance of the Holy Spirit and how it changes our lives today. Please refer to the examples of Year 3 work shown below…

Next week, we look forward to starting our learning on Sacraments, which forms part of our final unit of study before the end of the academic year. Other events that have been taking place recently at St. Peter’s Catholic primary school include the Year 2 Liturgy with Miss S. Keogh (Oaklands school chaplain) and the celebration of the Annual School’s Mass at the Cathedral – this had involved 10 pupils, who had each represented our school and its values beautifully at the celebration.

As we embark on the last few weeks of a busy school term, I would like to leave you all with a prayer, so that we may reflect upon the strength and courage of St. Peter…

Christ Jesus,

May our hearts be filled with joy as we honour Simon Peter, our leader and rock in the Christian faith.

May we also pray for our Church leaders and all who serve, especially those who are rarely seen or valued but have their equal part to play: help them to find strength in God as they continue God’s work on earth.

We ask that our parish, family and friends may also be inspired by St. Peter’s faith and service. May we all be given the courage, by the Holy Spirit, to speak up for what we believe and reach out to all those in need.

Amen.

With very best wishes to you all,

Miss Honeywell