Hello everyone,

I hope that you are all well and keeping safe and that you have enjoyed your Christmas break so far.

The second half of the Autumn Term was an extremely busy one at St. Peter’s Catholic Primary school. Despite the pandemic, the children, families and staff of our school community have worked incredibly hard together in order to enable the following events to take place:

• 17 children from Year Four made took part in the sacrament of their First Holy Communion. We would like to congratulate these pupils and their families during this very special time. Another 9 children made their First Holy Communion at St. Edmund’s Church across the 12th and 13th December 2020. Congratulations and best wishes to you all.

• Our students at St. Peter’s had wonderful success in the Hampshire Interfaith Calendar competition, with 2 winners and 2 runners up from our school. We are incredibly proud of these pupils for the commitment and dedication they demonstrated in the creation of their religious art works.

• Thanks to the hard work of the teachers, support staff and children at St. Peter’s Catholic Primary school, we have been able to record and upload Christmas events on our secure, private Youtube account – these include the Year R and Year 1 Nativity plays, the Year 2 Advent Liturgy plus an alternative, socially-distanced version of the KS2 End of Term Carol assembly. 

In addition, as part of our Advent preparations, all of the children of St. Peter’s were delighted to partake in CAFOD’s Light of The World Assembly, which was streamed live online on Thursday 10th December 2020. This online event enabled our students from both Key Stages to meet people around the world who have spread light and hope to others this year. We then reflected on what it means to share the light of Jesus during Advent, and how we can make Christmas special for everyone, by writing our very own messages of hope on colourful candles for our school display (see below). We would like to say a big thank you to Mrs Pearson for organising our school project, as well as to the ELSA support team who helped to create our beautiful displays of the children’s work in the assembly hall and windows of the Unity Building.

In the spirit of hope, we look forward to 2021 and all of the spiritual and learning opportunities it shall bring. In our RE curriculum, for example, we shall spend the first two weeks reflecting upon Christmas and Jesus the Messiah as the Light of the World who was sent as our promise and Saviour by God. Subsequently, we shall then begin our RE learning for Revelations – this is a time when we discover the sciptures that describe how Jesus revealed Himself as the Son of God through His miracles, healing powers and good works towards those in need. The Spring Term shall also provide an excellent opportunity for St. Peter’s Catholic Primary school to continue researching, discovering and appreciating other faiths and cultures during our Whole School Diversity Week from 22nd March – 26th March 2021. During this special week, we look forward to learning more about Hinduism, Sikhism, Judaism and Islam, by exploring different religious artefacts and through participating in various events and workshops. We shall also be taking part in the following school events across the Spring Term:

• Year R Liturgy – Tuesday 19th January
• Year 3 and 4 Mass – Tuesday 26th January
• Year 5 and 6 Mass – Tuesday 2nd February
• Year 2 Liturgy – Tuesday 23rd February
• Year 1 Liturgy – Tuesday 2nd March
• Whole School Lenten day of Reflection – Monday 29th March

The community of St. Peter’s Catholic Primary School has shown exceptional support, compassion and love this year, not only towards one another but to the wider community that surrounds it too. I would like to say a special thank you to our family support worker, Megan Chapman, for her incredibly hard work during the collection, organisation and disctribution of home learning packs, school stationary and food parcels in order to help support families at this difficult and challenging time. I would like to conclude this month’s blog post with the following prayer:

We pray for the Church throughout the world: that it may always follow God’s word and be a place of welcome and love for all, especially for those who are poor and suffering. Lord, in your mercy…

 Hear our Prayer

We pray for all those who feel sad, sick, lonely or afraid: that together we may reach out to support and comfort them, inspired by Jesus who lived among us and shares our pain. Lord, in your mercy…

Hear our Prayer

We pray for our parish, our family and friends: that we may follow Jesus and love our neighbour in all that we do. Lord, in your mercy…

Hear our Prayer

With very best wishes to you all for the New Year,

Miss Honeywell