Hello everyone,

 

I hope that you are all well and that you had an enjoyable first few weeks back to school.

 

There are lots of exciting updates to tell you about in Religious Education at St. Peter’s Catholic Primary school! This half term, we have already enjoyed the following celebrations together and look forward to sharing Liturgical Prayer together throughout the Autumn period:

 

• Tuesday 19th September 2023: Y1-6 Whole School Mass (please see the photos below).
• Tuesday 26th September 2023: Year 1 Liturgy.
• Tuesday 10th October 2023: Y3/4 Mass at Sacred Heart church, Waterlooville.
• Tuesday 17th October 2023: Year 2 Liturgy.

 

Pupil spirituality

During our Whole School Mass on Tuesday 19th September, we celebrated the Liturgy of the Word and Eucharist together. We also had a special celebration for our new pupil chaplains (GIFT team – ‘Growing In Faith Together’), who made promises to serve our school community and to support children and staff through compassion and prayer as we continue to follow our school vision of ‘Walking hand in hand with God, to make our world a better place’. Each pupil chaplain received a Golden Cross as part of this special moment, to remind them that they are guided by the Gospel as they follow in God’s footsteps to evangelise others and support those in need, through the power of prayer.

 

 

This year, we have already seen many examples of pupil spirituality at St. Peter’s, with our KS2 pupils delivering Collective Worship in class and our Prayer Buddy scheme (KS2 pupils delivering worship in their paired KS1 class) being well underway. In particular, we have enjoyed opportunities for pupils to have a moment of calm and quiet reflection, taking time to reflect upon the messages of Sunday’s Gospel. A lovely example of this was when our Y4 Koalas went to visit Portsmouth Cathedral and saw the ‘threads of Creation’ Art exhibition, admired the Biblical tapestries from Genesis, then lit a candle of remembrance together and received a blessing from Reverend Jonathan Frost – please see the photos below…

 

      

  

 

Religious Education and home learning

 

This year, your child will have received a home learning diary. Each week, the diary shows our Gospel message and the teachings we have learnt from the Scripture – please see the photo below, for an example. There are lots of additional activities that are included on each page, which support our children to explore the Liturgical theme for the week and discuss/share at a deeper level, with their loved ones at home. Please do take time to look at the page each week and join together with the suggested prayers, for a calm moment of peaceful reflection that you can enjoy with your child. The first few pages of the diary – which pupils have looked through with their class teachers at the start of the school year – include additional opportunities for prayer, as well as further information on our school Vision, our St. Peter’s learning circle, the Liturgical Year (church calendar) and the key Sacraments. Each half term, your child will also bring home a home learning activity for Religious Education. This shall support the children to consolidate previous learning (e.g. Creation) and prepare for their next unit of work (e.g. Catholic Social Teaching)…

 

 

In our learning on Creation this term, we have been exploring the story of Creation and how we are made in God’s image and likeness. We have engaged with Scripture to understand that we are all part of God’s family, made with many gifts and talents that we can share and utilise as God’s stewards on Earth. The children have enjoyed many creative activities in their learning, through our study on our school Mission Statement and how we can apply it through our actions in our everyday lives. Across the school, many pupils were very excited to share their learning in Religious Education and bring it to the altar as part of our offertory procession during Whole School Mass on Tuesday 19th September 2023. In the next few weeks, we look forward to learning about Catholic Social Teaching and how we can ‘live out’ the values of Oscar Romero to make a positive difference in the world. These include:

 

1. Life and dignity of the human person.
2. Solidarity.
3. The Common Good.
4. Preferential option for the poor.
5. Living in peace.
6. Care for Creation.
7. Dignity of Work.

 

I hope that you all have a wonderful rest of your week, and shall leave you all with a closing prayer:

 

We believe that we are a worldwide family loved by God and so we pray together…

 

We pray for the Church throughout the world: that she may be a living example of God’s love for all people, especially those who are in need.

Lord, in your mercy…

 

We pray for all our brothers and sisters around the world: that by God’s grace we may do all that we can to build a better world, free from poverty and filled with love.

Lord, in your mercy…

 

We pray for our parish, family and friends: that we may love God with all our hearts and be inspired to love others in all that we do.

Lord, in your mercy…

 

Closing prayer: Christ Jesus, may we follow you in all that we do. Let our love for you be shown in how we care for all people, especially those who are poor.

Amen

 

With very best wishes to you all,

Miss Honeywell