Hello everyone,

I hope that you have been having a good weekend and a pleasant start to a fresh week…

At St. Peter’s, we have been busy recognising the Light of the World, through our learning in RE as well as through our school Liturgies and communal Celebrations of the Word (Collective Worship).

Religious Education and Catholic Social Teaching

Throughout our learning on Revelations, we have discovered that Jesus was recognised as the Light of the World through His miracles and the stories of the Luminous Mysteries. Similarly to other subject areas across the primary curriculum, our children have enjoyed linking their RE learning to our St. Peter’s Catholic Social Teaching values (CST), which are summarised within the poster below…

Our CST challenges that we have introduced to all pupils to have enabled our students to make further connections between their faith and action. The children across KS1 and KS2 have also enjoyed moments of calm and reflection during selected RE sessions, in order to consider ‘What Went Well, Even Better if’ and ‘What I wonder about next’. This has enabled our students to consider their learning within a deeper context and make connections to the other RE units as well as key moments across the Liturgical Year. Please see the example below of a ‘paired write’ Hot Task on the role of God’s messengers, followed by a Pupil Reflection Bubble opportunity and a CST challenge follow up…

Stewardship projects

As part of our learning on Catholic Social Teaching at St. Peter’s, we are incredibly proud of all of the hard work that has taken place across each year group for our ongoing school stewardship projects. In KS2, for instance, we have designed Fiddle/Fidget Blankets to support elderly patients with Dementia in local care homes as well as young children with ADHD and ASD who receive support with our Wellbeing team at the Pumpkin Room. We would like to thank all parents who attended our St. Peter’s sewing day and say a big well done to the children for demonstrating our school Vision by ‘walking hand in hand with God to make our world a better place’.

Liturgy, Worship and Prayer

Our pupils have been very busy planning, preparing and evaluating their own Collective Worships, and have particularly enjoyed delivering their own worships to a paired KS1 class as part of the Prayer Buddy Initiative at St. Peter’s. Through fulfilling their Mission and supporting one another to evangelise and spread the Word of God, our children have understood the importance of their role and ministries. We have also celebrated our school Mission Statement through enabling pupils to ‘do the best with the gifts God gave us’ by playing musical instruments in Collective Worship (Y4 violinist) as part of reflection time, Friday assembly (Y6 guitarists) and celebration assemblies (school choir leading hymns).

We would like to thank our Prayer and Liturgy Co-ordinator (Mrs J. Semple, Oaklands Chaplain) for her continued hard work in organising the following (and upcoming) Liturgies and Celebrations of the Word this term A big thank you also to our parents and carers who attended our prayer gatherings:

• Tuesday 16th January 2024: Year R Liturgy.
• Tuesday 23rd January: Year 3 and 4 Mass at St. Peter’s school.
• Tuesday 30th January: Year 1 Liturgy.
• Tuesday 6th February: Year 5 and 6 Mass at St. Peter’s school.
• Tuesday 27th February: Year 2 Liturgy.
• Thursday 28th March 2024: Whole School Easter Liturgy.

Our Lenten Journey…

Across the Spring and Summer Terms, we shall look forward to engaging with an inclusive Sacrament of Reconciliation across years 4-6 across March to July 2024, with Father James. As part of our learning and spiritual development across Lent, we shall also be taking part in a Lenten Day of Reflection at St. Peter’s on Tuesday 26th March 2024.

As we continue on our Lenten Journey this term and enter into the second week of Lent, let us now take a moment to reflect upon the ways we can Pray, Fast and Act to make a difference to the lives of others…

I would like to leave you all with a closing prayer. As we try to change our lives, we pray together:

For world leaders: may they make wise decisions for the good of all people in the world.

Lord, in your mercy…

For those who suffer from poverty: may they receive love and support, to change their lives for the better.

Lord, in your mercy…

For our parish, family and friends: may we take the time to listen to what God asks of us and change ourselves to be brighter and kinder people who always help others.

Lord, in your mercy…

God of life, help us to listen to your Son Jesus and to live our lives as He asks us, making a real change to ourselves and the lives of all we meet.

Amen.

Wishing you a fantastic week,

With very best wishes to you all,

Miss Honeywell