Today all children and staff, and some much appreciated helpers, walked up to Sacred Heart for our annual Advent Service. The children’s behaviour was outstanding with the older children holding the hands of a child in a lower year group. It is a long walk for nearly 500 people and think that you can expect some very tired children tonight!

At Church Deacon Mark and Father Kevin helped us to celebrate lots of Advent traditions, customs and stories. We also heard a snippet of Reception and Year One and Two’s Nativity performance. You are in for a treat! The choir sang beautifully as did the rest of the school.  Well done to our solo singers and to our flautists.

We also said a sad goodbye to Father Kevin as this will be the last time that we celebrate as a whole school with him. We wish him a happy move to his new parish. He will be greatly missed.

Tonight we have our Carol Service to look forward to. We will see you there.

It really feels like Christmas is just around the corner!

Best wishes,

Sarah Luter

Children at St.Peter’s were greeted by a sea of purple at school on Monday morning. The colour of preparation, penance and prayer in church. All prayer areas and displays have turned our thoughts to this new church year which begins with Advent. In whole school worship children were invited to think how they can prepare their hearts for the coming of Jesus Christ. The children love preparing gifts and decorations but are also very reflective when they consider how to prepare themselves for Jesus.

Year 5 had a busy week last week with their first whole year group Mass at Sacred Heart. A kind parishioner took the time to email me to say how lovely the Mass was and how well behaved and reflective the children were. Thank you to all those who joined the children at Sacred Heart Church and to those of you who walked with the children.

Back to Advent… our Advent service which the whole school will attend will take place at the Church next Tuesday 6th December. This is a very special day of reflection and we very much look forward to celebrating this time together. The Carol Service is also at Church this year on the evening of 6th December. Parents are invited to the Carol Service. It is for KS2 children and their parents and would love to see as many children from years 3 – 6 there. Children to arrive at 5.45 for a 6 o’clock start.

In class this week all children are thinking about how we prepare for the coming of Jesus. Reception children will be finding out how we prepare for a new baby from, a tired but delighted, new dad Mr. Austin. Year 4 are turning their attention to the Jesse Tree and how it helps us to learn about the ancestry of Jesus. They will also be visiting the Chapel at Oaklands this week to help with this learning. Year 5 will be discussing the symbolism of the Advent wreath. From the symbolism of the shape of the wreath to the colour of each candle.

The busiest but most special time of year in a Catholic school!

Enjoy your preparations at home!

Kind regards,

Sarah Luter

On Friday we had a beautiful and moving Remembrance service led by our children. Children from all year groups joined us. It was lovely to have the Reception children with us for their first whole school event.

Children from Year 5 wrote and shared monologues written as if they had been soldiers, or family members of soldiers in the war.

Year 6 children created and shared some very thoughtful and mature poems.

Staff commented how beautiful the service was, how well behaved the children were and how it moved some to tears.

Mrs. Knight and Amy from Year 6 played the Last Post and inspired other children to set up a music club. Our two minutes silence was just that. 437 children aged 4 to 11 reflecting on the loss of lives in the war. Children from each year group held candles around a central prayer area where classes contributed poppies, prayers and wreaths.

A very proud day for all the staff at St. Peter’s.

Here are the photos of the display we created with some of the work the children produced for the service.

In other news; Year 5 and 6 children have their first Mass at The Church of the Sacred Heart and St. Peter the Apostle on Tuesday 22nd November. Families and friends of the Year 5 and 6 children are warmly invited to join us at 10.45. Children will be arriving at 10.15 where they will be greeted by Father Kevin who will spend half an hour with the children preparing them for Mass and familiarising them further with the Church. This week in class children will be preparing the Mass which they would like to dedicate to their friend Maisie who is in hospital and to the people of New Zealand.

We have started to organise our Advent service which will also be held at the Church on the 6th December. We would like to invite parents to walk with us as we need lots of helpers to keep our children safe. In the evening of the same day we will have a carol service also at the Church for Key Stage 2 parents and their families and friends. Perfect timing as it is the Feast of St. Nicholas. More information to follow!

Thank you for visiting!

Sarah Luter

Hello to all our families and friends,

It has been a particularly busy week for the Reception children this week who have had their first whole year group worship with families and friends and of course Father Vitalis. They were finding out all about Simon Peter in class and then based their worship around him. Thank you to Father who helped the children and their families to pray together. Father Vitalis then enjoyed a tour around school meeting old staff and new!

Reception children also visited the chapel at Oaklands this week looking at all the religious signs and symbols that they could find. Many thanks to Mrs. Floyd the chaplain at Oaklands for helping the children to learn and pray. I know the children really enjoyed this special experience and I was told that they were in awe and silent upon entering the chapel. This is quite something for 60 4 year olds!

Home Learning

I would like to mention 3 children who have shown commitment to RE through home learning in the last couple of weeks. Sienna from year 4 came to visit me with her rather beautiful home made Rosary. Well done Sienna!

Kyle, also from year 4 came to show me his Remembrance home learning. Well done Kyle! We will be having our own remembrance service on Friday. Please ask your children all about it.

Brandon form year 6 came to see me early one morning this week with a Remembrance video he had made. I am delighted to say that it will feature in our service! Well done Brandon!

Thank you for visiting!

God bless,

Sarah Luter

We began our last week of this half term learning about Sunday’s Gospel reading. Jesus’s message was that the poor widow never gave up asking the dishonest judge to do the right thing.

Children were surprised to hear that Colonel Sanders’ secret recipe for KFC was initially rejected 1000 times and that Star Wars was at first rejected by Hollywood. Mr Cunningham explained that Jesus wants us to keep on praying to God, even when it seems that we are not getting anywhere.

God will always listen and always care for us, but His answer to our prayers may not be as quick as we would like, or give us what we think we want in life.

Last week children in Year 2 celebrated a liturgy in the school hall with families and friends coming in to join them. Deacon Mark helped the children to understand the importance of looking after God’s Creation. The children acted out the story of Noah’s Ark which helps us to understand how important God’s Creation is to us.

In class Year 6 have been looking at descriptions of Heaven in Revelations and comparing these to their own and other peoples ideas about Heaven. In Reception children have been learning all about how Jesus made friends and how we make friends today.

Following a brisk Autumnal walk Years 3 and 4 had a Mass to celebrate Our Lady at the Church this week. Deacon Mark and Father Kevin helped the children to think about the importance of Our Lady to our Catholic faith.

Have a lovely, restful half term to all our St. Peter’s friends and families!

Sarah Luter

https://cafodportsmouth.wordpress.com/2016/10/11/st-peters-catholic-primary-brightens-up-for-harvest/

Please visit to find out all about our CAFOD activities and fundraising.

Thank you again to Patrick and Isobel Flynn.

In class children are celebrating the Month of Mary and deepening their knowledge of how to pray the Rosary. Each year group is focusing on a different Mystery and thinking about how they can use the Rosary to develop their relationship with Mary and Jesus.

Many Year groups are learning about other faiths this week. Year 3 are finding out all about the Hindu story of creation. Year 2 are learning about the Jewish festival of Sukkot and what a Sukkah is used for and what it represents.

Please visit soon. We have our Harvest celebration coming up. CAFOD volunteers will be coming in to lead worship next Friday (7th October) and the day before we will be raising money for CAFOD through their Wear It Bright campaign. All children are invited to wear bright clothes that day (6th October) and make a donation of £1 or more. Each Year group will be contacting you soon to let you know what they as a year group will be doing in addition to this to raise money for CAFOD. We have money boxes that should be coming home to each family soon; perhaps children could earn a small amount of money by doing ‘jobs’ around the home or for other family members.

God bless,

Sarah Luter

Hello, welcome to our new Religious Education blog where I will let you know what we have been up to in RE lessons and in worship each week.

Last week we celebrated the beginning of the school year with Father Kevin. He joined children from years 1 -6, staff and governors for a Mass in the school hall. At the beginning of each school year we renew our commitment to St. Peter’s and promise to offer all we serve a vision of life inspired by the Gospel of Jesus. We promise to be disciples of Jesus and bring God’s love to our school and our families and friends.

The Mass was a truly wonderful start to the school year. We are always inspired by Father Kevin’s words and look forward to seeing him, and Father Vitalis, regularly throughout the year. Father Vitalis will join Year One next Tuesday (27th September) for worship. Families of Year One children will be warmly welcomed to the liturgy at 10.20 in the school hall.

We begin each school week with a whole school collective worship where we hear the Gospel reading from Sunday. We have heard two parables over the last two weeks; The Lost Sheep and The Parable of The Shrewd Manager. The Lost Sheep teaches us that sometimes we are a little like sheep who stray away from their shepherd. We sometimes stray from God but he is always ready to welcome us back into His loving arms. The Parable of The Shrewd Manager tells us that when money is used honestly and wisely, it can improve our lives and the lives of others, but it does not bring us lasting happiness. Money is unimportant and valueless to God, who measures our wealth according to our goodness and love. Back in class children reflect on the message of the Gospel in daily class worship.

During RE lessons all of the children in all year groups are learning about God’s creation. Children in Year 5 are learning to compare the bible stories about creation. Year 3 are learning about Godparents and their role in protecting God’s creation. All classes are also producing their own class prayer books to guide prayer time at lunch and at the end of the day.

I hope that you will enjoy reading our blog each week and that it is helpful in keeping you informed about the spiritual life of St. Peter’s Primary School and about the RE curriculum.

God bless,

Mrs. Luter