The Catholic Life of our School

Our Y6 leaders led us in a beautiful Epiphany liturgy as we returned to school after our Christmas Break. We reflected on the meaning of 'Epiphany' and why it is a special time. We discussed symbols associated with Epiphany, such as the star and looked at how Catholics celebrate Epiphany all over the world.

We ended on this final prayer, which helped us think about what Epiphany means to us in our lives today:

Dear Jesus,

As You led the Three Kings to You by the light of a star, please draw us ever closer to You by the light of Faith.

Help us to desire You as passionately as they did.

Give us the grace to overcome all the obstacles that keep us far from You.

May we, like them, have something to give You when we appear before You.

Amen

Our Mini Vinnies enjoyed their annual visit to Victoria Care Home in Park Royal. They enjoyed singing carols to the residents, who even joined in with them. They spoke to residents also, wishing them a Merry Christmas and this brought great joy to the residents. The Mini Vinnies also gave hand made Christmas cards to each resident from every junior OLOL child. They felt content that they had made a difference to people in need during Christmas time. The Mini Vinnies were surprised to each receive a harmonica from the care home and some cakes. They plan to write to the residents in the care home, thanking them for their gifts and telling them how they really enjoyed their visit.

Year 3 planned a beautiful liturgy on the theme of 'New Life'. During the first hymn 'Peace Perfect Peace', pupils processed in with signs and symbols of new life. Father Antonio joined us for the liturgy and helped us reflect on the true meaning of The Resurrection. 

Mini Vinnie Visit to local Care Home

The Mini Vinnies recently visited Victoria Care Home in Park Royal. They delivered Christmas Cards for all the residents, made by our junior pupils and they sang Christmas Carols to the residents. They also enjoyed talking to some of the residents. Our Mini Vinnie group bought great joy to the residents, who smiled and danced along to some of the carols. The Mini Vinnies thoroughly enjoyed the visit and said that it made them so happy to know that they had brightened up some of the residents days and even their Christmas.  We are proud of how they interacted with residents and showed real commitment to helping those in need in our local community. 

 KS2 Visits to the Liberal Jewish Synagogue 

Years 3-6 visited the Liberal Jewish Synagogue in St. John's Wood during Judaism week in June. They enjoyed the workshop which was delivered by the headteacher of the school above the synagogue. During the visit they learnt about worship in Judaism and were shown many different artefacts. They showed great enthusiasm during the sessions and applied their new acquired knowledge back in school during their RE sessions through Literacy.

KS1 Judaism Workshop

OLOL Day Friday 10th February 2017

On Friday 10th February, we celebrated OLOL day to mark the feast of the patron saint of our school. The day began by the whole school going to 10am Mass at the Five Precious Wounds. Year Six children escorted the nursery children and Year Five children escorted the reception children. Sixteen junior pupils lead the mass, taking on many readings, prayers and the entrance and offertory processions. During the Mass, Father Antonio blessed our OLOL statue and special OLOL badges with our school logo on, that were later presented to all pupils and staff. Teachers completed activities linked to OLOL day in class with the pupils also. 

Classroom Worship

Daily acts of collective worship are lead by our children and have a focus linked to our current RE topic or events in the Liturgical Year. Here are examples of acts of classroom worship in Year 4 and Reception.

Here are further examples of classroom worships in year three and five with Deacon Julio during the month of November with a particular focus on remembrance.

Mini Vinnies

See-Think-Do

We are delighted to announce the introduction of 'The Mini Vinnies'. ‘Mini Vinnies’ is the name for a St Vincent de Paul Group for primary aged children. The focus in our school will be helping others in need within our school community. The elected members received their badges and a prayer card in today's celebration assembly and will hold their first meeting next week to begin thinking about how together they can support and help others in need in their school community.  

Take a look at our Mini-Vinnies in the picture below!

Watch this space for further updates on the Mini Vinnies and their plans for helping our local community. 

Christmas Visit to Victoria Care Home

Our Mini Vinnies aspire to help others in need and in their weekly meetings they are always discussing ideas of how to do this. In November, they expressed their interest in wanting to send Christmas cards to elderly people who might be lonely or need uplifting during the festive period. Over a few weeks and many discussions, this developed into the idea for every child in the school to design a Christmas card and write a personalised message inside to each and every resident in a local care home. We liaised with Victoria Care Home and they gave us a list of the resident's names. The Mini Vinnies then delivered this exciting task to their classes. Their idea however didn't stop there, as their wish was to personally deliver all the cards to the residents and sing them a few traditional Christmas Carols. 

On Tuesday December 20th, the Mini Vinnies along with Mrs Ellement were delighted to visit the care home and do just as they had planned. On entering the care home we were met by the manager who welcomed us and soon after the residents began to arrive and gather around us on tables. Their smiles at just the sight of the children, lit up the room. Some residents enjoyed talking to the children and even joined in to sing some of the traditional carols that they sung for them. The children then handed the Christmas cards to many of the residents, whom were delighted and emotional. The experience overall was heartwarming and demonstrated the Mini Vinnie's desire to really help those in need. They said that they felt happy and proud that they had really made a difference to many of the residents' day and even Christmases.  It showed the Mini Vinnie's true spirit to put their faith into action and follow in the footsteps of Christ. We are extremely proud of them!  

Year 5 Class Mass Thursday 26th January 2:15pm