Advent- Preparing for Christmas
Advent is a time of waiting for the birth of the Messiah. There are four Sundays in Advent. You’ll notice at Mass that the colours used for vestments and altar cloths during Advent are purple, with pink on the Third Sunday of Advent. The readings and the music during Advent reflect this spirit of anticipation and longing for the coming of the Lord.
During Advent in school, every class has an Advent wreath which the children learn about and this year we have been following TenTen and listening to a bible story every day. We have then been building up a Jesse tree. Every Bible story in the Jesse Tree has a symbol to go with it to help people focus as they learn about Jesus’ ancestors, while listening to the stories. Each day these symbols are hung on a tree – a Jesse Tree. The tree progressively being decorated throughout Advent mirrors the meaning behind the collection of stories told: that God was preparing the world to meet Jesus for a long, long time!
Our EYFS children made Christmas cards for the residents of the care home. The choir gave one to everyone there during their visit.
The children worked with their families at home to create crib scenes. They tried to make them environmentally friendly by using recycled materials. We think they all did a great job, Well done.
Just Youth came to school to deliver an Advent retreat. First we had an Advent assembly then each class completed lots of Advent activities. We finished the day with an Advent mass. It was a wonderful day where we learned lots about how we can get ready for Christmas and we enjoyed all the singing and dancing involved.
Some of our children have been making their own Advent calendars. They have written about things they could do to prepare for Christmas.
| Name | |
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| Christmas crib letter.pdf | Download |
November- The Month of the Holy Souls- A time to remember
Every year our year 2 and year 6 children visit the cenotaph in Middleton. They lead a short liturgy with a hymn and prayers and remember all those who lost their lives in the wars.
Our EYFS children held a remembrance service outside and a meditation session inside.
October- The month of the Rosary
The month of October is dedicated to the holy Rosary. October includes the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (October 7).
The Rosary draws its mysteries from the New Testament and is centred on the great events of the Incarnation and Redemption with each decade referring to an event in the life of Jesus and Mary. The Mysteries of the Rosary give us “thumbnails” of the life of Christ and his Mother.
• The Joyful Mysteries are taken mostly from Saint Luke’s Gospel in the New Testament. They involve the joyful events of Jesus’ childhood.
• The Luminous Mysteries bring a deeper understanding to the public life of Jesus. They fill in the blanks between the childhood of Jesus and His suffering and death on the cross.
The Sorrowful Mysteries remind us of how much Jesus loves us. They recall how He suffered and died just for us.
The Glorious Mysteries tell us what happened after Jesus died-His Resurrection, the descent of the Holy Spirit and the love Jesus had for his Mother.
October is the month of the Holy Rosary and your challenge is to pray a decade of this great prayer every weekday, at school or home. As well as this we will be sending home Rosary bags with the children for you to pray as a family.
A decade of the Holy Rosary is:
1 x Our Father
10 x Hail Mary
1 x Glory Be
During each decade you can pray with a Mystery of the Rosary. Mysteries are moments in the life of Jesus and Mary. Imagine them in your mind. There will be a short piece of scripture at the start of each decade to help you enter in.
There are four sets of five Mysteries:
he Joyful Mysteries
The Glorious Mysteries
The Luminous Mysteries
The Sorrowful Mysteries
Click the link below to find out more about the mysteries
https://www.themark10mission.co.uk/rosary-challenge
Thankyou to our chaplains who have been delivering liturgies on the Rosary throughout October.
Pentecost
This year, to celebrate Pentecost, we invited Just Youth into school for a Pentecost Retreat. The team started the day with a whole school assembly where they introduced themselves and taught us some songs.
They then worked in each class teaching the children about Pentecost through lots of different activities. We finished the day by celebrating mass together.
We loved having the team in school. It is lovely to share their enthusiasm and Joy.
Christmas
Christmas Eve marks the beginning of the Christmas season in the church, which lasts until the feast of the Baptism of the Lord in January. White or gold are the colours used for vestments and altar cloths. The readings, the music and the decorations in the church project joy and a sense of celebration.
The Nativity
Children in EYFS and Year 2 take part in a nativity that is shared with parents and parishioners. We ensure at St Peter's that the children understand the true meaning of Christmas.
In the lead up to Christmas we ask the children to design and make a crib with their families and the children also take turns taking home the Christmas crib prayer bags.
Ordinary Time
Ordinary time follows the Christmas season. It begins on the Monday after the feast of the Baptism of the Lord and ends when Lent begins. A second period of Ordinary Time follows Pentecost and continues until the beginning of Advent. The color green, a symbol of hope, is used for vestments and altar cloths during Ordinary Time. Throughout Ordinary Time, the story of Jesus’ life and ministry continues to unfold.
LENT
Lent is the time when Christians prepare for Easter. In school, Year 5 spend lots of time preparing to perform the Passion play for the school community. It is a wonderful way for us to remember what Jesus did for us on good Friday.
Stations of the Cross
During Lent, each class goes outside for Stations of the cross. Our chaplains lead the prayers and the children walk around the playground following the stations.
EASTER
Easter is the greatest celebration in the Catholic Church because it is the completion of the Holy week that ends with the resurrection of Jesus. Easter celebrates the beginning and foundation of Christianity. Jesus was raised from the dead, and it goes to show that He conquered sin and death. Children were taking part in an Easter story role play this afternoon.
The children were asked to design and make an Easter garden. There were so many gardens to look at and the standard of work was amazing. It was so lovely to see so much creativity and collaboration with the making of the gardens.
Well done everyone!
During Holy Week, each class went outside and prayed the stations of the cross. We arranged the stations around the school field and we put the twelfth station on the top of our hill to represent Calvary. Each class said prayers at each stations. Everyone was extremely respectful and reverent. The children really enjoyed the experience and asked some very deep questions.
Click on the link below to listen to Bishop John's message for us during Lent.
The link below gives you lots of resources and prayers to help you during this lockdown to get the most out of Lent.
Thank-you to some of our pupils for creating these lovely crosses of hope which is especially relevant at this current time.
Well done to all the children who took part and made an Easter garden at home. It was very difficult this year as they had to be very creative in what they used. They had to use what they had at home. They all did a great job and I liked the way some of them worked with their brothers and sisters.
I could not choose a winner so all these children will get a prize when we get back to school.
Well done to Adam, Oliver, Nevaeh, Sophie and Katie, Martha, Lexi, Harry and Alfie, Lucy, Oliver and Olive.
Easter is going to be very different for us all this year but below are some links and activities for you to look at over Holy Week. I have attached a cross of hope ppt and activity. It would be lovely if as many of you as possible could create a cross and email me photos of them which we could share on this site. Email is on the home page.
Our Year of the Word 2019 /2020
The God who speaks.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales have designated 2020 as ‘The God Who Speaks’: A Year of the Word to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Verbum Domini – Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Exhortation on ‘The Word of the Lord’, and the 1600th anniversary of death of St Jerome, who translated the Bible into Latin.
At St Peter's we have dedicated this year to be ‘Our Year of the Word’. Throughout the year we shall be seeking opportunities to celebrate, live and share God’s word with our children, our parish and our school community. We are all invited to listen afresh to the word of God, to encounter anew the presence of that word, and to proclaim it afresh in the Church and the World.
There is also a website dedicated to ‘The God Who Speaks – A Year of the Word’ which can be found using this link – http://www.cbcew.org.uk/home/events/the-god-who-speaks/
Sacred Scripture, the Bible, the word of God, the Holy Book is at the heart of everything the Church says and does. It is permeates our prayer and worship, how we understand the world, how we are called to live and how we relate to each another
World Book Day
To celebrate the Year of the Word, on world book day, we came to school as bible characters. We were very creative with our costumes and spent the day learning some bible stories.
