Celebrating the season of Advent

On the First of December the whole school celebrated the beginning of the season of Advent.  We learned about dual meaning of Advent: the countdown to Jesus’ birthday but also the anticipation of his second coming. We talked about how we need to be ready in our hearts and minds for when this day comes and therefore need to spend time this Advent strengthening our relationships with ourselves, each other and God through prayer and kindness. We took part in various activities writing prayers and poems, creating Advent wreaths and calendars. We all had a wonderful day.!

St. Andrew's Day

Thank you to the Year 6 pupils in St. Andrew's house for an insightful assembly on St Andrew. The St. Andrew's house team dressed in blue to celebrate the day. 

Remembrance Day Celebrations

11th November was a special day of Remembrance at St. Thomas Aquinas with the whole school pausing at 11am to remember those who have died whilst serving others. We also remembered all our loved ones who have returned to God in Heaven. Year 6 led us in a beautiful assembly of remembrance, leading the school in prayer and reflection. We also held a Festival of Remembrance Exhibition of children's work in the School Hall. I am sure you will agree, their work is amazing.

Food Bank

Many thanks for your kind donations for our local Food Bank! It has been so encouraging to receive so many generous gifts it really is appreciated.

Praying the Rosary at Home

Ten:Ten have made their rosary resources available to families throughout the month of October. 

https://www.tentenresources.co.uk/prayers-for-home/prayers-for-home-joyful-mysteries/

School Events 2020/21

Year 3 Class Mass

Year 3 were delighted to welcome Father George into school today to celebrate the first Mass in school after such a long time.  It was made even more special that they got to share in the Mass outside on the playground. During the Mass they prayed for all staff, pupils and the wider school community, they prayed especially for the pupils in Year 3 who will make their First Holy Communion in a few weeks’ time. The children read, responded and sang beautifully while showing reverence throughout the Mass. Thank you so much Father George for coming to celebrate this beautiful Mass with Year 3.

Alton Castle Day Retreat

The pupils Year 3 and Year 6 visited Alton Castle for a retreat to help prepare them for receiving their Sacraments.

The children participated in team building games, which emphasised the point that working together makes things easier than going it alone. Together we went through some Scripture and the Castle team members shared their own experiences of receiving the Sacraments.

Throughout the day the children were given time for meditation and reflection, helping them to see God in the world around them. A wonderful time was had by all.

Y3's visit to Our Lady of the Angels and Saint Peter in Chains

Year 3 went to church to explore religious signs and symbols, we really enjoyed our visit and asked and answered some super questions.

St. Chad’s Cathedral Easter Scavenger Hunt

During Holy Week children can join in an interactive scavenger hunt through the Cathedral Virtual Tour. The prize at the end of the hunt is an Easter colouring page. The hunt will be available from Monday 29 March.   https://www.stchadscathedral.org.uk/virtual-tour-explore-st-chads-cathedral/

Weekly Masses

 As we were unable to celebrate Mass in school we joined Father Weatherbly in his pre-recorded Masses to celebrate the following: 

Pentecost/Peace, Easter/Care, Easter 6/Love, Easter 5/Growing, Easter 4/Good Shepherd Mass, Palm Sunday Mass, Fifth week of Lent, Fourth week of Lent, Third week of Lent, Second week of Lent, Ash Wednesday to mark the beginning of the season of Lent.

Chrism Mass

This Mass will be livestreamed from St. Chad’s Cathedral at 11:30 on Wednesday 31 March. During the Mass celebrated by Archbishop Bernard, the priests of the Archdiocese will be renewing their priestly promises and the Holy Oils will be blessed. https://www.stchadscathedral.org.uk/

Stations of the Cross

Please click here to pray The Stations of the Cross throughout the season of Lent.

 Ash Wednesday

Cardinal Vincent has shared a short video message with us and in it he tells us how we can mark Ash Wednesday within our own family bubbles.

 https://rcdow.org.uk/cardinal/homilies/pastoral-letter-for-the-sixth-sunday-in-ordinary-time-2021/

St Thomas Aquinas Feast Day - 28th January 2021 

Happy Feast Day everyone! 

We all had a lovely day celebrating the Feast of St Thomas Aquinas.  Father Peter Weatherby very kindly prepared a pre-recorded Mass for us to share with all the children working at home and in school. Some of the children beautifully read the readings and bidding prayers and we all joined together in singing our school song.

We also had a delicious 'afternoon tea' style lunch to celebrate this wonderful day.

Celebrating the Feast of the Epiphany  

His Grace, Archbishop Bernard, celebrated Mass at St. Chad’s on Wednesday for the Solemnity of the Epiphany. This Mass was celebrated in 'bubbles' at school and many of our children joined in to celebrate this joyous occasion.

Celebrating Mass

Despite the fact that we can't gather for Mass in our churches, many priests and bishops are broadcasting their Masses live online.

Please click here to find a list of parishes who are offering regular weekly Masses specifically aimed at primary schools and children at home.

Praying with your children at home

Prayer is fundamental to the life of our school and the children have many opportunities to pray together frequently throughout the school day.  It is important that the children continue to pray, especially during this difficult time, and that you come together as a family to pray.

Click here to find the prayers that we learn through the year groups 

Daily Collective Worship: Prayer for home
Each day reminds us that we are all God’s children and He cares for us just like our families do.
Please click on the link below.

https://www.tentenresources.co.uk/prayers-for-home/2580492372347623974-2/

Christian Meditation

The Catholic Children’s Society in collaboration with the World Community for Christian Meditation have a YouTube channel. New meditations are posted every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for children and every Thursday for young people. https://www.bdes.org.uk/resources-for-prayer-and-learning.html

The following video was created by the team Kenelm Youth Trust based on a prayer written by Fr Tim.

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kq9ytiaGSA

RE Resources

https://www.bdes.org.uk/resources-for-prayer-and-learning.html

http://www.wednesdayword.org/home/childrens.htm

http://www.natre.org.uk/about-natre/free-resources-for-you-and-your-pupils/?

utm_source=emailmarketing&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=more_free_home_learning_resources_for_pupils_are_available_now&utm_content=2020-03-27

 https://cafod.org.uk/Education/Primary-teaching-resources/Home-learning-primary

Online liturgies

Dan and Emily from One Life Music have kindly recorded a liturgy for schools and home, this will be updated on a weekly basis. This is such a wonderful way to bring us together as a community of prayer and I am sure that we will all be strengthened by it.

School Events 2019-2020

Stations of the Cross

Praying the Stations of the Cross after school.

CAFOD Lenten Assembly

Today, we welcomed Phil Mayland into school to deliver an assembly to the whole school. We discussed how CAFOD is working with communities around the world to support people defending their rights. Our pupils were given the opportunity to see the relationship between taking action and supporting communities overseas.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Congratulations to the members of Year 3 who received the sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time on Thursday  5th March at Our Lady of the Angels & St. Peter in Chains. 

The children received the sacrament with reverence and respect.

Thank you to all members of the school and parish who prepared the children for the Sacrament.

St David's Day

The Year 6 pupils from St. David's team delivered an informative assembly to the whole school. We learnt about St David himself and the traditions related to this special day. 

Dydd Gŵyl Dewi Hapus!

Ash Wednesday

We held our Ash Wednesday Mass in school today. Father George explained the meaning of Lent to all the children before we buried the 'Alleluia' and Ashes were distributed to all staff, children and visitors. At the end of today's Mass, Father George blessed the bibles in school as part of celebrating the Year of the Word.

Stations of the Cross 

During Lent, every Thursday after school we will be meeting together as a school to visit the Stations of the Cross. 

As we walk with Jesus on his way to the cross we remember how much He loves us. He gave up His life for us so that we could be free from sin and live together in His love, now and forever.

It would be lovely if you and your family could join us each Thursday.

CAFOD Workshops

KS2 Pupils took part in an interactive session on the UN Convention of the Right of the Child led by CAFOD. The children learned about the lives of children in Lima, Peru, and they compared their daily routines to ours in the UK.
They loved using the Zappar app which brought the pictures to life!

Saint of the Month

The PALS delivered a beautiful assembly all about the life of St. Brigid. We were so lucky to have a St Brigid's cross sent to us all the way from Ireland.

 Bake Sale

Some of our Year 5 pupils.  organised a Bake sale. they raised a grand total of £177.68 which is a great achievement. Well done to all involved! The money raised will be split with half going to the Donna Louise Charity and half to school. Thank you to parents/families for supporting our Bake Sale.

Happy Feast Day!

We all had a lovely day celebrating the Feast of St Thomas Aquinas. He is the patron saint of our school.

All the children, staff and some parishioners gathered with Fr. George to celebrate Mass together. The children wrote and read their own bidding prayers and sang beautifully for the Mass.

Saint of the Month

Our PALS delivered a fantastic Saint of the month on St Agnes in January, we learnt lots about the life of this saint.

Carol Service

On Monday 16th December, our Year 6 children led the school in a re-enactment of the Nativity, through carols, scriptural readings, drama and reflections. Thank you to all of our parents and parishioners who came along to support and sing!

Fill-A Sock-Appeal

Again year, we have decided to support a local homeless charity and children and families have been busy filling socks to give to the homeless at Christmas. We have been overwhelmed by the generosity of our families and have had over 100 socks donated! Thank you so very much- we will hopefully make many less fortunate people a little more comfortable this Christmas time.

Saint of the Month

Saint Lucy was our saint of the month in December. A very well researched assembly on her life was delivered by the PALS in a whole school assembly.

St. Andrew's Day 

Latha fèill Anndrais sona dhuibh (Happy St. Andrew's Day in Sottish Gaelic)

Our Year pupils from St Andrew's team, planned and delivered a fabulous assembly to celebrate the feast of St. Andrew. All the children in St. Andrew's team marked the occasion by wearing blue clothes - the colour of their house team.

MAC Mass

On Friday 22nd November  our Year 4 children celebrated Mass at Holy Trinity along with pupils from the other schools in the MAC. The children's behaviour was excellent, as was their reading and singing. Well done to all of the children, and thank you to all, who prepared the Mass.

Saint of the Month

In November, our Saint of the Month is St. Martin de Porres whose feast day is November 3rd.. Our PALS team researched the life of this inspirational Saint and then wrote and presented an assembly to the whole school to share their learning with them.

Remembrance Day Assembly

Mrs Bekalo led a fantastic assembly about Remembrance Day and how war has affected people around the world over the decades. The children were respectful and thoughtful throughout the assembly and completed a minute's silence in honour of Remembrance.

Our Harvest Charity

THANK YOU!

We have collected 15 boxes of very beneficial items for our local food bank.

Saint of the Month

Our PALS researched the life of Saint Therese of Lisieux. They organised and presented an assembly to the whole school to share their findings about this inspirational Saint. Some of the staff learnt some new fantastic facts in the assembly too!

Prayer with Archbishop Bernard

Today, as a whole school, we gathered together to celebrate October as an Extraordinary Missionary Month. We enjoyed a special time of prayer live with Archbishop Bernard Longley and prayed the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary. The children listened and joined in with the hymns too. Well done to the children and staff who were so prayerful during this time.

The Canonisation of Blessed John Henry Newman

The children have been learning about the life of Blessed John Henry Newman, in the lead up to his canonisation in Rome, by Pope Francis, on Sunday 13th of October.  We gathered together as a whole school to celebrate this occasion, the children were interested in finding out about our first English saint since 1600 and his journey to becoming a saint.

CAFOD

On Monday, 30th September, we had a visit from Phil Mayland from CAFOD, who came to tell us all about how we can Brighten up this Harvest. We learnt about the good works of CAFOD and how our charitable actions are helping to make the world a better place. We learnt a lot about our responsibilities as children of God and are grateful to Mr Mayland for his time and commitment to such a worthy Catholic charity. We will be fund-raising over the next few weeks to help those in need around the world and in our local area.

The Year of the Word - The God Who Speaks

30th Sep'19 - 31st Dec '20

celebrating, living and sharing God's word

Launch: 30th September 2019 on the Feast of St Jerome

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.’ 

We are invited to listen afresh to the word of God as did Our Blessed Lady at the Annunication, to encounter anew the presence of that word, and to proclaim it afresh in the Church and the World.

For more information please visit: 

http://www.cbcew.org.uk/home/events/the-god-who-speaks/

Official Prayer

Living God,

you walk alongside us

and speak to us throughout the Scriptures.

Your Son, Jesus Christ,

listens to our hopes and fears

and shows us how to live for one another.

Send us the Holy Spirit

to open our hearts and minds

so that we may be your witnesses throughout the world.

Amen

Your word is our path and your truth is our light.    

This day and every day.

Our Lady of the Annunciation Pray for us

St Matthew Pray for us

St Jerome Pray for us

Foodbank

Sue from the Food bank in Stoke came into school to deliver an assembly to the children. They found out what The Food Bank does, learnt about social responsibility and how easy it is for them to make a real difference.

Saint of the Month

Our newly appointed PALS, Hana, Macy, Maria, Maya & Mischa researched the life of St. Gregory the Great. They planned, produced & delivered a fabulous assembly to the whole school about the life of this Saint. Well done girls! We look forward to finding out about other saints throughout the year.

School Events 2018-2019

Saint of the Month

For our Last Saint of the Month of this academic year we learnt about St Anne and St Joachim. The PALS once again, researched and delivered a wonderful assembly. Thank you so much for all your hard work throughout the year, you are an absolute credit to our school.

Alton Castle

Year 3 and Year 6 enjoyed a fabulous retreat at Alton Castle to celebrate making the Sacraments of Reconciliation, Eucharist and confirmation. During our visit we are able to take part in varied activities e.g. reflection, music, meditation, discussion groups, team building and prayer services.  We all had a fantastic day and thought it was an uplifting, spiritual and fun experience.

Vocations Week 

The whole school participated in Vocations week.  Many people who came in witnessed their faith through their vocation, from school Eucharistic ministers to seminarians, school governors to priests. We met people who believe that their actions as a job allow them to bear witness to their faith. We learned that that all of us, even now, have a vocation, it is not something that happens in the future, but something that is taking place right at this very minute. It was a thoroughly enjoyable time and the children had the opportunity to really evaluate their purpose in life and think about their own future.

Confirmation

Congratulations to all our Year 6 pupils who celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation on Sunday 9^th June at Our Lady of the Angels & St. Peter in Chains. Thank you to Bishop David who confirmed the pupils. Thank you to Fr. George and everyone in the school and parish community who helped prepare the children for their special day. The children were SHINING and were a credit to their families and the school We hope you enjoyed your special occasion and continue to grow in faith with the Holy Spirit guiding you along the way.

Saint of the Month

Our Saint this Month is St Oscar Romero. Our PALS team researched the life of this inspirational Saint and then wrote and delivered a fabulous assembly to Key Stage 2 to share their findings with them.

May and October Reflections

Throughout the month of May and October, all are welcome to come and join our Rosary Club, which is held every lunchtime with a reflection on one of the Mysteries of the Rosary followed by prayers dedicated to Mary, our Mother.  The children are invited to pray together for their own intentions.

Celebrating Saint George's Day

The Year 6 pupils from St. George's team led an assembly about St. George to the whole school. We learnt lots of things about him and heard the legend of St George and the dragon.

Saint of the Month

Our PALS delivered a fantastic assembly on the lives of Ss. Mary and Elizabeth. They read us stories and we watched videos on poignant parts of the lives of these two very special ladies. 

St. Patrick's Day

Our Year 6 pupils from St. Patrick's team delivered a fabulous assembly about the life of St. Patrick to the whole school. During this we learnt about Ireland and Irish traditions. 

“Lá Fhéile Pádraig sona duit!"