Year 5/6 Mass

Tuesday 11th October

Loving One Another

Today we are thinking about the love we share with each other. The night before Jesus died, he gave all of us a new commandment. He said “love one another as I have loved you”. We can show our love for Jesus by loving one another, through our words and our actions. Today, we pray during our special mass for ourselves and our friends that we may continue to love one another and trust that the Lord loves us. As we move on from this place into a future filled with your love and peace.

Harvest Liturgy

5th October 2022

Today in our celebration, we thanked God for the harvest and for our food.  We remember all the children around the world who are hungry. We can share the fruits of our harvest to help our brothers and sisters who don’t have a lot. We can give them the hope of a better future.

Creator God,

as the last summer sun folds into the horizon,

we thank you for being our companion in this season.

Was it you we heard laughing as we splashed in cool waters?

Was it you who made the sweet smell of newly-mown grass?

Was it you twinkling smile in the night stars?

Yes! It was you!

We are grateful, God, that you took the time

to journey through summer with us.

As the night bleeds into Autumn,

we await the surprise of your next step.

Amen.

Year 1/2 RE Work

Year 5 Collective Worship

The Year 5 children have been leading Collective Worship in their classes. This week, Romeo, Olga and Finley delivered a beautiful, reflective worship which included an interactive respond where each pupil completed a drawing task.

Hail Mary, Full of Grace,

The Lord is with thee,

Blessed art thou amongst women,

And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus,

Holy Mary, Mother of God,

Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.

Amen.

CAFOD National Assembly

15th September 2022

There is enough food in the world for everyone, yet 1 in 3 people have gone hungry in the last year. We took part in the CAFOD national assembly for primary schools to find out how we could join together with schools across England and Wales in creative fundraising to support our sisters and brothers around the world who are hungry.

September Prayer Areas

Stations of the Cross

29th March 2022

As we approach the end of Lent, and prepare for the glorious celebration of Easter, we gathered together as a whole school to walk with Jesus through the Stations of the Cross. Each class presented their own station. We had some time for reflection and prayer, we thought about what Jesus’ final journey means to each of us and in the silence of our time together, spoke to God about what is in our hearts.

We prayed together:

We adore you, O Christ, and we praise you,

because by your Holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.

Lenten Fundraiser

25th March 2022

As we are now in Lent, a time of prayer, almsgiving and fasting, we have been reflecting on the needs of others and ways in which we can help. More than simply giving money, almsgiving is an act of love that incorporates both prayer and fasting and manifests itself by caring for our neighbours in need.

For this year’s Lenten Fundraiser, we organised a Bishop Ellis Family Sponsored Walk to raise money for Rainbows Hospice. Parents were invited to join children and staff in walking/running laps of our school playground and field.

Year 5 Worship

Year 5 pupils have been leading Collective Worship in other classes to demonstrate what a great child-led liturgy looks like. Great work Year 5!

Reconciliation

15th March 2022

The theme for this Lenten service was ‘Who am I like?’. In the reading, Jesus told us about two people who both went to the temple to pray – but they prayed in a very different way. Today, Jesus invites us to admit that we have committed sins and turned away from our loving Father. He also invites each one of us to show that we are sorry for our sins and to ask him to forgive us.

A Pharisee and a Tax-Collector (Luke 18: 9-14)

He then addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity—greedy, dishonest, adulterous—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.” 

Who Are You Like?

CAFOD National Assembly

11th March 2022

This Lent, we joined the CAFOD National Assembly to Walk Against Hunger. Lent is a time where people give up things and give to others. We thought about how we could reach out and give to others.

What is the best meal you have ever eaten? Food is a wonderful gift and we cannot live without it. Many children around the world, do not have access to nutritious food and often feel hungry. We know that small acts of love can make a big difference, so what can you do to help?

Walk Against Hunger – Click this link to watch the National Assembly

Ash Wednesday

2nd March 2022

Ash Wednesday is the first day of the Christian season of Lent. Lent is a time when we pray, think about how we can become better people, do kind things for other people and give up things we enjoy, as we prepare to celebrate the great feast of Easter. We ask for the strength to walk with Jesus throughout this season of Lent, even when it is not always easy. We ask Jesus to be with us on our journey as we walk towards the light of Easter.

St Thomas Aquinas Feast Day

28th January 2022

We took part in the St Thomas Aquinas Feast Day online this year. The day began with a live stream for everyone to join which included a welcome liturgy and an update about our Eco Roadmap. Our Bishop Ellis Eco Team then took part in a livestream where we talked about what we have been doing at Bishop Ellis to help look after the beautiful and sacred world God gifted us. We also all to part in a Mass at the end of the day.

We completed a task as we were watching the live streams. For a copy of the activity, please click the link below.

Feast day worksheet
STA Feast Day – To watch again, please follow this link.

Gift from Bishop Ellis

January 2022

Here is a photo of some of the Eco and Chaplaincy Team of St Thomas More being presented with some beautifully decorated pebbles from Bishop Ellis Catholic Voluntary Academy. The pebbles have been decorated with different images from nature along with messages of hope and peace. The pebbles were chosen to send as a gift as St Thomas More have a prayer space in the playground which they are hoping to improve. These pebbles will be a lovely addition.

Synod

As a school we were given the question “What is my dream for the Church and my school? How can we make this happen?”

Class teachers were asked to discuss these questions with their class and then feedback the responses to the chaplaincy lead.

 

Responses from foundation and ks1 pupils

The children (especially in the younger years) wrote/ described what the church building looked like.

  • E.g. Church is a place where you find God, a cross, the priest.
  • Church is a place where you are safe and quiet. It is also a place where you can pray.

Some of the children also felt it was a place where you learn about how to be kind, caring and love each other.

 

Responses from KS2 pupils

In KS2, the pupils were able to articulate how Church could be made more appealing for pupils of their age. Some of the pupils mentioned their love for music within a Church context. They wrote about the importance of a choir and suggested having lots of singing in Church.

Other children suggested making Churches more decorative and colourful. One pupil commented on children having the opportunity to be involved more with engaging activities whilst the Mass is being celebrated. Another pupil mentioned that they would like to be more actively involved with the celebration of Mass .

Christingle

6th December 2021

The chaplaincy team led our Christingle Service this year.

Emmanuel,

Our world waits in darkness, longing for Your light,

In the midst of this darkness, give us hope.

We long for peace where there is war.

BE WITH US

We long for families to be reunited.

BE WITH US

We long for quarrels to be settled.

BE WITH US

We long for injury and illness to heal.

BE WITH US

We long for a more fair and just world.

BE WITH US

We long for love and peace in our homes and school.

BE WITH US

fulfil the deepest longings of your people and banish the darkness in our hearts and in our world. let your word inspire the hope that our world needs to bring to life your love and peace

Amen.

How To Make A Christingle 1

CAFOD National Assembly

2nd December 2021

The CAFOD National Assembly theme for this year was ‘Light of the World’. We celebrated by watching together and taking part in the prayers and reflections.

This Advent, as we await the Light of the world, reflect on where they have seen the light of Jesus this year – particularly in the way that children have stood up for climate justice for the world’s most vulnerable communities – and how they can help to further spread that light.  

The content of this assembly:

  • Introduction and welcome
  • A film about how children and young people spoke up for the climate this year
  • A reflection based on Silent Night
  • Clips from children in schools showing how they put love into action this year
  • Prayers

World Youth Funday

19th November 2021

 

This year, Pope Francis has a crucial message for us all. He wants us to stand up and be witnesses.

 

Recently, Pope Francis sent a message to world leaders at the UN climate talks in Glasgow – known as COP26. He called on them to listen to the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor. Our global sisters and brothers do the least to cause the climate crisis, yet they are the ones most affected by it.

Throughout the year, people in schools and parishes have also raised their voices on these issues and have been calling for politicians to show the leadership we need to tackle the huge problems caused by climate change. Now that the official talks are over, we need make sure that promises are kept.

We have been gifted a beautiful world. All that God asks of us is that we care for it – it’s that simple!

So today, on this World Youth Sunday, we are taking on Pope Francis’ challenge to stand up and witness. We are pledging our voices to share this message, to stand up and to speak out for a world where everyone can flourish.

World Youth Funday booklet

World Day of the Poor

14th November 2021

Today, our class liturgies were based on World Day of the Poor. We reflected on the situations of those who are less fortunate than ourselves and prayed for them.

 

“It is my hope that the celebration of the World Day of the Poor, now in its fifth year, will grow in our local Churches and inspire a movement of evangelization that meets the poor personally wherever they may be. We cannot wait for the poor to knock on our door; we need urgently to reach them in their homes, in hospitals and nursing homes, on the streets and in the dark corners where they sometimes hide, in shelters and reception centres. It is important to understand how they feel, what they are experiencing and what their hearts desire.”

Pope Francis, Message for World Day of the Poor, 2021

Harvest Liturgy

September 2021

Here are a few pictures of our Harvest Liturgy, led by Year 1/2 pupils.