“A little while longer "..and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also.”

We come closer to the final week of Lent and as we break for Easter this week, the school remembers the Journey of Jesus on his darkest days.

We will join Jesus on his journey as we reflect upon, and put into words and images, the events of that first Holy Week. This begins with KS1 who show us the joy of that first Palm Sunday as Jesus rode into Jerusalem with the exuberant crowds following Him. The children will present their beautiful Liturgy in church this afternoon at 2.30pm.

Each remaining morning this week, our other classes will guide us upon a reflection of each day.

On Tuesday morning Year 3 will show us Jesus’ Last Supper with His Disciples.

On Wednesday morning Year 4 will show us the torment Jesus was in at The Garden of Gethsemane.

On Thursday morning Year 5 will depict the Crucifixion and death of Jesus - we will leave the hall in silence on this day.

On Friday morning Year 6 will lead us in a reflection of Holy Saturday and Jesus’ great triumph over death on Easter Sunday.

Each of the reflections begins at 9.10am in our school hall. You are very welcome to join us for these if you can.

Friday ‘Lenten Challenge Mass’

This Friday will be our final Lenten Challenge Mass. The mass is at 8.10am in our school hall.

It would be wonderful, if you haven’t been able to join us for any of our Masses during Lent, to try and come along to this final mass. Please do try and join us if you can! It would be a wonderful way to end our Lenten Journey together as a school community with parents, children, parish and wider community celebrating the Eucharist together before Holy Week.

Lent News

Friday ‘Challenge Mass’

Challenge Masses begin this week - Friday at 8.10am. We have given children the challenge to ‘do something extra’ during Lent this year. Please try and come along to mass for the next 3 Fridays - a great way to prepare ourselves for the final few weeks of Lent! We would love parents to be able to join us for these masses and a quick brew afterwards!

Mothers Day Tree Planting

On Mothering Sunday we will be getting together following 10.30am mass to ‘dedicate’ and plant a tree sapling on the school grounds. Come and join us at 11.30am for some tea/coffee, cakes (you can bring a spade/fork & your wellies too!) - you will be able to plant and dedicate a tree for Mum or someone special. Hope you can come and join us!

Lent Reflections

As we usually do, leading up to the events of Holy Week the children will be presenting their reflections on the events of the last days of Jesus before Easter.

Monday 8th April - Key Stage 1 ‘Palm Sunday’ Liturgy 2.30pm in church

Tuesday 9th April - Year 3 Last Supper reflection 9.15am - school hall

Wednesday 10th April - Year 4 Garden of Gethsemane reflection 9.15am - school hall

Thursday 11th April - Year 5 Crucifixion reflection 9.15am - school hall

Friday 12th April - Year 6 Resurrection reflection 9.15am - school hall (Challenge mass 8.10am in hall - parents can then stay for a tea/coffee before assembly)

Easter Break

A reminder that we break for Easter at 2pm on Friday 12th April. There will be no after school club on this day. We return to school after the Easter Break on Tuesday 23rd April at 8.45am

Parents: Some reasons why it’s worth having ‘that online-safety chat’

‘73% of pupils trust parents on online safety, but only 56% talk about it more than once a year’

‘2 in 5 pupils have never told anyone about the worst thing that has happened to them online’

‘But of those who did, 71% chose to tell a parent or carer’

There are constantly new sites apps, downloads, pop-ups etc which will target children (and adults) . Given the real threats which young people face online - it is more important than ever to be having regular conversations with your children about being safe and responsible and talking to you openly about their worries and concerns of items seen online.

SAFEGUARDING LINKS

BBC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-47359623

Thank you for your support

"For it is in giving that we receive..."

In our last few days before the excitement of Christmas, it is worth spending some time reflecting upon the real ‘spirit of Christmas’ - the love that Christ brought to the heart of each one of us!

There is no greater way of seeing that than through our wonderful children - in seeing a child going to help a Reception child with their coat, helping and supporting each other if someone is finding work tricky, holding a door open for someone, or (my favourites!) hearing a ‘Good Morning’, or a ‘Thank You’, or a ‘You’re welcome’. These really are the gifts that Jesus brought us - and hopefully we can spread more of these good manners and good cheer everywhere we go this Christmas!

The children have really shown their understanding of the True Meaning of Christmas in the wonderful ways they have rehearsed and presented their nativities and concerts. They have made us all so proud!

I am also humbled by the way our whole school community has pulled together to support Amy and her family, during what must be an incredibly difficult time for them. You have all shown your love and care in so many ways and I know the family are truly astounded by all the love you have shown them.

We still have our Fun Run (Santa Dash) tomorrow morning from 8.45am (proceeds going towards Amy and her family/Christie’s Hospital) so we hope as many of you as possible can come to join us on our ‘dash’ around the school field (or KS2 playground - if it’s too wet!) The children are expected to come in PE kits for the day (Trainers definitely needed!) and can wear their Christmas jumpers over the top if they want to! Our PTA and Kitchen Staff are providing a ‘bacon buttie’ & hot chocolate for the children after their run and if parents can stay - their will be hot drinks on sale in the playground!

We have also been given 3 Christmas Food Hampers by St Bede’s… if anyone knows of any families who could make use of one of these, can you please let us know at the school office. They are there ready to be collected - so please take one!

A last reminder for our mass at 8.15am on Friday 21st December. This would be a wonderful way to come together to offer our prayers for Amy and her family and we will have tea, toast and mince pies after the mass - please come and join us if you can!

We will break up at 2pm on Friday 21st - and there will be no After School Club on that day. We return to school on Tuesday 8th January at 8.45am.

I wish everyone a happy, and joyful Christmas and New Year and my many thanks again for all your support.

M Haggerty

Advent - a time of reflection and hope.

We are now well and truly in the Season of Advent and have begun our preparations to receive Jesus into our hearts…

On Friday we had a beautiful morning of reflection and contemplation, where we all spent time with Jesus, preparing ourselves for his coming as a baby at Christmas.

We will continue with our preparations with an Advent mass each Friday morning for the next 2 weeks. These masses are meant to be a ‘challenge’ for us - to really stop and spend a while with Christ. The masses will begin at 8.15am for the next 2 Friday mornings in our school hall. Then we will have refreshments, toast and mince pies to enjoy following mass.

It would be wonderful for families to come and join us for these masses - a truly wonderful way to prepare for the Lord!

Come and join us for our Advent Masses…

Friday 14th December & Friday 21st December 8.15am in school hall.

Road Safety - A HUGE Concern!

Following safety concerns raised by a number of parents, staff and governors regarding unsafe stopping of vehicles around school, local police and community officers  will be undertaking targeted visits to deter parking around our school at the beginning and the end of the school day over the next few weeks.

Our major concern is with unsafe (and illegal) stopping on the zig-zag lines and in front of entrances by drivers.

For your information, the School Keep Clear marking, where there is an upright sign in place, provides a mandatory prohibition of stopping during the times shown. You should not stop, not even to pick up or set down children or passengers.

A letter will be coming home with a leaflet which children can colour in.

We will also be holding a ‘design a banner’ competition and have asked the children to think of ideas to make their own banner to remind everyone of the dangers of stopping in these clearly marked areas. The winner of this will have their design made into a banner which will be displayed near the zig-zag lines outside school permanently.

Please have a look at this information and please work with us to ensure our children are safe at all times.

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted. ...

The past couple of weeks have seen real acts of kindness among our children and families…

Year 6 led us in a beautiful act of Remembrance on Friday 9th November and then celebrated World Kindness Day on 13th November (You can still see some of the flowers they made with their kind thoughts and actions around the school!)

Then, on Friday 16th November children and staff brought in lose change to fill up our giant Pudsey. (There are still a few spaces, so any more coins will be gratefully appreciated!) Each year at this time our children usually count up the money and help to ‘bag’ the coins to be taken to the collection points…

At the end of last week, school discovered that a family in school were really suffering due to being given the news of their young child’s life-threatening illness diagnosis. We always use money collected to support ‘Children in Need’ but, would like to ask if there would be any objections to using the money donated for Pudsey this year - to go to support one of our own children in need during a very difficult time.

Please let us know in school if you would prefer your donation to still go to the national organisation rather than to support a family from our own school community who are in great need at this time. Whatever your decision - all our children really need your prayers!

Harvest Celebration!

Our Lady’s has been celebrating Harvest! The children had a special visitor in assembly - Mr Allan; who came to tell us all about the difference our ‘spare’ food could make to local families through ‘FoodBanks’.

Everyone in school has been busy collecting and we are delighted with all the gifts of food which have been donated for this brilliant cause. Thank you to everyone who has sent food items in to school for collection.

We had a lovely assembly led beautifully by the children this morning (we even had the ‘Our Father’ read by Y5 children in Spanish!) The gifts are being gathered and will be taken by Mr Allan to one of the FoodBanks on Tuesday 16th October.

Hot Chocolate Morning!

School Council held a fabulous Hot Chocolate fundraiser on Wednesday 17th October. Well done to them

(Details and pictures on the Pupil Voice area of our website)

Everyone who supported this event raised a wonderful £149. Well done to all involved!

Hot Chocolate success!

Polite Notice - Dogs in playground.

As you will have seen on the gates of school - we ask that families DO NOT bring dogs onto the playground when collecting or bringing children to school.

Some people unfortunately are continuing to bring their dog when collecting after school. I am hoping this is because you haven’t seen our notices and do not know this is school policy. If that is the case then you are politely reminded of this and asked not to bring a dog with you onto school grounds.

Thank you