Dignity with Christ

In Celebration of the Word this week, we heard the parable of the wedding feast (28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A). After the king invites friends and family to attend his son’s wedding feast, he is dismayed to discover they don’t respond. Instead, he sends messengers out to gather the crowds from far and wide, “Invite everyone, good and bad alike.” We learn that all are welcome in God’s Kingdom…but we need to respond to the invitation!

Linking to the Catholic Social Teaching principle of Human Dignity, we have encouraged children this week to be mindful that we are all children of God, all known, loved and invited to respond to his invitation. Children have been challenged to use the tool of human dignity to build God's Kingdom this week by the inclusive manner in which they respond to others in our community.

A - 28th Ordinary

National Poetry Day

The English Team were pleased to see so many entries of wonderful poems last week for Poetry Day! It was truly lovely to read the entries and see the effort so many children had put into their work. Each class also enjoyed sharing a selection from the across school too.

The winners are as follows:

Rebecca B (1B)

Zaara (2H)

Oliver (3S) and Omar (4U)

Eilana Q (5J)

Talia (4U)

Eva (RV)

Well done for your wonderful poems!

Year 6 take on PGL Liddington!

What an incredible few days Year 6 had on their residential to PGL Liddington! From the moment we arrived, the children were ready for adventure and threw themselves into every challenge with enthusiasm, courage and determination.

Throughout the week, the children took part in an amazing range of activities, including Vertical Challenge, Survivor, Climbing, Giant Swing, Canoeing, Archery, Problem Solving, Crate Stacking, Orienteering, Sensory Trail, Aeroball and Archery Tag. Each activity gave the children the opportunity to challenge themselves, try something new and work together as a team.

It was fantastic to see children encouraging and supporting one another, particularly when activities pushed them outside of their comfort zones. Whether they were climbing higher than they thought they could, navigating their way through a challenge or working together to solve a problem, Year 6 showed incredible resilience, teamwork and perseverance.

Our evenings were just as exciting! The children enjoyed Campfire, Ambush and a fantastic game show, giving everyone plenty of opportunities to laugh, relax and enjoy spending time together as a year group.

The residential was also a wonderful opportunity for the children to develop their independence and confidence. Away from home, they had to look after their belongings, work together, support their friends and embrace new experiences. We are incredibly proud of how Year 6 approached the whole experience. They made the most of every opportunity, supported each other and created some very special memories along the way.

Well done, Year 6 - you were absolutely amazing! What an adventure to remember!

Beginning with Baptism

The children in Reception have enjoyed learning about baptisms this week. It was so lovely to share photos together of the children’s own baptisms and hear all about their families and God-parents. We then acted out a baptism in the classroom.

The children went on to make some lovely posters to represent the symbols of this sacrament.

Our thanks for your generous Harvest donations once again! After this morning's beautiful liturgy, these precious gifts were distributed amongst local residents and the North Guildford Food Bank.

Harvest Time

As we gather here today, a few word just to say,

Thank you for the birds that sing,

Thank you God for everything -

And thank you God for the food we bring.

Today at Harvest we focus on the latter,

(As you can probably tell from the cans of Baked Beans and grapes on shimmering plates).

We eagerly await this time of year,

As Harvest draws ever near.

A Harvest Prayer - by Evie & Mark

Marvellous Maths

In Year 3’s current maths unit of addition and subtraction, we have started to see calculations laid out in rows and columns pictorially. We have also been looking at patterns which could help us, continuing on from our work on place value - you will notice how cleverly the questions in our Power Maths books are set out to help children notice these place value patterns through question variation.

Father of Many Nations

This week in RE, Year 4 have been learning about Abraham and his trust in God. We explored how Abraham’s faith was tested and how, even when he did not know what would happen next, he chose to follow God’s will without hesitation.

We talked about what it means to trust someone and considered how Abraham’s story might inspire us in our own lives. Trust can be difficult, especially when we feel unsure or face a challenge. Abraham’s example reminds us to be brave, listen carefully and have faith.

To finish our learning, we created “Abraham’s Guide to Trusting in God.” Our guides included thoughtful advice about believing, showing courage and following the right path. We are proud of the care and reflection Year 4 put into this work. Abraham has inspired us to think about how we can show trust and faith in our own choices.

Dissolving Detectives!

Year 5 became dissolving detectives this week as we investigated how temperature affects dissolving. Using hot, warm and cold water, we tested which would dissolve sugar the fastest.

Our results showed that the hotter the water, the quicker the sugar dissolved! We discovered that particles in hot water move faster, helping to break up the sugar more quickly.

A fantastic lesson full of predictions, fair testing and brilliant scientific thinking!

Strong & Stable

In PE this half term, Year 1 have been practising our gymnastic skills with a range of travelling movements, shapes and balances. We learnt that to help us to hold a balance, we should tense the muscles in our bodies. We then used beanbags to help us to see whether our balances were stable enough, before incorporating these into a sequence.

Diving Deeper into Baptism

This week in RE, Year 2 have been learning more about Baptism. The children discovered the six steps: welcoming, holy water, chrism oil, the white garment, lighting the Baptismal candle and then saying the Our Father. It was a joy to see the children in groups, role playing different important parts of this special sacrament. The children then made a flow diagram detailing what they had learned. It was lovely to then hear that some of them had continued the role play at home!

Nursery Out & About...

There is something very special about learning and playing outdoors in the Early Years. Our outdoor environments provide children with wonderful opportunities to explore, investigate, be active and develop their independence, while learning through first-hand experiences.

This week the children have been looking closely at the growth of the pumpkins and tomatoes that we planted back in the summer. They have enjoyed observing how the plants have changed and developed, talking about what they can see and noticing the different stages of growth.

These experiences support children’s understanding of the natural world and encourage them to ask questions, make observations and develop new vocabulary. Caring for and watching our plants grow also helps children understand the importance of looking after living things.

Outdoor play offers so many benefits for our young children. As they run, climb, dig, explore and investigate, they develop their physical skills, confidence and resilience, while also having opportunities to work together, communicate and use their imagination.

It has been lovely to see the children’s curiosity and excitement as they discover how our pumpkins and tomatoes have grown. Our outdoor space really is a wonderful extension of the classroom!

Dignity with 6P

Congratulations to St Patrick's Class for a beautifully arranged worship focusing on the Catholic Social Teaching theme of Human Dignity. They shared excellent examples of how we can live out this principle in our daily lives. They also reminded us how special we are that God created each and everyone of us with a dignity that can never be taken away and we are all made in His image. A wonderful job 6P - you should be very proud.

Dignified Witnesses

Well done to this inspiring group of Witness Award winners, all of whom have been building God's Kingdom at St Joseph's this week through the use of human dignity. From adopting an inclusive attitude to play, to showing compassion and empathy in supporting the learning of others, these children understand that we are all cherished children of God!

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