C - 30th Ordinary

Humility with Christ

In Celebration of the Word this week, we looked ahead to the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, where Jesus tells the parable of two men praying: a proud and boastful Pharisee who prays aloud, drawing attention to his good deeds and a humble tax collector who acknowledges his need for mercy. Jesus warns his followers, “Anyone who exalts himself will be humbled but anyone who humbles himself will be exalted!”

Children have been working hard this week to be proud of their achievements but to recognise that it is as a result of God's grace that we can reach great heights. Literally, as I am writing this reflection, Talia (Year 3) has come to see me to share an example of exceptional progress with handwriting. She explained to me, "God helped me to get better!" - Wow! - Well done Talia.

CAFOD Assembly

This week, our Infant children were inspired by a special assembly led by a CAFOD volunteer, who shared powerful stories about the importance of clean water and how CAFOD is helping communities across Africa. The children learned how access to safe water transforms lives; supporting health, education, and dignity.

Together, we are helping to bring hope and clean water to those who need it most.

Diwali Delights

This week, our Nursery has been filled with colour, joy and laughter as we celebrated Diwali - the Festival of Lights! As part of our commitment to embracing different cultures, we introduced the children to the story and traditions of Diwali. The children enjoyed making vibrant rangoli patterns using coloured rice and glitter, and crafted their own paper diyas and lanterns. These creative activities helped develop their fine motor skills while sparking conversations about light, hope and new beginnings.

We also danced to traditional Indian music, exploring rhythm and movement in a fun and engaging way. Celebrating Diwali together gave us a wonderful opportunity to learn about Indian culture, build understanding, and appreciate the beauty of diversity — all through play and creativity!

Standing Tall

Year 3 had a wonderful day and a half studying the work of Alberto Giacometti. He was a painter, drawer and sculptor and is most famous for his tall, thin figures made of bronze. Our topic started with the children drawing some of Giacometti’s figures and thinking about the shape and size of the human form. All the children had fun, striking poses as they explored making strong action shapes with their bodies. Next, using foil, the children explored how to make a foil sculpture by cutting, folding, bending and shaping. It was frustrating when the foil ripped so easily but the classes persevered. Although a 3D figure was made, it lacked any stability to stand up so a skeleton was required. After planning their own action figure sculpture, the children used pipe cleaners for the skeleton structure before wrapping the framework in the foil. Lengths of foil were required to add strength and all the children managed to successfully create a 3D figure. They wrapped the project up with a gallery show, just like real artists.

Autumn Colour

In Art this week, Year 1 have been exploring colour. We learnt which colours were primary colours and which colours, when mixed together, created secondary colours. We then explored different shades of a colour, how to make colours lighter and darker, and mixing colours to match those found in the natural world. The week has finished with a group task of creating large pictures of an autumn tree using all of the skills learnt throughout the week and a variety of painting tools including brushes, sponges and rollers to experiment with different effects. Well done, Year 1, these are fabulous finished pieces!

Ten:Ten PSHE in action

In Year 5 this week, we have been exploring the second of our PSHE themes using Ten:Ten whose mission is to nurture spiritual growth, personal development and social responsibility by sharing inspiring, creative content through a Catholic lens. Our focus was listening for God's call and during these sessions we thought about what our conscience is, how we hear it and why we should listen for God's call. We used the story of Zaccheus and delved into his change in behaviour as a result of him listening to God’s call and then moving away from his sinful ways. We took Zaccheus' story as inspiration and spent time creatively writing about what we had learnt. From diary entries written as Zaccheus, to a whole new take on his life in 21st Century Guildford - the world was our oyster and we had so much fun!

Family Worship

With special thanks to Helen Warren for coordinating our first Family Worship session this afternoon - an opportunity to share faith, fellowship and food after school as one St Joseph's family. With the children's help, we shared some of our favourite traditional hymns and modern praise & worship songs from this time of the year: All are welcome, You have called us, Strength will rise. Helen led us in prayer and scripture reflection and the children really enjoyed the chance to bring their home and school prayer lives together. Thank you to everyone who attended!

Painting with Purpose – Year 6 Explore Emotion Through Colour

This week, our Year 6 pupils embarked on a powerful artistic journey that blended technical skill with emotional expression. The focus of their art lessons was colour - how it can reflect mood, convey feelings and deepen the meaning behind a piece of work.

The children began by honing their sketching techniques, concentrating on facial features and tone. It was wonderful to see their confidence grow as they explored shading and proportion, learning how subtle changes in line and light can bring a face to life. From there, they delved into the expressive world of colour. Through discussion and experimentation, they discovered how different hues can evoke emotions - warm tones suggesting joy or energy, cooler shades hinting at calm or introspection. This understanding became the foundation for their final project: a portrait of someone they admire.

Each child chose a person who inspires them and used all the skills they had developed to create a meaningful piece. What made these artworks truly special was the way colour was used to reflect what that person meant to them. The results were deeply moving and visually stunning. It was a joy to see our pupils not only grow as artists but also express themselves with such maturity and heart. Well done, Year 6- you’ve reminded us all of the power of art to tell stories and share feelings.

Little Chef

This week, Year 2 became chefs as we have been busy making soup! The children learned to design, make and evaluate a healthy soup. There were many processes involved in this including practising how to prepare vegetables, taste testing different soups (homemade and shop bought) and then deciding what vegetables we should put in our soup. The children worked really hard peeling and chopping the vegetables, which all went into a slow cooker overnight, ready for tasting the next day!

Humble St Vincent's

Our thanks to St Vincent's Class for a confident and reverent class worship this morning, exploring the Gospel value of humility. They described some top tips for being humble: acknowledging your mistakes, accepting help and showing thanks for the graces you have received. 6V taught us about the life and work of St Vincent de Paul, who dedicated his life to the service of others without the expectation of thanks or reward - a true model of humility. Thank you 6V!

Humble Witnesses

Congratulations to this week's Witness Award winners, who have shone quielty and respectfully as models of humility this week. All of these children have helped to make our school a better place this week by recongising when they needed help, accepting it and giving God the glory for their fantastic achievements. Well done to you all!

What's on locally?

Report abuse