Christ, our help
In worship this week, we'll be looking ahead to the Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) and celebrating the remarkable capacity we all have to help others. In this week's Gospel story, a leper pleads with Jesus to be healed, if he's willing to help. How does Jesus reply? - "Of course I want to help."
It sounds so simple and yet there are many times in our lives when our willingness to help falls short of what Jesus demonstrates in this week's Gospel. So, we're celebrating this week the amazing power we all possess to help others and, in doing so, revealing to them God's love in action. When we act as helpful people, we make our world a better place.
Esme to the rescue!
I've been helping the birds and squirrels in this week's Gospel Worship. However, I've recently heard a story of an amazing young lady whose been helping other animals in need recently...
The week that we broke up for Christmas, Esme in Year 5 reunited a lost cat with its owner when walking back home from school. She was walking home when she noticed that a cat was following her and meowing. Recognising the cat from a missing cat poster, she flagged down a trusted adult and asked if she could use their phone to contact the number on the poster.
Her instincts were right - it was the lost cat and the owner was able to come and collect him!
What an amazingly helpful act - well done and thank you Esme!
An Invitation
From Monsignor Tony, Fr Roy & Fr Thomas -
Ash Wednesday would normally involve the celebration of Mass with the school community. However, the combination of current restrictions (plus the fact that Ash Wednesday falls during half term) means that we won't be able to share this moment together this year.
Amongst the five Ash Wednesday Masses on 17th Feb, the 10am Livestream from St Joseph’s Church will take account of children and families participating at home.
Please do join us to mark the beginning of Lent together.
Safer Internet Day 2021
Today, Tuesday 9th February, is Safer Internet Day, where we focus on the theme: 'An internet we trust: exploring reliability in the online world.'
As we know, especially at the moment, the internet can be used in so many useful ways and this days helps us to focus on understanding how we can truly utilise it in the safest way possible. The children will be looking at how to identify what can be trusted online and will be exploring how to question, challenge and change the online world.
To help us with this campaign, Mr Petrini, a parent of our St Joseph's community, has been volunteering his knowledge and expertise to deliver a session on cybersecurity awareness to our Year 6 pupils. Mr Petrini has shared the evolution of technology and how this has led to the increased need for cybersecurity, as well as exploring what this may look like for career paths for our young people in the future. A huge thank you to Mr Petrini for his time and dedication!
Keep an eye out of your child's Google Classrooms for how they have been celebrating Safer Internet Day.
Help is all around!
In this week's Witness Worship, Mrs McSeveney introduces us to the wonderful Dame Esther Rantzen DBE and how she has helped children across the UK as the founder of Childline. This witness is an incredibly important reminder of how helping one another can be life changing.
Mrs McSeveney also explores how, even through small acts in our everyday lives, we have help all around us: family, friends, peers, colleagues and, most importantly, Jesus Christ.
Thank you for introducing us to an inspiring witness, Mrs McSeveney, with an important reminder of Childline.
Chinese New Year
February 12th is Chinese New Year - the Year of the Ox - and so, this week, the Nursery have been celebrating the vibrant and visual festival!
The children have been given wonderful opportunities to be inquisitive about the lives and cultures of others:
making Chinese dragon heads,
listening and dancing to Chinese music,
learning new songs,
making Chinese lanterns,
reading stories about Chinese New Year,
enjoying tuff-trays full of open-ended resources, including celebration-specific resources and mark-making with chopsticks in the sand.
What a celebration!
Oscar's Amazing Writing!
Look at Oscar's amazing writing!
Oscar has been working tremendously hard to learn a comfortable pencil grip and form his letters with whoosh lines . With the help of his mum during the lockdown at home, he has gone above and beyond to practise his fine motor skills and letter formation.
We are extremely proud of you Oscar - well done!
021 Friday 12 February.movTime for an adventure?
Have you been stuck at home this week? - Maybe it's time for an adventure?
Let's travel around the world with The Snail and The Whale and The Miss Blandford!