Compassionate Christ
This week, we looked ahead to Laetare Sunday - the 4th Sunday of Lent - also known as Mothering Sunday. At the halfway point through our Lenten observance, it is an opportunity to rejoice in our achievements so far and renew our enthusiasm for the journey towards Holy Week.
We encounter the famous parable of the Prodigal Son in this week's Gospel. It offers the model for the Catholic sacrament of Reconciliation: we sin, we examine our conscience and come to our senses, we return to our father and admit our fault, we are welcomed back home with open arms - we are forgiven. It is no accident that the children preparing for their First Holy Communion will be celebrating their First Reconciliation this coming weekend. We keep them in our prayers.
Down to business...
It was such a joy to see the Junior Business Club supported with such enthusiasm by the school community on Monday. Their after school market was well publicised and quickly gained momentum as children came streaming by to see what bargains they could bag.
With our deepest thanks to Mrs Mitchell (School Finance) and Mrs Jopson for making this wonderful opportunity happen.
Oh we do like to be beside the sea!
What an amazing day Year 2 had in Portsmouth on Wednesday! We were blessed with the weather and enjoyed spending time exploring the beach, looking for many physical features of the seaside during our scavenger hunt. We also spent time visiting Blue Reef Aquarium and learning about the many creatures that live in our oceans, their habitats and life cycles. We had a fascinating talk from one of the aquatic specialists about animals' adaptations linked to their habitats and loved learning about the sting rays in particular. As the weather was glorious, we finished the day with a special treat of ice cream - delicious!
Our Football Stars!
Last week, a team of Year 5 and 6 children went to Weyfield Academy to play in a football festival. The team consisted of children who had never represented the school before and the excitement on their faces was so humbling. During the afternoon we played Send CofE School and Weyfield Academy. However, the highlight of the afternoon was the comment, 'Wow, I can't believe I am actually playing football for the school!' summing up the whole ethos of the afternoon.
Well done to all who played!
Compassion in Action
We heard from Miss Nicholls in this week's Witness Worship. She shared with us the remarkable story of Daniel, a Polish citizen who has made it his mission to support his Ukrainian neighbours by delivering aid and reuniting families who have been affected by war.
Daniel's selfless actions are a powerful reminder of the lengths we are called to go to respond to the needs we can see in our world. If you are looking for a way to support this particular cause: Cafod are running a humanitarian appeal.
Celebrating St Joseph
As part of last week's celebration of St Joseph's feast day, each year group and staff team were gifted a bundle of wooden rods to transform into a "carpentry masterpiece".
Each team or year group had enough rods to represent one per child or adult. See how we got on with our carpentry collaborations...
Lego Forces!
This week, Year 5 visited Legoland as part of our Science Curriculum. We are currently studying Forces and took the opportunity to study this in action. We attended a workshop to learn how forces affect the building of rollercoasters and also enjoyed the rides at the park. We all had a wonderful day and learnt a lot about gravity, friction and air resistance.
Year 6 find their way...
This week in PE, Year 6 made the most of the sunshine and entered into a House orienteering competition. We put our map reading, problem solving and teamwork skills to the test as we raced around the school site looking for missing pieces in our anagram puzzle.
Compassionate 4C
St Catherine's Class led a beautiful class worship to end this week. It was utterly inspiring the number of different examples of compassion they found from the Bible. There was something of a debate about the most profound act of compassion, before it was decided that Jesus' death on the cross - opening up our way to salvation - was the number one choice.
Their confident and creative presentation made it a totally gripping assembly. Thank you so much 4C!
Witness to compassion
Sincere congratulations to this week's Witness Award winners. These children have championed our compassionate theme, showing pity to those in need this week. God bless you all:
Amelia
Toby
Denise
Ryan
Sophie
Jakob
Jackson
Oscar
Victoria
Albie
Local Opportunities...
WSVCC_Flyer-05.pdf