C - 15th Ordinary

Christ's Neighbours

We’ve been looking ahead to the 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time this week and the famous parable of the Good Samaritan. Jesus shares this parable in response to the question, “Who is my neighbour?” He is helping us to understand that every human person is our brother or sister - every individual is precious and loved in our Catholic community: whoever they are, whatever they believe and however they choose to live their life.

We spoke to the children in worship about our great neighbours - Rydes Hill School. We have recently shared some wonderful experiences with them: The Good Shepherd Celebration and the Music Festival. Working together to support each other, we are able to achieve even better experiences for the children of our schools. What a blessing to have great neighbours!

It's all Greek in Year 3!

Last Friday, Year 3 children and staff arrived at school looking a little different... It was Greek Day! Dressed in Greek costumes, the children took part in a Greek food tasting session, learnt how the Ancient Greeks wrote their numbers and explored the Greek alphabet. In the afternoon, everyone worked with The Rainbow Theatre Group to act out home-life, school and Olympic scenes. Children also participated in some Greek myths, including Theseus and the Minotaur and Oedipus and the Sphinx.

Here are some quotes about the day from the children.

“I learnt that my name has one different letter in Greek. There are 24 letters in the Greek alphabet.”

“I enjoyed acting out Oedipus and the Sphinx. I was the tail of the Sphinx.”

“My favourite part of the day was tasting the Greek food as I tasted a lot of foods that I have never tasted before.”

“Greek maths was interesting as we used an abacus. I learned that the abacus was like a calculator.”

“Overall I had an amazing day, ate nice food and had loads of fun.”

Spellings Stars!

Congratulations to Azaan in St David’s class for becoming the Year One Spelling Bee champion!

He went head to head with each class champion to secure his win but it was no easy feat.

Well done to our runners up who also did brilliantly well:

Austin (1D)

Mikolaj (1U)

Marek (1U)

Lubhansh (1W)

A day at the zoo...

The children have been enjoying our animal topic, and this week we have been focusing on the book Dear Zoo. They enjoyed some outdoor learning in the sun, where they had to work as a group to make an animal enclosure. The children thought carefully about the animal they had and how to best take care of them. The penguin had a deep pool of water to dive into, the children even added fish made from stones so the penguins had something to eat! It was wonderful to see their language around animals and habitats, showcasing their wonderful understanding.

Fair Share

In Year 6 we have been exploring what it means to live justly. We have discussed the difference between fairness and justice as well as the impact of social injustice around the world. We then linked this to the message from the Prophet Micha whose mission was to help people understand that they were responsible for bringing about a fairer world. We saw how CAFOD supports people in areas of the world who are working hard to achieve this. Based on his message and the work of CAFOD, we wrote a Litany reflecting upon our own lives and current world, thinking carefully about what we do to act justly, love tenderly and walk humbly.

Nursery Outing

One Wednesday the nursery children, parents and staff went to Chobham Adventure Farm for the day. We saw donkeys, rabbits, goats, guinea pigs and chickens. The children, parents and staff had great fun donutting, bouncing on the bouncy pillows and using the soft play. A great day was had by all!

Feeling Better

In PSHE, Year 2 have been reflecting on our feelings and emotions and actions linked to these. This time of year, in particular, can cause all kinds of worries and anxieties. We have spent some time talking about how to look after our health and wellbeing. We each made a mindfulness calendar full of activities to do each morning and evening to support our wellbeing and help us to regulate our emotions. We all promised to take them home, stick them on our fridges or bedroom walls and take time for ourselves every single day.

FISCH Friday!

Very recently, here at St Joseph's we have joined in partnership with the charity organistion FISCH in Tanzania. Rich Gercke, a parent within the St Joseph's community, introduced us to FISCH - Future for Iringa Street Children a couple of months ago and Rich and his wife, Lissie, are the Founders.

To begin our partnership together, we will be holding a fundraising day on Friday 15th July to raise money for school supplies for the street children of Iringa. We are invting the school community to come into school in mufti clothes that represent the colours of the Tanzanian flag: green, blue, yellow and/or black. Alongside this, we are setting the school community a challenge of a 'Stationery Sacrifice'. We are asking for pencil cases to be left at home and for only one pen or pencil to be used for the school day. That means, no coloured pencils, no smelly gel pens and not even rubbers and rulers! This should be a purposeful, reflective challenge for us all as a reminder of how precious such items are and why we are fundraising for those that do not have access to them without our help.

All donations will be raised via ParentMail and you will be invited to make your contributions next week, alongside more details from FISCH about what your generous donations will go towards.

We're very excited to have such a personal connection with this charity as a community and what the partnership could develop into in the future. Thank you for your support.

Year 5 Stewards

Year 5 have been understanding the importance of our role as stewards of God's Creation in RE. During this week's, lesson the children studied the words of St Francis and produce their own versions - making links to scripture and God's creation.

Nursery wins Gold!

Last week the nursery were lucky to have an Olympic gold medalist visit us. Liam Heath, one of the nursery children’s Dads came in with his medals to show us. He explained that he started canoeing with a local club when he was young and that he had taken part in 3 different Olympic Games; London, Rio and Tokyo. Winning bronze, silver and gold medals. The nursery children saw the different medals and asked some great questions, "Are you going to be at the next Olympics?", "Are the medals heavy?" and "Which medal did you like the best?". The children also watched some of his winning races on the computer, and saw him winning one race with his friend in the canoe with him.

Symmetry or not symmetry? - That is the question...

This week in Maths, Year 4 looked at creating images that had lines of symmetry. We painted one side of the piece of paper and then folded it in half so it printed on the other side. This didn't always come out as clearly as we hoped so we had a good debate about whether it actually had a line of symmetry or not.

Our Neighbours from St Teresa's Class

Congratulations to RT for such a beautiful worship this morning, showing us all the value of neighbourly love. St Teresa's Class explained that we are called to "Love your neighbour as yourself" and that this gives us many special opportunities everyday to put our faith into action.

Although we won't get a medal for being a good neighbour, it will help to build God's kingdom here at St Joseph's. God bless you RT!

Witness Awards

Very well done to this week's Witness Award Winners for their exceptional effort in showing the community what it means to be a great neighbour. Their excellent example is an inspiration to us all!