RE and Liturgical Prayer at St Joseph's School

RE and Collective worship plays a central part in all we do. On this page, you will find examples of the RE and collective worship we do, the dates for past and upcoming collective worship, and information about our Section 48 inspection.

Click Here to view our Section 48 inspection - March 2023

Click Here to see a booklet with the prayers said at St Joseph's School

Please click the links in the table below to see further information about the St Joseph's RE and Collective Worship.

Please click the boxes above to find out more about RE and the Catholic Life of our school from 2020/2021 - the present time. 

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Please see below for evidence prior to Autumn 2020

2019/2020

GOSPEL REFLECTION
Holy Week – Wednesday Jesus washes the feet of His disciples and The Last Supper Matthew 26:17-30 Mark 14:12-31 Luke 22:7-39 John 13:1-17:2611:12-33 - click here

GOSPEL REFLECTION
Holy Week – Tuesday Fig tree cursed and Temple cleansed Mark 11:12-33 - click here

Stations of the Cross

Please click here to view Stations of the Cross service for you to do in your own home.

Stations of the Cross Colouring Pages

A set of coloring pages for each of the 14 Stations of the Cross. Use these along with our Stations of the Cross service or as a standalone activity.

 http://www.thecatholickid.com/stations-of-the-cross-coloring-pages/

Holy Week - 5th to 11th April 2020

Join in by completing these reflective activities throughout Holy Week. Please share your work with us by sending photographs or videos to your class teacher on DoJo.

Lent 2020

St Joseph’s Stay and Pray sessions with parents and carers

We are starting new sessions where we are warmly welcoming parents and carers to bring their child along between 8.20 and 8.45am on selected days (please see the rota below). During these sessions, children will be given a focus theme, such as love and hope. There will be calming music in the background, resources out such as candles, coloured paper and pens so that children can reflect on the subject as they wish. They might choose to write a prayer, draw a picture, create a pic collage on the ipad or look through God’s Story as a few examples.

Holocaust memorial assemblies 2020

Monday 27^th January marked the 75^th year memorial for Holocaust memorial day and this year the quote was #standtogether. The children created flames with this quote on and brought them to our Monday morning gospel assembly to add to the prayer table before taking them back to class to use as part of collective worship in the week.

On Wednesday, the children also focused on this in more detail for the whole school PSHE assembly. The children recapped on their other faiths learning on Judaism. They also learnt about key people linked to the holocaust, what happened to them and reflected on how this made them feel. Afterwards, the children listened to a song which reminded them of how powerful their voice is and how they can use it to stand up for what is right and what God wants – for us to treat each other fairly, with respect and love. We ended our assembly with prayers for those who suffered from the holocaust.

Year 4 - Holocaust

For ‘Holocaust Memorial Day’, Year 4 considered the life of Ann Frank and reflected on what life might have been like for a Jewish child at the time. They were made aware of the prejudices of the time and the injustice of this. The children were able to reflect on this after, decorating a candle and including reflective words, which were then shared together in a liturgy.

Year 5 – Holocaust Memorial Day 2020

Year 5 starting off their session by recapping the ways that we can show tolerance to different cultures and beliefs. The all agreed that learning about different faiths, and being respectful of their customs and beliefs is really important. They also pointed out that we should treat others as we want to be treated ourselves regardless of what religion they follow or the life choices they make.

Miss Vickers explained to us about why we have Holocaust Memorial Day, and she told us that this year’s theme is ‘Stand Together.’ We agreed that it is really important to commemorate the Holocaust so that we honour the innocent people whose lives were taken and also so that these horrors are never repeated again.

We learned how Jewish people were treated during Nazi Germany, and we developed our understanding of what it means to discriminate against a group of people because of their beliefs. We agreed that it is really important to use our voice if we see someone being treated unfairly and we were inspired by the Veseli family who protected two Jewish families during WWII.

Year 5 are committed to standing together against discrimination and they designed and created a memorial flame to honour those affected and the lives taken during the Holocaust.

Year 6 - Holocaust Memorial Day

In Year 6 the children reflected further from the assembly on discrimination. The pupils created flames with prayers, poems, quotes and key words on. They decided to decorate these multi-colored to represent that we are all different and we should celebrate this.

Mission Together Assembly
 
This week, for our Gospel Assembly, we welcomed Mrs Dumphy from Mission Together.
The children learned all about the charity, where the money they raise goes and how it helps people who need it.
This year, Mission Together, is helping people in South Africa.
Each child will come home this afternoon with a collection box and a Mission Together sticker.
Please help us, to help others, by filling the collection box with small change.

2019 Nursery and Reception - Our Early Years Nativity

For our Nativity the nursery and reception children performed A Wriggly Nativity. The children did an excellent job at retelling the story and sang beautifully throughout! Well done everyone!

Year 1 and Two Nativity 2019

Year 4 - Advent Liturgy 2019

For the first week of Advent, Year 4 focused on ‘Hope’ and the involvement of the prophets in the Christmas story. We explained how people had waited in hope and expectation over many years for a messiah to come, and this person would make the world a better place. They reflected on the words of Isaiah and considered what people at the time expected to happen. Afterwards, the children acted out the story of the Angel Gabriel – the prophet who told the world this messiah was coming.

Year 5 Advent Liturgy 2019

Year 5 began their liturgy by lighting the second candle of Advent (the candle of peace). The second candle is lit to remind us that peace is like a light shining in a dark place. When Jesus came he taught people the importance of being peace-makers. He said that those who make peace shall be called the children of God. The second candle is also a symbol for the Shepherds who were chosen by God to proclaim the birth of Jesus.

Year 5 had the very important task of recounting how God chose the Shepherds to bear witness to the birth of the Messiah. They also wanted to get the message across to their audience that God could have chosen well known religious figures or important people of the time, yet He chose the lowly Shepherd (the everyday man) to proclaim the birth of his Son.

Through drama, song, liturgical dancing and prayer Year 5 retold the story of one of the most stunning events found in the entire Bible.

Year 3 Advent Liturgy 2019

Year 3 began their liturgy with the following reading:

 “And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my saviour, for he has looked with favour on the lowliness of his servant. Surely, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for the Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”

We explained that we prepared for the coming of Jesus by thinking about Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the expectations placed on her by God. This reading reminded us that Mary always said yes to what God asked of her.

We then discussed the story of Mary. That God sent the angel Gabriel to Galilee with a message that she would have a baby boy and she would call him Jesus.

Following this, we lit the third advent candle and performed a liturgical dance.

Year 6 Advent Liturgy 2019

Year 6 focused on the arrival of baby Jesus. They re-told the story of when the angels came to deliver the message to the shepherds of following the star. They sang beautifully a song called 'His name shall be' which reflects on all of the wonderful things Jesus is to us in our lives, such as everlasting father, prince of peace and wonderful counsellor. The children also performed a liturgical dance at the end of their liturgy to celebrate the birth. Thank you Year 6 for this wonderful performance, you reminded us all of what we are preparing and waiting for in the weeks before Christmas. 

Year 6 Appeal for Homeless People

Our year 6 class showed their compassion by reaching out to help people who are less fortunate than themselves. They collected non-perishable food items and toiletries to give to people living in homeless hostels and refuges. They each wrote a letter home to their parents asking for donations and saying why this appeal was so important to them.

We are so pleased to say that an article has been posted on the Doncaster Free Press website regarding the children's homelessness kits.

We are so proud of the children for being involved in such a wonderful opportunity!

Christingle Service – Tuesday 17^th December 2019

Tonight, the children all gathered at church with their home-made Christingles ready to celebrate. The children told of the story behind the Christingle and explained each part’s meaning. Mr Storey led the choir in some wonderful Christmas carols. Thank you to everyone who joined us for a special service, helping us prepare and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.

St Joseph’s Advent Preparation

Each class have designed their own nativity scenes in preparation for advent starting.

Advent wreath liturgy

This morning we had a special assembly to bless our class Advent wreaths. Our chaplains read out the meaning behind the wreath and candles, led us in prayer and Mr Storey played his guitar so that we could fill the hall with our beautiful singing. What a great start to 2019 Advent!

Inter Faith Week - Diwali and Hanukkah

Nursery 

Nursery has been learning about the celebrations of Diwali and Hanukkah, we made Diva lamps from Salt dough and painted them, we also made potato Latkes.

Interfaith fortnight – Judaism 

Year 3

During our two week Judaism focus, Y3 have explored where Jewish people pray and what they wear during prayer times and special occasions. The children watched a video which explained the many significant parts of a Jewish Synagogue. They then labelled a synagogue and wrote what the different parts represented. The children then looked at what Jewish people wear, and we mainly focused on the ‘Kippah.’ A skullcap worn by Jewish people to separate humans from God. This is also worn as a sign of respect. The children designed their own Kippah’s, adding symbols which meant something to them, or which symbolised the Jewish faith.

Year 4

In Year 4 for our Judaism topic, we considered books that are important to Jewish people. The children found out about the Torah and the specific teachings and stories that give guidance to Jewish people in their lives. Together we focused on one prayer known as the ‘Shema prayer’ and they chose their favourite line from this. Afterwards, the children created and decorated Mezuzah boxes, which are found in Jewish homes, adding their line from the prayer inside of this.

Year 5

Year 5 started their work on Judaism by considering their big topic question – What happens when Jewish families gather and celebrate? We watched a video, which informed us about Shabbat, and we wrote down our first thoughts about our topic question. After this, Year 5 learned more about Passover and why it is such an important festival for Jewish people. They also learned about The Passover Meal and the symbolism behind each item on the Cedar plate. Year 5 also explored an important prayer to Jewish people called ‘The Shema.’ They worked as a class to unpick the meaning of this prayer, and they illustrated their understanding of the words. Year 5 repeatedly made links to our British Values during their work on Judaism, and they also compared the Jewish faith to their own.

Year 6

How do Jewish followers ask for forgiveness to make a new start? This was the question Year 6 were pondering throughout interfaith fortnight. In the first lesson, the children discussed whether they have ever wanted to make a fresh start, and we talked through times we might choose to do this. The Year 6 children decided that New Year is the ideal time to make a fresh start, as we are starting a fresh page of our lives. We learnt about Rosh Hashanah and how that is a ‘fresh start’ for Jewish followers. Rosh Hashanah is a celebration that happens in September, and Jewish followers can forgive and be forgiven (by others and God) in preparation for their fresh start. To celebrate our new learning about Rosh Hashanah we created celebration cards with a blessing of forgiveness inside. Some children chose to write ‘L’shanah Tovah’ on their cards which means ‘For the New Year’, and others decided to ask for forgiveness for something they feel they have done wrong.  As well as making the cards, we also created and tasted some ‘sweet treats’ that are significant within the Jewish faith. The children tasted apples dipped in honey, and Jewish honey cookies, and within the Jewish faith these represent a ‘sweet New Year’. For their second lesson, we delved further into the Jewish faith and learnt about Yom Kippur which is the celebration that comes at the end of Rosh Hashanah. Yom Kippur is the holiest day for the Jews as they ask for forgiveness for their sins. Before they ask God for forgiveness, they have a chance to put things right with others. Yom Kippur was designed to focus attention on the things which truly matter: living in God’s image, being truly forgiving and kind. To show that they are living a kind and forgiving life in God’s image, Jewish followers celebrate ‘Mitzvah Day’ which is where they spend time supporting their community. Our Year 6 class held their own ‘Mitzvah Day’ where we designed our own Mitzvah Mission. The children’s mission is to create ‘Show You Care Kits’ for homeless people by bringing in essential items that homeless people could use (toothpaste, socks and tissues.) Once we have collected all the items and produced the bags we will be sending them to a charity who distributes kits for the homeless. As well as learning about a different faith, the children have been able to support their own community in the process.

Homeless Kits

The Year 6 children are bringing in items to create their homeless kits. Thank you so much for your support with this, they are looking amazing already!

Our School Chaplains 2019/2020

This year we have selected new chaplains to represent each class and form a school chaplaincy team.

Christ the King school mass – 24.11.19

This morning it was amazing to see so many children, parents and carers join us to celebrate a special mass ‘Christ the King’ together in church. Thank you so much to our readers who spoke confidently and to our choir who sang beautifully. You all filled the church with such joy and warmth and Father was very thankful for your efforts. Thank you to all of the families who supported this to make it happen. We hope to see you next time.

Operation Christmas Child

Thank you for your generous contributions towards Operation Christmas Child.

The event was a big success and many shoe boxes were filled to be sent to children who are less fortunate.

Thank you to Pastor Eric Simpson, from the Rossington Community Baptist Church, who arranged the Operation Christmas Child Shop.

CAFOD 2019

 Thank you for your generous donations.

Harvest Festival Mass - 4th October 2019

Today we celebrated Harvest Mass with our school community. We were overwhelmed by the generosity in donations towards Doncaster Food Bank and the CAFOD charity. We know that all of the kindness shown will make such a difference to people’s lives in our community and beyond who need our help. 

New Year Mass 2019

On Friday 13^th September, St Joseph’s celebrated their new school year mass with Father Evangelist. The Year 6 children welcomed their Reception buddies and new members of staff and children were also welcomed to our school community. During the homily, the children were asked to think about their role models and why they are role models to them. Everyone took time to reflect on the new year and what they need to put in to their learning in order to get out the best outcomes. We want to thank all of the parents and carers who joined us to celebrate this special occasion.

Hinduism

Nursery 

Reception

Year 2

Year 5

Year 5 completed a unit about Hinduism. During this topic, they developed their understanding of religious customs and practices for Hindus. They learnt about the different Hindu gods and focused on how Hindu’s pray. Year 5 worked in groups and created Hindu prayer shrines.

Year 6

Year 6 had the big question ‘What happens in the Hindu life cycle?’ They looked at both good and bad Karma and what behaviors you might do throughout your life to result in this. The children then learnt about ‘Moksha’ which is when you have lived the best life you can and become one with God. This is when the cycle stops.

The children created their own life cycles to show good karma, bad karma or both. They then studied an image to write a reflection about to express what ‘hidden message’ they think this shows.

Key Stage One Chaplains

Pastor Eric came into school on Friday 7^th June to work with the year 1 and year 2 chaplains to plan an assembly which they will deliver the following week. They focused on father’s day to create their own cards based on key readings from the bible. The children were guided to think about God as our father and how he shows his love to everyone.

Key Stage Two chaplain assembly

On Tuesday 7^th May 2019, Pastor Eric came back into school to deliver an assembly which was planned on the previous week with the Key Stage Two chaplains. The assembly was focused on the bible story of when Jesus was tempted in the desert. The chaplains wanted to engage everyone involved by using drama and signs to encourage everyone to join in.

Visit From Pastor Eric - 3rd May 2019

Today (3^rd May 2019) Pastor Eric came into school to meet with the Key Stage Two Chaplain team. Together they have planned and created an assembly to re-tell the bible story of Jesus being temped. They read the bible story together and then used and built on each other’s ideas to then think of ways to share this important event in Jesus’s life with others. They have thought about using drama, props, how to include everyone and encourage them to engage throughout. We can’t wait to see the assembly on Tuesday 7^th May!

Lent 2019

During Lent this year, we had a great turnout of parents to watch the class liturgies and attend the masses, which went ahead. Pupils all practiced and performed wonderful events to help tell the story of Easter in a thought provoking way for the whole school and the community. Below are some images from the performances, which included liturgical dances, singing and acting:

Year 5 – Palm Sunday

Year 6 – Stations of the Cross

Chaplains 28th January 2019 

Mission Together 14th January 2019 

This week, Mrs Dunphy from Mission Together came to talk to us during assembly. 

We heard how Pope Francis’ says ‘Show me your hands. Are they closed and selfish or open and generous?’

 The children listened to the story of Sandra – a girl who moved from Israel to Jordan as a refugee. The children thought about how they can help children like Sandra, by donating money and praying for them.

 Each family will be given a mission together collection box and a newsletter.

Nursery & Reception Class Nativity Performance 2018

Whoops A Daisy Angel

This year our Nativity was based on the play Whoops A Daisy Angel. Over the four weeks before Christmas the children in Nursery and Reception practiced singing the songs and learnt their speaking parts. All of the children had key roles in the performance, which they thoroughly enjoyed and during both performances the children were fantastic.

Year 1 & Year 2 Nativity Performance 2018

Key Stage 1 worked together fantastically and wowed us with their performance of Donkey For Sale! The play was a lovely recreation of the nativity story, through the eyes of Alfie, the very important donkey responsible for carrying Mary to Bethlehem. With their angelic singing voices and marvellous acting skills, year 1 and 2 brought to the stage the true meaning of Christmas, which really warmed our hearts.

Year 4 Advent Liturgy

Year 4 began our school liturgical journey through Advent, considering the prophets, who told of the coming of a saviour. The children came into the hall in darkness before the first candle was lit representing Jesus being the light coming into the world. The readings of Isaiah were read before the focus was then on the Angel Gabriel – the prophet who told Mary what was to happen which she agreed to. This story was re-enacted by the children, ‘The Angel Gabriel’ hymn was sung before reflective prayers were read. The liturgy finished with the children singing ‘Prepare the Way’ again based on the words of Isaiah.

Year 6 Advent liturgy

Year 6 focused their liturgy on the birth of baby Jesus. They began their liturgy by singing ‘These Christmas Lights’ holding a candle whilst the audience was in darkness. This reminded everyone that Jesus is the light of the world.

A group of pupils then read and acted out through drama a passage of the bible, which tells us how an Angel of the Lord informed the shepherds about the good news on the birth of Jesus Christ. The Lord was then accompanied by the hosts in the town of David.

Year 6 then sang ‘His name shall be’ where they split into three groups; wonderful counsellor, might God everlasting Father, Prince of Peace for all eternity. These three names represented the many things, which Jesus is in our lives.

To end the liturgy Year 6 guided everyone into prayer by lighting the fourth candle on the Advent wreath. They wrote their own bidding prayers, which focused on us stopping to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas and hoping everyone around the world finds love and comfort during this special time. Year 6 then performed a liturgical dance to ‘Glory hallelujah’ to celebrate and praise that Christ the King will be born.

Christingle Service at Christ the King Church Tuesday 18th December 2018

Thank you so much to all of the children, parents, carers and families who joined us at Christ the King Church on Tuesday evening to celebrate the Christingle Service. The children in the choir sang beautifully and the readers spoke loud and clear. It was great to see such a brilliant turn out, despite the rain! Thank you once again for all of your continued support

Travelling Crib 2018

Each class have been given a travelling crib pack which the children will take turns in taking home. Included in each pack is an Advent Book, the Christmas story, Advent Prayer, candles and the Travelling Crib nativity set. Children can set up and play with the crib with their family and carefully pack away for the next child the following morning. There is a candle for the parents to light ready for saying the advent prayer included or the children can make up their own. There is the Christmas story book for them to read and also an Advent book which the children can use to draw and be creative with about the travelling Crib and the Christmas story. 

Our School Chaplains 2018/19

This year we have selected new chaplains to represent each class and form a school chaplaincy team. The chaplains will work together and be responsible for:

• Leading class prayers
• Creating their own prayers to say in class
• Teaching other children prayers and hymns
• Being a role model for others like Jesus was for us
• Deciding how to gather together in class to carry out collective worship
• Working alongside Mrs Kelly to create the RE focus table for whole school gospel assemblies
• Lead worship across school and in other classes

Judaism Week Monday 19th October - Friday 23rd October

In Nursery we have been making Menorah’s using collage materials. We also made potato latkes which is a special food traditionally eaten during the festival Hanukkah. The children loved listening to the story of the oil lamp in the Temple and were able to retell the story confidently.

Reception have been making Menorah's using hand prints to represent candles. They had fun in cookery making Star of Davids pretzel biscuits.

Year 1 made and tasted charoset. Apples, walnuts and honey which is eaten as part of the Passover meal.

Year 2

Year 4

Year 6

School Mass in Church - 21st October 2018

Thank you to all the children and families who joined us at Christ the King Church to celebrate mass on Sunday. A special thank you to the readers and the choir - you were all amazing.

 End of Year expectations for each class in RE - 2018/19

 Harvest Festival Mass - Friday 5th October 2018

First school mass of the year - 14th September 2018

RE displays

We change our displays across school to represent the Liturgical Calendar

Refugee Week - June 2018

Reception

The Reception Class pupils have been learning that to be a refugee means leaving your home and possibly not being able to go back. Refugees will travel away from the home they have known and hope that the kindness of strangers will mean that they can make a new home somewhere else. 

We have been looking at what a refugee would take with them in their suitcase. This is not what would be packed for a happy holiday away. A refugee would pack things they would need - such as a blanket, spare clothes and toothbrush. A refugee may also think about what things from their home are most important to them - photographs, a teddy, a treasured possession which has special meaning. A refugee will also need to take important papers which prove who they are, such as a Passport. We then drew what we would take in our suitcase - many of us felt that a teddy bear was something from our home that we would miss too much and would need to take with us.

To help us understand what it feels like to be a refugee, we watched the beginning of the film 'Paddington'. We saw Paddington Bear lose his home and his Aunt sending him away in a big boat to London. Once in London, in Paddington Railway Station, Paddington meets the Brown family. They offer to look after Paddington and ask him to stay with them in their home. We talked about how this would make us feel. Many of us would feel sad to leave our homes, but some of us said that we would feel worried about leaving our homes and making a journey to somewhere new.

Year 1

For Refugee week in Year 1 we used a PowerPoint presentation to introduce the plight of the refugees to the children and explain and discuss what a refugee is. The children were able to talk very frankly about how it must feel to leave your home for another country where you do not speak the language, leaving your home, friends, school and in most cases the rest of your family behind. We watched an animated video about a boy from Afghanistan who left home with his Grandma and parents to fly to Great Britain to escape the war which was ravaging his county. At the airport his parents were prevented from flying and had to stay behind. The children did some role play to investigate how this must have felt. It was 4 years before the boy got back in contact with his family in Afghanistan! It was wonderful to see how the children empathised with the little boy and they made some very insightful comments about his plight.

Year 2

This week in Year 2 we have explored refugees. We learnt about what refugees are and why they have the name refugee. We watched a video about what happened to refugees and the impact this had on their lives. We reflected on how they had to up and leave without any warning and the children were shocked at the thought of leaving their family and friends. We empathised with how refugees felt and the emotional journey they had. We enjoyed a drama session acting out what happened to refugees and how they were feeling. The children really enjoyed being in role and some children were emotional as they began to understand how difficult things were for the refugees. We loved our refugee learning!

Year 3

In year 3, we explored what refugees are, and why they need to go to other countries.  We thought about the changing places refugees are from, even back to when Mary and Joseph had to take Jesus to Egypt.  We read statements and then stood along a line, decided whether we strongly agreed or disagreed.  We explained our thoughts, and decided that we should welcome refugees and help them adapt to life in our country.  

We then thought about what refugees would need to start their new life, after watching a clip about a little girl who was a refugee from Zimbabwe.  We explained how we would help a refugee if they arrived in our class, and explained why for each of our choices.

Year 5

As part of our refugee work, Year 5 have been considering how it must feel to leave everything you own and go to a foreign place. We started our refugee work by thinking what 10 items we would pack if we had to leave home. Suggestions such as our pet, family photos, our phones and other electronic devices were high on the list. When Miss Vickers showed us what a Syrian refugee had packed, we were a little shocked at the contents of their bag.

Once we had completed this activity, we moved on to thinking about what being a refugee meant, and what caused someone to become a refugee. Miss Vickers read us a story called The Journey by Francesca Sanna, which is based on the experiences of two refugees the author met in Italy.

As a class, we discussed the imagery, meaning and feelings of the characters as we went through the story. Miss Vickers asked us to generate words that we thought might reflect the feelings of refugees. Some of the words we generated were: heart-broken, loss, fear, war-torn, homeless, journey, endless and worry. After we thought of these words, Miss Vickers asked us to create a piece of art-work which included one of these words. We were aiming to create the emotion of the word through illustration, colour and words.

Year 6

During Refugee week, Y6 children watched a clip called Juliane’s Story. It is the story of a young girl whose mother is taken away from her and she is then raised in an orphanage. Eventually Juliane is reunited with her mum and they become refugees in England.

This clip is and will continue to be the focus of our writing in Y6. The children are imagining they are Juliane and will be writing a recount about her journey.

CAFOD Workshops

On Monday 11th June 2018, Key Stage 2 were joined by two CAFOD volunteers who led them in workshops focused around Refugee week.

Year 3 and 4 workshop

On Monday 11^th June, the year 3 and 4 children were visited by members of CAFOD. They began by considering what the letters of CAFOD stood for, and thought about what they do as a charity. They thought about different journeys they go on, including pilgrimages, before considering some refugee children, and the problems that are faced in the countries they were born in. The children thought about how CAFOD looks after children from Syria, allowing them to draw, thinking about the experiences they have been through, before drawing nicer memories of things they had done. They then drew pictures themselves to empathise with the children in Syria, considering what they would miss themselves if they were in the same situation.

Year 5 and 6 workshop

We had to split ourselves into groups of four and five. Once in these groups, we had to assign roles: children, parents and grandparents. We soon discovered these roles would be important as we had to decide six items we would be responsible for carrying on our journey. During the workshop, we engaged in discussions as we faced difficult discussions that had to be made.

The workshop gave us a real insight into the struggles that people, who are forced to leave their homes, face.

We look forward to using the work from the workshop as we continue into Refugee week.

Year 6 Prayer journals

Year 6 have started to use prayer journals as a way of having clam and reflective time.  In this time we complete a different activities. Some activities we have completed are listening and responding to a Gospel story, completing a mandala and thinking about how experiences make us think about the Fruits of the Holy Spirit.

The prayer journals are private and personal to the children, they are only shared if they wish to share them.

The children who the work belongs to in the photos willingly volunteered for their work to be shared. 

Spring term 2018

Lent Liturgies

Throughout Holy Week, each class stopped at ten past three to have some time to reflect on the Stations of the Cross. Each class did something each day to remember the incredibly special and important time in the Church's year. It was lovely to see the prayerful time being participated in by everyone in school.

On Thursday 29th March, Year 6 took us on a thought provoking journey through the Stations of the Cross. It was a lovely re-enactment of the journey Jesus took. 

On Wednesday 21st March, Year 5 shared with us the events that occurred in the Garden of Gethsemane and Peter denying Jesus three times. It was a wonderful performance that shared the message and events powerfully.

On Wednesday 14th March, year 4 continued our journey through Lent with their Liturgy.

They did a dramatic retelling of the Last Supper.

On Wednesday 7th March, year 3 started off our Lenten liturgies in school.

They gave the school and adults who came to watch a fantastic retelling of the story of Palm Sunday. 

School Sunday Mass in Church 4th February 2018

Thank you to all the staff and children who helped celebrate school mass in church on Sunday.

Mission Together

On Monday 8th January,  we were joined by Ann from Mission Together. She led an assembly about the work Mission Together do and how we can help. We look forward to contributing to the amazing work they do.

Autumn term 2017

Advent 

On Monday 4^th December, we marked the first Sunday in Advent by wearing a purple item with our uniform.

Father Sixtus joined us to celebrate a special Advent Wreath Blessing Liturgy.

Advent liturgies

On Thursday 7th December, Year 4 led a liturgy to celebrate the first week of Advent. It was beautiful and a fantastic way to start off out class liturgies. 

Year 5 Advent Liturgy

 On Tuesday 12th December, we gathered together to celebrate our second Advent Liturgy led by Year 5. It was a beautiful liturgy full of thoughtful messages focused on the shepherds story.

Year 3 Advent Liturgy

On Monday 18th December 2017, we gathered together to celebrate the third Sunday  of Advent led by Year 3. It was a lovely  liturgy all about the joy we celebrate on the third Sunday of Advent.

Year 6 Liturgy

 On Wednesday 20th December, year 6 led us in a liturgy to celebrate the 4th week of advent, with a focus on the birth of Jesus. It was a beautiful liturgy that finished in a contagious joyful way. 

Christingle Service

 On Tuesday 19th December 2017, we gathered together as a Parish community at Christ the King Church to celebrate a Christingle Service. We were joined by the Mayor of Doncaster for this very special occasion. Children from Key Stage 2 led us in the service, with Father Sixtus leading us in the Gospel and homily. Mr Storey also oragnised for the school choir to lead us in singing the hymns. It was a beautiful service.

Advent Mass

We gathered as a community to celebrate a lovely Advent Mass. It was celebrated by Father Sixtus with Year 5 leading us in the readings and bidding prayers. It was a brilliant way to end 2017.

Operation Christmas Child

Thank you for your generous contributions towards Operation Christmas Child.

The event was a big success and many shoe boxes were filled to be sent to children who are less fortunate.

Thank you to Pastor Eric Simpson, from the Rossington Community Baptist Church, who arranged the Operation Christmas Child Shop.

Harvest Liturgy- Friday 6th October 2017

We celebrated a Harvest Liturgy, which was led by Year 5 pupils. During the Liturgy we planted seeds as part of CAFOD's campaign for Brighten up the Harvest and Growing out of Poverty. We also held a food collection so that we could donate food to Doncaster food bank. A huge thank you to Mark Snelson from Doncaster Food bank, who was able to join us and share with us the impact our donation will have. Thank you to all the parents and carers who were able to join us. 

School Sunday Mass in Church - 1st October 2017

Each half term we work with the church to hold a celebration in church. This half term, the school celebrated mass in church on Sunday, led by children from Key Stage 2. We also had the St Joseph's choir join us, and one of our pupils altar served.

CAFOD assembly

We were joined by CAFOD on Tuesday 3rd October. We had an assembly where we learnt about the work CAFOD is doing in El Salvador and their focus for Harvest this year.  We will be fundraising in school for CAFOD.

Summer Term 2017

School Sunday Mass in Church - 21st May 2017

Each half term we work with the church to hold a celebration in church. This half term, the school the school celebrated mass in church on Sunday, led by Y5. We also had the St Joseph's choir join us, and one of our pupils altar served.

Judaism week Monday 22nd May - Friday 26th May

Year 1:

We talked about Abraham and how God told him he would have as many descendants as stars in the sky and the children drew their family tree on stars. We then discussed the intolerance of the Pharaoh towards the Jews to link in with the British Values outcome and acted out how Moses lead the Jews out of Egypt. The children then drew and had annotated a scene from the story.

Year 2

Year 3:

We looked at various synagogues around the world and then discussed the various key features.  The children then watched a video about Torah scrolls and designed their own based on what is important to them.

Year 4:

During Judaism week Year 4 have been studying the Torah. We discovered a great deal and found some amazing facts. We designed an information poster all about the Torah.

Year 5:

In year 5, we looked at the Shema prayer, which is extremely important to Jewish people. This prayer reminds them of their faith and commitment to God, and how they need to live their lives. We reflected on this prayer, making some links to our own Christian beliefs, and made Mezuzah boxes which contain a line from this prayer.

Year 6:

We talked about new starts we have made and why they are important. Our RE work linked in with our British Values work as we were developing a tolerance for celebrations and an understanding of why those celebrations. We experienced apples dipped in honey, a tradition that Jewish people experience at Jewish New Year.

Spring Term 2016

Ash Wednesday Mass - Wednesday 1st March

 On Ash Wednesday, the whole school celebrated mass in school to mark the start of Lent. Thank you to the parents and church community who joined us to celebrate. Every one listened to Father as he described the importance of Lent and about where the ashes come from. After mass, we were asked to think about what Father had said about alms giving. All of the congregation received ashes on their head at the end of mass.

Class Masses

 Y3-Y6 have held class masses, led by Father Sixtus, in school. Many of the school community joined us. The children planned and led the masses - organising and writing prayers and readings.

 Autumn Term 2016

Harvest Festival Mass - 7th October 2016

 Father Sixtus joined us to celebrate Harvest Festival Mass. During mass, Doncaster Food Bank came to collect all the large pile of food which the children and their families had donated to the local food bank. The children dressed in their brightest colours and brought in a monetary donation to support 'CAFOD's Brighten Up the Harvest' collection.

Christingle Service in Church - 15th December 2016

It was wonderful to see so many of the children, parents, and local community in church to celebrate the Christingle Service.

Year 3 Mass in Church - Sunday 29th January 2017