Charitable Work

Year 4 – Letters of Hope

At Christmas time, our Year 4 children linked their RE learning to the theme of hope by writing heartfelt letters to patients in our local hospital. Their aim was simple — to spread kindness, comfort and hope to people who may have been feeling lonely, worried or unwell during the festive season.

One of those letters reached a gentleman called Ray, who had been very poorly in hospital. Ray explained that the child’s letter brought him comfort during a very difficult time and gave him something positive to hold onto when he needed it most.

Today, we were incredibly touched and privileged to welcome Ray into school, where he personally delivered a reply letter to the child who had written to him. Ray also spent time speaking to the Year 4 children about the impact their words had on him and how much their kindness meant during his recovery.

It was such a powerful moment for the children to see firsthand how even the smallest act of kindness can make such a big difference in someone’s life. We are so proud of our pupils for showing compassion, empathy and love through their words, and for making such a meaningful impact on another person’s life.

Well done, Year 4 — you should be very proud of yourselves. 💙

Staff Lenten Donation

This Lent staff decided that they would like to donate to those in need so we collected for DIAS who were hugely grateful to receive our donations. At St. Jude’s we like to role model to our children how to live in the footsteps of Jesus and this is a perfect example. Thank you to everyone who donated.

Y3 Mission Together

The children had a visitor from Mission together who came to school to talk about the work they do and how it links to the Catholic social teachings.

They presented her with a check of £75 which they raised for Mission together selling raffle tickets.

Mary’s Meals

We were delighted to welcome representatives from Mary’s Meals into school to present them with a cheque for £109 which we raised selling pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. We know our money will feed 6 children for a whole year and keep them in school!!

Easter Hamper winners

Well done to our winners!

Y3 Fund raising

As part of our RE topic the children had to raise money for a charity. They decided to bring in easter eggs and make hampers.

The children raised £73 for the Mission together charity.

Year 4 interview CAFOD

We were delighted to welcome Jim and Doreen from CAFOD into school this week. As part of our RE topic, the children had the opportunity to interview them and learn more about the work they do and what inspires them. We also shared a lovely Celebration of the Word together, which they joined us for 🙏

Y4 Big Lent Walk

The children walked together to help raise awareness and support people living in poverty around the world. A wonderful way to live out our faith in action during Lent. 💜

🌟 World Book Day & The Big Lenten Walk in Reception 🌟

Reception children combined World Book Day with taking part in the Big Lent Walk in a very exciting way!

We explored the story of The Gingerbread Man, retelling the tale together and joining in with the famous line, “Run, run as fast as you can, you can’t catch me, I’m the Gingerbread Man!”

Just like in the story, a Little Old Lady had baked a gingerbread man… but he ran away from our classroom! The cheeky gingerbread man dashed out onto the playground and the children had to chase after him to try and catch him. The children loved running, laughing and working together to help the Little Old Lady catch him.

Back in the classroom, the fun continued as the children made their own gingerbread people using playdough, carefully shaping and decorating them. At the end of the day, everyone enjoyed a special gingerbread treat after all their hard work!

This exciting day also helped us take part in the Big Lent Walk, where we walk to support people living in poverty around the world during Lent.

It was a wonderful way to bring together stories, creativity, exercise and helping others. The children had so much fun and showed fantastic enthusiasm throughout the day! 🏃‍♂️🍪📚

Well done Reception! 👏

Preschool went on our second CAFOD Lent Walk! 🚶‍♀️💛🪴

We had a lovely surprise on the way when we saw Mr Keen bringing some beautiful flowers to plant, getting everything ready for spring. 🌼🌷 The children enjoyed stopping to look at them and talking about how they will grow.

During our walk we looked at all of God’s wonderful world around us. We spotted lots of spring flowers beginning to blossom and enjoyed the sun shining as we walked together. ☀️ It was a lovely opportunity to talk about how the world changes in spring and to appreciate the beauty of nature.

Well done Preschool for another fantastic walk! 🌿

🌍✨ Preschool CAFOD Lent Walk ✨🌼

Today our Preschool children took part in a special CAFOD Lent walk around the school grounds. As we walked, we looked closely at God’s wonderful world and searched for signs of spring.

We spotted blooming flowers, new buds on the trees and listened to the birds singing. We talked about how spring is a sign of new life and how important it is to care for our world.

The children were thoughtful and excited to share what they noticed. We are very proud of them! 🌱💛

Big Lent Walk 🚶🏼‍♂️✝️

Year 5 and Year 6 made a start on their contribution to schools efforts for the Big Lent Walk and completed a circular walk around the local area.

Y3 Lent walk

This week Year 3 went around the local area completing their Lent walk.

Year 4 CAFOD visit

CAFOD came in to talk to us about what they do and what we can do to help. It was great to see the impact they have on the lives of people across the world.

CAFOD Workshops

CAFOD volunteers, Jim and Doreen, spent time in KS2 speaking to the children about the work of CAFOD. They focused on the Catholic Social Teaching principle of Solidarity and how ‘A Better World Needs all of Us’. The children had a fantastic morning learning about how everyone can play a small part to help our global family.

CAFOD Big Lent Walk Assembly

Doreen and Jim from CAFOD visited our school and led an assembly about The Big Lent Walk. They told us about how the money raised will go to help people in Bangladesh create floating gardens so that they can grow their food without the fear of flooding. We are now officially signed up for this years Big Lent Walk. Watch this space to find out what we get up to and how you can donate.

Shrove Tuesday

Shrove Tuesday was celebrated at St. Jude’s with our big pancake sale. All proceeds from our pancake sale will go to Mary’s Meals to support those who don’t have enough food.

CAFOD World Gifts

We know that ‘A Better World Needs All of Us’ so we were delighted to receive our certificate of thanks from CAFOD for our World Gifts Donation.

CAFOD Club interview CAFOD Volunteers

Today, CAFOD Club had the privilege of interviewing Jim and Doreen from CAFOD. They asked them questions about their work within the organisation and found out some really interesting facts about their most successful fundraising work.

Wigan and Leigh Hospice

During the Christmas period our school council sold reindeer gifts to help raise money for Wigan and Leigh Hospice. Well done to everyone who helped!

Donating to CAFOD Christmas World Gifts

Following the success of our Christmas Message Board where families donated money and wrote their Christmas message instead of sending individual cards, CAFOD Club chose World Gifts. During one of their sessions, CAFOD Club shared the reasons for choosing each of these gifts. This is what they chose to help those in our global family who are less fortunate than us.

Donation to Mary’s Meals

Mr O’Brien, a former St Jude’s governor, has again kindly audited our School Fund accounts. Mr O’Brien declined any payment or gift for his services and asked us instead to donate to his chosen charity, ‘Mary’s Meals’.

Mary’s Meals provides life-changing school meals to children living in some of the world’s poorest communities. The promise of a good meal brings hungry children into the classroom, where they can gain an education and better opportunities for the future. We have made a school donation of £57.45, which will buy three children meals for a whole school year.

Thank you Mr O’Brien and thank you Mary’s Meals for the great work you do.

Y2 deliver cards to Antcliffe spreading Christmas Joy

Y2 have been thinking about how the shepherds were the first to visit Jesus which shows us that Jesus always tended to the most needy first. So, Y2 decided to make Christmas cards for the elderly in our local community. A lovely morning was spent spreading Christmas joy as the cards were delivered

Year 4 – Letters of Hope

We delivered our letters of Hope to Wigan Hospital. We met some of the lovely staff that work there and the children who delivered the letters we’re able to personally take them to some of the wards. The children read one of the letters to the staff and even sang ‘We wish you a Merry Christmas’ along with sign language. We hope that they can bring light and Hope to the patients.

Year 4 – Letters of Hope

As it comes to the end of the Jubilee Year of Hope, children in Year 4 decided that they would like to do something special to bring hope to others. During our first week of Advent, as we remember the hope and light Jesus brings, they chose to write letters to the patients of Wigan Hospital to send a bit of light and love to them.

Carol singing at our local nursing home this Advent

Our choir had a wonderful afternoon singing carols at St. Clements and spreading joy to the elderly in our local community. A wonderful way to spread Christmas cheer to all.

Y3 Funding Raising

Year 3 raised money for CAFOD by selling cakes.

They raised an amazing £119.29

Harvest Celebration

Today we gave thanks for the Harvest. Children helped throughout the mass and we welcomed Fr. Michael to lead his first mass with us. We were also lucky enough to have a representative from Community Grocery to tell us all about how our donations will help in the local community.

Living Simply and Sustainably

Again this year the children planted vegetables in our vegetable garden and they were able to harvest them yesterday. All vegetables were sold for a donation and the proceeds will go to a charity chosen by our CAFOD Club. At St. Jude’s we strive to continue our Live Simply journey.

Year 4 – Giving to those less fortunate

As part of our Prayer and Liturgy to celebrate the new Pope, Year 4 decided that they would like to honour him by collecting toiletries for those less fortunate than themselves. We were overwhelmed by the generosity of our families. Today we delivered these donations to our local family hub. Well done Year 4.

Generosity from Chelsea and her family

When our children leave St. Jude’s we hope they are equipped to become caring and thoughtful individuals who can contribute positively to society… we can certainly say that a past pupil of last year, Chelsea, has achieved this. She visited school this week with donations, which Chelsea and her family have done since she became a pupil at St. Jude’s. These donations are given to families who are less fortunate than us. What an act of kindness from Chelsea and her family!

Bringing Hope to Alder Hey Children’s hospital

Year 5 wrote letters of hope which were hand delivered by Bobby whilst he was there to see his wonderful doctors at Alder Hey. Such inspirational letters to bring a joy to other children. Well done Year 5!

Letters of Hope delivered to Wigan hospital

Today, children from Y4 hand delivered letters of hope, which they had written, to patients at Wigan Hospital. Such an inspirational morning which really did bring hope and a smile to everyone. Well done Y4!

Good Shepherd Mass

Today we visited Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral for the Good Shepherd Mass. We were so proud of the five children who read the bidding prayers. All children represented St. Jude’s in a fantastic way. Then, to our complete surprise, Archbishop Sherrington spotted us taking a photo outside the Cathedral and decided to join us. What an experience for our children!

Easter Baskets

During Spring 2, in RE, Reception class learned about different traditions that take place during Lent. The children learned about a tradition in Poland, this is where baskets containing a sampling of Easter foods are brought to church to be blessed on Holy Saturday. The basket is traditionally lined with a white linen or lace napkin and decorated with sprigs of boxwood (bukszpan), the typical Easter evergreen. As a class we decided to make a class basket to share with the local foodbank. The children donated packets and tins of food to contribute to the Easter basket.

Year 6 Big Lent Walk

Year 6 have walked around the local area to the canal as part of our Big Lent Walk enjoying the glorious sunshine.

Y3 Easter Raffle

As part of our RE topic, Year 3 was asked to come up with an action to show how they live in God’s image. Year 3 decided to raise money for charity to show this. They discussed different ways they could raise money and decided to make their own Easter hamper and sell raffle tickets. They agreed to donate the money to the Good shepherd.

Year 3 have raised an amazing £231.

The Big Lent Walk

Reception went on their Big Lent Walk around the school grounds.

Y1 Big Lent Walk

For our Lent Walk this week, Y1 went on a Spring walk around the school grounds to observe the changes that occur when Spring arrives. We saw blue skies, new bulbs and even some birds nests. We talked to Mr Keen about the changes Spring brings and why he has covered up the vegetables and bulbs that have just been planted.

Jubilee Year of Hope launch

At St. Jude’s we have officially launched the Jubilee Year of Hope. During this Jubilee Year Pope Francis has called us all to bring hope to those most vulnerable in society. At St. Jude’s we are excited to take on this challenge and give back to our local and global community.

Year 4 NSPCC Number Day!

We have enjoyed taking part in NSPCC’s Number Day on TTRS today!

Year 1 RE craft sale

Year 1 looked at how Christmas is celebrated in Poland. We made crafts and sold them to our families. To entice parents to our stalls we re-enacted the Christmas story. We raised £28 and bought Christmas World Gifts from CAFOD to bring love, joy, hope and peace to our global family this Christmas.

Christmas Cards for the Community

As the choir were going to sing at the local retirement home, Year 6 made Christmas cards to give to the residents. The people of St Clements Court were very grateful for the kind gesture.

Spreading Christmas Cheer

🎼🎅During this festive season, our St. Jude’s School Choir have been spreading Christmas cheer throughout the community.

🎤❄The children were invited to perform at St Jude’s Social Club during their weekly ‘Wednesday Warm and Cosy’, where the choir sang a variety of songs they have been preparing for their upcoming concert in March, as well as Christmas carols. They also visited the local retirement home, St. Clements Court, and performed Christmas songs for the residents, who generously gave the children a selection box as a gift. 🎄

🔴🟡Children in Need 🟢🔵

Thank you to everyone who participated and donated to our Children in Need non-uniform day last Friday. We raised £107 which we have today sent to Children in Need. Well done everyone ☺️

🌎❤️ World Kindness Day ❤️ 🌎

In preschool today we decided to show people in our school environment how much we care about them. 🥰 We made some lovely cards and brought some delicious chocolates. Then we went around school showing random acts of kindness to others. 🥰

Harvest Thanksgiving Mass

Today Canon McNally led our Harvest Mass in thanksgiving for all that we have. We also welcomed a visitor from the Community Grocery to explain how our food donations would help those in need in our local community.