This afternoon we welcomed Community Grocery into our assembly to share all about the wonderful work they do in our local community. They told us all about how our food donations will help those less fortunate and how grateful they are for our support. What a wonderful way to give praise and thanks this harvest!
This morning we celebrated mass at church to give thanks to God for the harvest. We said prayers of thanks for the food we have and we prayed for those who are less fortunate than ourselves. Our choir led us in song as we sang in praise to God.
Today, our EYFS children enjoyed exploring God’s wonderful world during our nature school adventure! 🍃☀️ We loved looking closely at the beautiful autumn leaves and discovering all the different colours, shapes and sizes nature has to offer. 🍂❤️💛🧡
The children had lots of fun sorting the leaves by colour and shape, developing their observation skills, mathematical language and understanding of the natural world. 🍁🔍 We talked about the changes we could see around us and marvelled at the beauty of God’s creation. 🙏🌳
🎶 We also sang songs about the outdoors, celebrating nature through music, movement and lots of happy voices! 🎵🐦
Our outdoor learning provided wonderful opportunities to develop communication and language, mathematics, understanding the world, and expressive arts and design, all while learning through play. 🌿👐
We are so proud of our little explorers and the curiosity, wonder and joy they bring to every adventure! 🥰🍃
#EYFS #NatureSchool #GodsWonderfulWorld #OutdoorLearning #UnderstandingTheWorld #LearningThroughPlay #AutumnAdventures 🍂🌍💚
Our EYFS children have been exploring the beauty of autumn by working together to create a beautiful collage using autumn leaves! 🌿🍃
The children enjoyed looking at the different colours, shapes, sizes and textures of the leaves before choosing where to place them in our collaborative artwork. 🎨🖐️
This activity supported our EYFS learning by developing fine motor skills, creativity, communication and language, and teamwork. The children shared ideas, made choices and worked together to create something special! 🧡🤝
🌟 EYFS links: 🍂 Expressive Arts and Design – exploring materials and creating collaboratively. 🗣️ Communication and Language – talking about the leaves, describing what they noticed and sharing ideas. 🤲 Physical Development – strengthening fine motor skills through handling and arranging the leaves. 🤝 Personal, Social and Emotional Development – taking turns, sharing resources and working together.
What a lovely way to celebrate the changing seasons and enjoy the magic of autumn! 🍁🌳🧡
#EYFS #EarlyYears #AutumnActivities #LearningThroughPlay #ExpressiveArtsAndDesign #OutdoorLearning 🍂
In RE the children have been learning about the Canticles of the Creatures. They used artwork to design one of the key elements and linked it to the creation story and their rown lives.
In RE the children have been learning about the Canticles of the Creatures and used artwork to create one of the key elements. They then linked it to creation story and their own lives.
Children from the Legion of Our Lady group at St John Fisher came to visit Y6 to pray the Rosary this morning to celebrate October being the month of the Rosary. Our Y6 children were also given their own Rosary beads to keep as a gift from the St. John Fisher.
The children have been learning about the Offertory and worked in small groups to role play.
The children created their own water colour picture to represent Psalm 19 and described how it linked to God’s creations.
This afternoon we have had lots of fun learning about the symbolism of wearing white and the use of water in Baptism. We know that we are welcomed into God’s family when we are baptised.
Last weekend we invited all children to come to mass proudly wearing their school uniform to mark Education Sunday. Pupils and staff read, took part in the offertory and served on the altar. Fr. Michael talked to us about the very special job that education plays in all our lives as work together to build a bright future for everyone in St. Jude’s community.
The children have been learning about the creation story and created their own art work to represent the 7th day of the creation.
Today Mr Wilson led a Celebration of the Word as he welcomed us back for a brand new year of learning and having fun. We spent time reflecting on how we can shine our light this year and follow in the light of Jesus.
Yesterday, we all celebrated our Year 6 children’s journey at St. Jude’s with a very special Year 6 Leavers Mass. A lovely way to begin our farewells to Year 6.
As part of our RE topic, we had a visitor from the mosque who taught us about his faith.
What a special morning our buddies had! Reception attended their first mass at church accompanied by their Y6 buddy who attended their last weekday mass as a pupil of St. Jude’s.
On Friday we marked Father’s Day with a very special Celebration of the Word. CAFOD Club led the whole school in worhsip where we thanked God for all the wonderful dads, grandads and male influences in our lives.
On Tuesday, Year 6 visited Animate Youth Ministries in St Helens to take part in a transition day designed to help them prepare for their move to secondary school. 🌟
The children enjoyed a variety of fun and engaging activities throughout the day, including a music quiz, a mystery blindfolded dip, hook a duck, and a lively game of over/under. They also worked creatively to design a superhero whose special powers could help support and improve their community.
The day ended with a peaceful meditation, reminding the children that God is always with them, especially during times of change, challenge, and uncertainty.
It was a wonderful opportunity for Year 6 to reflect, have fun, and build confidence as they look ahead to the next stage of their journey. 😊🙏
Congratulations to Zenith for being chosen for our Kindness Tree! 🌳💖
Zenith showed wonderful kindness and compassion by taking the time to help a friend who was feeling lonely. Small acts of kindness can make a big difference, and Zenith’s thoughtful actions are a fantastic example of how we care for one another in our school community.
Well done, Zenith – we are very proud of you! 🌟👏
We presented our Holy Communion children with prayer cards and holy medals today to commemorate this very special sacrament. What a wonderful way to mark this special occasion!
Well done to Israh who was chosen this week to go on our kindness tree. She was nominated for helping her friend when they had fallen over.
🌸🌼🌷 Today some of our Preschool children enjoyed a lovely walk around the school grounds. 🚶♀️🚶♂️ As we explored, the children noticed the beautiful flowers growing around us and took time to admire their bright colours and wonderful shapes. 🌺🌻🌹🌼
🌍✨ The children reflected on how thankful they are for God’s amazing creation and were inspired to hold an impromptu Celebration of the Word 🙏📖 to thank God for the flowers 🌷🌸 and the wonderful world He has made. 🌞☁️🌈🦋🐝
💛 It was a very special moment filled with awe, wonder and appreciation. One child beautifully summed up our thoughts by saying, “I love God’s flowers.” 🌼💐🥰
🌿🌺 We are so proud of the children for recognising the beauty in God’s creation, taking time to pause and appreciate it, and giving thanks for the many blessings around us. 🙏✨💚🌍
This week, we have been reading the story “Sam Plants a Sunflower” 🌻📚. We have been learning about the different parts of a plant, including the roots, stem, leaves, and flower 🌱🪴.
The children have also explored the beautiful colours found in plants and flowers 🎨🌼. Using their creative skills, they painted their own wonderful sunflowers, carefully choosing colours and adding lots of detail 🖌️🌻✨.
We are so proud of their enthusiasm and creativity this week! 😊🌱💛
Recently, some of our children celebrated the special sacrament of First Holy Communion.
It was a wonderful occasion filled with faith, joy and celebration, and we are incredibly proud of the children for reaching this important milestone in their spiritual journey. Thank you to their families, parish and staff for supporting them throughout their preparation.
Congratulations to you all on such a special day — may God continue to guide and bless you always.
As part of their RE topic, Year 4 have been learning about the importance of prayer, reflection and devotion to Our Lady. To support their learning, the children helped create a beautiful shrine to Mary in our Spiritual Garden.
The shrine provides a peaceful space for prayer and quiet reflection and reminds us of Mary’s example of kindness, compassion and faith. It has been wonderful to see the children engage so thoughtfully with this special part of our school environment.
Well done, Year 4, for showing such reverence and care throughout this topic. 💙
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. 💙
During this special month of Mary, we celebrated Mary saying yes to God with a lovely Visio Divina. 💙
We were so proud of our two pupils, Kamsi and Zikora who crowned Our Lady at Mass in front of the whole parish. What a special moment to share with everyone.
What wonderful work we have seen at St Jude’s this week! Well done to all our achievers this week.
Well done Michelle for being chosen to be on our kindness tree this week. She has been helping her friends in Maths when they have been finding it challenging.
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This week, Poppy was chosen to go on our kindness treen for helping her friends when they fall over.
We’re enjoying learning ‘As I kneel before you’ and ‘Immaculate Mary’ this week. 💙
This morning, Y2 went to mass with the parish. They brought up the offertory gifts and enjoyed joining in with the prayers. After mass we spent time looking at the beautiful display church has to celebrate the Resurrection as well as looking at the paschal candle. Children enjoyed seeing all the religious artefacts they have been learning about recently.
This week, Dalara was chosen to go on our kindness tree for helping friends in the class when in need.
We were delighted to welcome our Preschool and Reception families for a special Stay and Pray session as we prepare for Easter.
Parents and Grandparents joined us for a calm and reflective collective worship, where we gathered together to think about the true meaning of Easter. The children listened beautifully as we shared the story of the Last Supper, helping them to begin to understand this important part of the Easter story.
Together, we spent time reflecting on how we can be like Jesus in our everyday lives. The children reflected on being kind, helpful and loving towards others, both at home and at school.
It was a wonderful opportunity to come together as a community, and it was lovely to see the children engaging so respectfully alongside their families. Thank you to everyone who joined us and made the session so special. 💜
This week in Reception, we have been exploring the meaning of Easter through a hands-on and creative activity—making our very own Easter Gardens.
To begin, the children watched a short video which showed them step-by-step how to create an Easter Garden. This helped them to understand the key features, such as the tomb, the cross, and the natural elements like grass, soil and stones. We discussed what each part represents and how it links to the Easter story.
Following this, we worked together as a whole class to create our own Easter Garden. The children were fully involved in shaping the soil, placing the stones, and carefully positioning the crosses. It was a lovely opportunity to work collaboratively, share ideas, and reflect on the meaning behind what we were making.
After our class creation, the children showed fantastic independence and creativity by choosing to make their own Easter Gardens during provision time. Using the leftover resources from our whole-class activity, as well as materials available in the creative area, they designed and built their own unique versions. It was wonderful to see them applying what they had learned, making choices, and expressing their understanding through play and exploration.
We are so proud of the children’s enthusiasm, creativity, and growing understanding of Easter. 🌼
Thank you to the parents who joined us for our Celebration of the Word for the Feast of the Annunciation.
Thank you to our parents who joined us this afternoon for our celebration of the Word.
Thank you to Year 1 parents who joined us for our Celebration of the Word.
We were blown away to receive the kind gifts from our children who celebrated Eid last week. At St. Jude’s we embrace all faiths and religions as we learn about the world around us.
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.
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!!
Our weekly Big Lent Walks so far! Around the school and local area.
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.
The children had a visit from Fr. Michael, they asked questions to find out about the elements of Mass, in particular the Liturgy of the Eucharist.
Year one completed their Big Lent Walk in their local area this week.
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 🙏
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. 💜
We had a fantastic school trip to Martin Mere Wetlands. 🌱 The children explored the wetlands, spotting lots of different animals and learning about the habitats they live in. We talked about the wildlife and we saw and discovered many new things about nature.
We spent time noticing and appreciating the beauty of the natural world around us. The children worked towards becoming Guardians of Nature, thinking about how we can care for our environment. To finish the day, everyone enjoyed some time in the play area! It was a lovely day full of exploration, learning and fun! 🦆 🦅 🦢 🦦
Y3, Y5 and Y6 attended mass today with the parish. Y3 have been learning about the Liturgy of the Eucharist so they brought up the offertory whilst Y5 and Y6 said the readings and bidding prayers. After mass, children were then invited to confession as part of their Lenten journey.
We enjoyed the sun shining on our face in the Spiritual Garden during prayer club this week, spending time reflecting on the Gospel Value of forgiveness.
Y4 heard that Y2 were learning about Jesus being ‘a good shepherd’ and invited us to share in their meditation all about Jesus leading his flock. Y2 enjoyed being able to spend time reflecting with Y4 and following in their example of reverence and prayerful reflection.
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! 👏
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! 🌿
All 6 chicks are now in their cage together and they are doing great. They are fluffy, happy, and busy eating and drinking. The children were very excited today when we gently lifted the lid so everyone could have a look inside.
There were lots of big smiles and excited faces watching the chicks moving around and chirping. It’s already becoming a very special experience for the children. 🐣
Next week the excitement will grow even more because the children will be able to carefully hold the chicks for the first time. We can’t wait to see their reactions! 🌟
Today, Y2 retold the parable of The Lost Sheep using the Golden Box to understand that God will always love us, even if we make the wrong choice. He will always want us to find our way back to Him.
KS1 church enjoyed a walk in the sunshine today. They got their steps in for their Big Lent Walk fundraiser and participated in weekday mass with the parish. What a beautiful way to start a Tuesday morning!
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! 🌱💛
Preschool have had a very exciting delivery today… our chick eggs have arrived! 🐣🥚💛
The children were so excited to see them and we have been talking about how to look after them carefully while we wait.💛
We will keep you all updated and let you know as soon as they start to hatch.💛
New life is on the way — how egg-citing! 💛🥚🐥
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.
This week, David was chosen to go on our kindness tree for providing support and comfort to friends who sometimes feel lonely.
The children who made their Confession as part of the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Thursday received a certificate in school to celebrate and commemorate this special moment.
Year 1 have been walking around the school grounds for the Big Lent Walk. As the children were walking, they were talking to their partners about God’s world and what they are thankful for in it.
Y2 have been learning about who the 12 apostles were. Then they looked at artwork depicting the apostles. They had lots of fun freeze framing one of the most famous paintings of them, Leonardo Da Vinci’s. ‘The Last Supper’.
We took part in a guided meditation about the Prodigal Son. We took time to focus on an image of the Prodigal Son being embraced by his father and thought about how they would have felt during their time apart, in the moments leading up to being reunited and how they felt afterwards. 💜
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.
Last night our Holy Communion children took their first big independent steps by making their Sacrament of Reconciliation at church. After their confession and prayer of thanksgiving each child lit a candle. Then they received a blessing at the Baptismal Font.
Last week, Victor was chosen to go on the kindness tree for helping younger members of our school with their Maths in After School Club. This goes to show that kindness at St Jude’s stretches beyond the normal school day 👏🏻
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.
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 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.
🥞 Pancake Day Fun in Preschool! 🥞
In preschool we have had a wonderful time celebrating Pancake Day today! We enjoyed learning all about the meaning of Pancake Day, also known as Shrove Tuesday. The children discovered that this special day comes before Lent and is traditionally a time to use up ingredients like eggs, milk and flour before the start of the season.
We talked about how families might celebrate at home, shared our favourite toppings, and of course enjoyed some delicious pancakes together! The children practised their listening skills during our discussion and did a fantastic job sharing their ideas.
It has been a fun-filled day of learning, laughter and tasty treats! 😊🥞
This week, Jorgie was chosen to go on the kindness tree for supporting friends when they feel lonely. What an excellent example of kindness!
In Year 4, we have been learning about John the Baptist’s time in prison. We discussed what it meant to be imprisoned and how this can have different meanings. Children then planned a Celebration of Word using scripture from the Gospel of Matthew 11:11.
In our RE lessons, we have been studying at the artist Jorge Cocco Santángelo. We discussed sacrocubism and children have recreated the artwork and discussed their colour choices.
Year 2 spent time reflecting on the Gospel value of love and thinking about how they can show love to others, just as God shows His love for us.
Reception have been learning all about when Jesus fed the 5000. We discussed how the little boy shared what he had with Jesus so that he could feed everyone who had come to see him. The children wanted to share food with others just like the boy in the story. We decided to invite our buddies to share sandwiches, sharing our bread, cheese and lettuce before cutting the sandwich in half to share and eat! The children also made cards for the resident of a local care home “to cheer them up” and “spread God’s love.”
In preschool the children used the peg people to retell the story in their own words, pretending they were Jesus blessing the children ✝️👶🧍♂️
They showed great understanding and imagination following on from our lesson earlier this week 🌟😊
Well done everyone 👏✨
We celebrated the Word together with a theme of kindness and showing love.
This morning we attended mass at church to mark the Feast of St. Blaise where we all had our throats blessed. Fr. Michael told us all about how St. Blaise performed a miraculous cure and is remembered as a great healer. And, as always, our children offered up the gifts.
This week each as each key stage gathered to reflect on Sunday’s Gospel, The Sermon on the Mount, we spent time thinking about how we can help Jesus’ words become a reality by helping those who need it the most. Children thought about looking out for those who may be lonely on the playground or may need comfort.
On Friday, Y6 took part in a meditation focusing on being still and putting trust in God. We listened to the scripture “Peace, be still.” (Mark 4:39). We reflected on our faith and trust in God, how we share peace with others just as Jesus did and how we live in peace with others 🧎🏻♀️➡️
This week, Hamad was chosen to go on the kindness tree for helping others when they have fallen over.
Today prayer club took place in our Spiritual Garden where we spent time under the warmth of the winter sun and reflected in sacred silence, offering up our own individual intentions. Children said that they enjoyed taking time out of their very busy lunchtime to stop, reflect and be still.
This morning, during Picture News, we thought about, ‘Respect in sports’ and how we should treat each other by following God’s rule from the Gospel of St. Matthew by treating others how you would like to be treated.
The children listened to the Parable of Sower and made a stained glass picture to represent one part of the story.
Today Y2 explored the story of the Baptism of Jesus using the Golden Box to retell the story. Then they explored artwork to find out how different artists had represented the Holy Trinity – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Sheila was chosen this week to go on our kindness tree for always being there for her friends when they are sad. Well done Sheila, you have shown great kindness!
Father Michael came in to our class this week to talk to us about the Sacrament of Healing – Anointing of the Sick as part of our RE learning. Children loved hearing some of the prayers and smelling the oil that Father brought with him. They particularly enjoyed being able to ask lots of questions.
This morning, Year 2, used the artwork they had created based on the ‘Our Father’ as a focus for their Celebration of the Word. They took time to be in silence with God and think about times when they have said sorry and asked for God’s forgiveness. Their artwork will now be shared with other classes to use as a focus point during prayer too.
Alife was chosen to go on our kindness tree last week for helping his friend when they were struggling. Well done Alfie, what a good friend you have been showing kindness!
We have been putting together our ideas to create a litany for the Anointing of the Sick. Children had some wonderful, thoughtful ideas and worked well together.
Today we took some time to celebrate Jesus, the light who guides us.
As a way to commemorate the end of the Jubilee Year of Hope, Year 6 took part in a Celebration of the word. We read scripture from Romans 15 and reflected on the promises we had made to spread hope throughout our year-long journey.
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.
Today, CAFOD Club spent time in meditation reflecting on how they can follow in Jesus’ footsteps.
Today, in Y2, we used the Golden Box to retell the story of John the Baptist preaching. Then the children created story maps to retell this story.
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
Today, to celebrate the feast of the Epiphany, we went to mass in Church. Some of our children served on the altar whilst others brought up the offertory gifts. Spending time around the crib after we reflected on how God gave us the greatest gift of all, Jesus. What a wonderful way to start the new year.
As a staff, we spent some time in quiet reflection on our first day back of the new year reflecting on the gift of Jesus at Christmas and how we, like Jesus, can shine our light on others. We were guided through a Visio Divina by our Y4 teacher, Miss Hulme, who provided us with the opportunity to stop, reflect and take hold of how we can bring hope and light to the lives of others. What an inspirational way to start the new school year.
CAFOD Club had a wonderful last session before the Christmas break reflecting on how they have prepared for Christmas by thinking about how they can continue to bring love, peace, hope and joy into the lives of others. They were then presented with a Christmas Blessing from Mrs Jackson.
Today, before we finished for our Christmas break, we lit the fourth Advent Candle. We thought about peace and then reflected on how we have spent Advent preparing for the coming of Christ. We wish everyone a happy and holy Christmas from all the staff and children at St. Jude’s.
Parents were invited into class to take part in our Celebration of the word on Advent.
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.
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.
Nursery, Reception and Year 6 all joined together for a very special Celebration of the Word. Father Michael came in bless our cribs. Each Reception child had made a manger and during Advent we have been adding hay to get it ready for Jesus’ birth. After the blessing, Receptions Year 6 buddies gave them a baby Jesus to put into their mangers they had made.
We lit the third Advent candle during our Celebration of the Word and reflected upon how we can spread joy to others this Advent. We all sang ‘Joy to the World’ remembering how Jesus was sent to bring joy.
Mr Wilson lit the second Advent Candle as we reflected on how we can spread love to others throughout Advent and recognise how others show love to us.
Thank you to all our preschool families for joining us on our journey through Bethlehem yesterday.
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.
The whole school went to Mass today. Father Michael told us the story of Saint Nicholas.
Thank you to all parents who came to join us for our Advent Celebration of the Word. Each class reflected on the preparation during Advent leading up to Christmas and prayed through song, reflection and traditional prayer. The children, as always, were wonderful.
Years 4, 5 and 6 had the amazing opportunity to attend an art workshop at The Edge today. We talked about Jesus and designed crowns inspired by Him being the Light of the World. 👑 💫
This week we gathered in a Celebration of the Word to light the first advent candle representing hope. We spent time reflecting on how hope requires us to be patient and faithful and how we can bring hope to others this Advent.
Year 1 have been learning about the story of the Birth of Jesus and the Visit of the Shepherds. They retold the stories through role play.
We celebrated the Jubilee Year by holding a very special Celebration of the Word which was led by our CAFOD Club. We reflected on the journey which St. Jude’s has taken this Jubilee Year and how we can carry these actions forward to continue to bring hope to others. CAFOD Club shared their Jubilee journal to inspire others to create their own. We can’t wait to see what they come up with.
In Y2 we are learning about how people from other communities prepare during Advent. We have learnt about the 9 day tradition of ‘Las Posadas’ which takes place in Mexico. We know that they hold a procession singing carols in candlelight for 9 days ending on Christmas Eve in the church. At St. Jude’s we try to recreate this by sending home our own ‘travelling cribs’ to families during Advent.
In Year 4, we have some special postcards to send home when we do exceptional work or are seen going out of our way to live out the Gospel Values. This week Marcel has taken home a postcard for amazing teamwork and effort during our RE lessons. Well done Marcel, we’re all very proud of you 🌟 💫
Today we have been discussing what kind of king we think Jesus would be. We then thought about how we could build God’s kingdom today using the Bible to link our ideas to scripture.
In Year 4, we have been learning about Elijah and the widow. We explored the scripture together and reflected on God’s care and faithfulness. The children then retold the story through their own thoughtful and creative poetry. We are very proud of their beautiful work.
This week Year 3 took part in their first Rosary and look forward to doing this every week.
Year 3 took part in their first class meditation focusing on ‘The Bible is God’s word’
Year 3 raised money for CAFOD by selling cakes.
They raised an amazing £119.29
Yesterday, we joined over 2,000 other children in our local schools to pray for peace. During the month of November we pledged to focus on the Catholic Social Teaching principle of peace and so spending in prayer with so many other schools allowed us to powerfully stand together. Such an inspiring Celebration of the Word for all involved.
Year 3 went to church for Mass. They learned about the four parts of Mass and joined in with the responses.
Year 6 have been learning about the Jewish celebrations of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot. As part of Rosh Hashanah, Jewish people eat apples with honey which the children really enjoyed too!
Year 6 have been designing logos for the Wigan Family of Parishes. The children learned about the life Saint Carlo Acutis, who was recently canonised and has been chosen as the saint for the parish family.
Today we observed a 2 minute silence during a Celebration of the Word to remember all of those who have died in war or been affected by war. Each child made a poppy to create our display.
Today in CAFOD Club the children wrote prayers based on the Gospel Values. These will be displayed on our Gospel Values prayer wall. We sat in silent reflection before we read our prayers which inspired us all to live in the footsteps of Jesus.
Today, Y2 were lucky enough to have one of our parishinors visit our classroom and share his family Bible. He shared the history of how his Bible was first given to his dad when he left school and is still now passed down through family members. The children explored the Testaments and listened to Ray read the story of Noah. What an inspiring afternoon for Y2!
As we were not in school for All Saints day this year we marked it with a Celebration of the Word together. We decided to focus on St. Jude as it was his feast day on 28th October. We reflected on on St. Jude brought hope to others and linked this to the Jubilee Year of Hope.
This week we practiced the Laudato Si song as we finished Branch 1 learning all about Covenant and Creation. Carmel played along on the piano as we sang about how we praise God for giving us this wonderful world.
Today your child will have been given homework focusing on the Gospel Values. We hope you can take the time to support your child to choose one and think about how they live it out in their life. We look forward to sharing ideas when they come back after half term.
Today, to mark the end of our Branch – Creation and Covenant – Y2 worshipped and prayed with Y1 to share how we praise God for all that he has given us and how he is always there for us. Y2 read their own prayers which they had written and invited Y1 to place a heart at the foot of Jesus when they had thought of a way they could show their praise and thanks to God.
This morning, Y2 children invited their families to celebrate the Word of God in our Spiritual Garden and thank God for the wonderful world He has created. We reflected on the message of Laudato Si where Pope Francis told us to live wisely, think deeply and love generously and each child shared their pledge with their families and gave them a flower to remind them of all God created.
The children created their own sunset water colour painting and made links between the creation story and Psalm 19.
We created a beautiful ‘Window of Hope’ for the Jubilee year and celebrated it by holding a Prayer & Liturgy. We celebrated the word with prayers, a reading from Romans 5:1 and making the sign of peace with each other (as the scripture on our window describes the peace that Jesus has granted us through our new covenant with the Lord).
‘Romans 5:1 Now that we have been put right with God through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.’
Preschool have been looking at our world map in school to see how God has friends all over the world. ❤️🌎
Preschool have been planting spring bulbs in our spiritual garden. 🪴
We have planted these in a shape of a cross to remind us that God loves everyone. ❤️
We will watch and observe our bulbs grow throughout the seasons. ☺️
Year 4 helped to plan a lovely Celebration of the Word for World Mental Health Day, encouraging us to take care of our minds so that we can have peace in our hearts ♥️
Today Y2 made bird feeders using recycled materials and hung them in our Spiritual Garden. We had spent time looking at Laudato Si, the letter which Pope Francis wrote asking everyone to look after God’s world, and thought about how we could be ‘good stewards’. Some children even made a bird feeder and home and brought it into school. We can’t wait to see the birds come and enjoy their food!
Today CAFOD Club spent time designing an area of our Spiritual Garden. We want to create an area where everyone can pray and spend time thinking of others, perhaps even decorating pebbles for different intentions. The winning design will be chosen and created so watch this space. Mr Wilson even joined us for this session.
As we mark Diversity month, Year 2 spent some time reflecting on how God made us in his image and likeness and we are all unique. Each child wrote a word which represents them and laid it at the foot of the cross to remind us that Jesus loves everyone.
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.
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On Friday our Year 6 children welcomed their buddy into our school with a special Prayer and Liturgy. Reception parents were invited to share in this celebration. Year 6 presented their buddies with a seed which they will plant together as they support their buddy to ‘Learn, love and grow with Jesus.’
This week in RE Pre-school and Reception have been learning about the story of creation. The children learnt about how all the things God made were ‘very good.’ We decided to share a Prayer and Liturgy together in the Spiritual Garden, where we celebrated God’s wonderful world. After, we searched for things God had made and thought about what he would say about it.
We opened our Golden Box this week to explore our new piece of scripture. We loved learning about Abraham and how he put his trust in God. Year 4 would love you to ask them about the image to see how much they can recall!
Our children have been out in the Autumn sunshine with our Chair of Governors, Mrs Hunt, planting our Autumn plants. What a fantastic way to spend an Autumn morning, listening to the birds sing as they plant. A huge thank you to Mr and Mrs Hunt for all their help today. We can’t wait to spend some time in here appreciating all their hard work.
We have been discussing the theological virtues: faith, hope and love (charity). We researched how Saint Teresa lived out these virtues and then talked about how we could live out these virtues in our own lives, at home, at school and in the wider community. Year 4 had some lovely ideas ❤️
During hymn practice today we sang our Harvest songs and Carmel helped us by playing along on the piano. We can’t wait to show everyone what we have learnt at our Harvest Mass.
The children took part in Prayer and liturgy focusing on the creation story. We took time to reflect on our world and what God created.
Today our children proudly wore their St. Jude’s uniforms to mass with the parish to celebrate Education Sunday. They were involved in the offertory and received a special blessing from our new parish priest, Fr. Michael.
Year 6 participated in a class prayer and liturgy in our school spiritual garden on creation.
Every week each class shares a prayer with parents. Look out for the timetable and and spend time in prayer with your child.
Today Y2 celebrated Prayer and Liturgy in our Spiritual Garden to reflect on the Season of Creation. We spent time in quiet reflection listening to the sounds of the world around us.
Today Y2 explored the Bible and found stories from the Old Testament and the New Testament. Our Chair of Governors, Mrs Hunt and our RE Governor, Mrs Sims joined us also.
Our New RE Topic! 📖✨
This week, we’ve started learning all about the Bible! The children have been excited to discover why the Bible is such a special book. ❤️
We’ve also been talking about Pope Leo and how he helps lead the Church. The children were so excited that they went home and told their parents all about Pope Leo! 🙌🏼
It’s been a fun start to our new topic, and we can’t wait to learn more! 😊
#RE #Bible #PopeLeo #LearningIsFun #ExcitingTimes
CAFOD Club had a very successful first meeting today and enjoyed thinking about our Mission Statement, ‘Together, we learn, love and grow with Jesus,’ and how they will live it out this year.
Mr Wilson led our back to school Prayer and Liturgy. We each thought about how we can shine our light this new school year.
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.
In Reception, we had a visit from one of our parents and siblings. They came into class to talk about their religion. The children learnt about different Hindu traditions and beliefs.
We invited our parents to come and celebrate our learning in R.E. We told them the Parable of the Lost Sheep and shared our thoughts and feelings with them.
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.
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!
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!
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!
This week we celebrated the Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul with a whole school prayer and liturgy. Our First Holy Communion children participated and our Early Years children shared the ‘Good News’ of Jesus with everyone!
Year 1 have been learning about our local church, St. Jude’s. The children set up a role-play of the mass and used their creativity to set up a small world area of the church. How fantastic!
We were delighted to receive professional photographs taken of our children reading the bidding prayers at the Good Shepherd Mass in the Cathedral at the beginning of June. We were so proud of our children and how they represented our school.
Year 4 have been creating broadcasts about ‘Living in a whole new way’. We discussed how the Holy Spirit can change a life and the impact it has on us and our lives today.
They also loved impersonating news readers for the task!
Year 6 have had a great day at Animate Youth Ministry in St. Helens. They took part in lots of different activities to develop teamwork, resilience and perseverance.
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!
On Thursday, Year 5 led a prayer and liturgy to celebrate Pentecost. It was attended by their grown ups and the Key Stage 2 classes. They did an excellent job at organising the event: designing invitations, creating a perfect gathering, enacting the Fruits of the Spirit, choosing the song, writing a prayer and encouraging grown ups to choose their own path for spiritual growth in the Holy Spirit.
In class, we have been talking about reconciliation and what steps we can take to bridge friendships that may be a bit broken. The children in Year 4 had some lovely ideas 💕
Reception children have been learning about the coming of the Holy Spirit in RE, we had a Pentecost celebration in class. The children decorated a banner to display in class, they decorated biscuits with red icing and they made paper swirls to blow in the wind.
Year 6 enjoyed creating self-portraits of themselves and also of the people who they feel inspire hope in others.
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.
Pope Francis, now we are your Pilgrims of Hope. Our children have been reflecting on the life, witness and legacy of Pope Francis, adding their illustrations and prayers – inspired by the Holy Father’s love, peace and care for creation.
During RE this week, children in Year 4 have been illustrating, in their own way, what the scripture we studied tells us about the power of the Holy Spirit in the lives of the apostles at Pentecost.
Loving father, we thank you for the life and service of your Shepherd here on earth, Pope Francis.
His humility, kindness and leadership, his call for mercy and his deep love for those who are forgotten and marginalised has been an inspiration to us all.
May his actions continue to inspire us to live humbly, love deeply, respect all people and follow in your footsteps.
Eternal rest grant upon him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him.
Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
We gathered together this afternoon for prayer and liturgy to celebrate Easter.
Year 4 have loved creating their own artwork for ‘The Empty Tomb’. We love the individuality and imagination put into these pieces.
This week Years 3 and 4 performed the Stations of the Cross. The children have worked incredibly hard to remember each of the stations and recall their lines.
The children in Reception made Easter Gardens to further their learning about Good Friday and Easter Sunday.
Year 6 have walked around the local area to the canal as part of our Big Lent Walk enjoying the glorious sunshine.
Today we re-created the scene from The Resurrection and thought about how the women felt when the angels appeared and told them the Good News that Jesus had risen!
A fabulous Prayer and Liturgy to celebrate all of the amazing ladies in our lives.
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.
Today we recreated the scene of The Last Supper using artwork to inspire us. Then we celebrated Prayer and Liturgy thinking about how God gave Jesus strength and courage to keep spreading the good news, even at difficult times. We prayed to God and asked for courage so we could continue to make the right choice, even if it is a difficult one,
Year 4 loved our Big Lent Walk today. We decided to try and look for the colours of the rainbow in nature, which is one of our Generation Wild badge tasks. We talked about how grateful we are for these special gifts from God. 🌸 🌼
Reception retold the story of The Last Supper together. They then shared some bread and a drink. They passed it around and reenacted the story of Jesus’ meal with his friends.
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.
Year 6 took part in a class prayer and liturgy in our school spiritual garden before going on a walk around the local area to observe signs of spring linked to the creation story.
We had such an incredible day at Martin Mere. We loved learning about the wetlands and following Ava’s clues on the treasure hunt. It was great to learn about the wildlife that call Martin Mere their home.
Y1 and Y2 were lucky enough to get the opportunity to celebrate Prayer and Liturgy at Martin Mere on our school trip. Whilst we were in quiet reflection, thanking God for our wonderful world, a flock of ducks flew over our heads and reminded us of all that God created!
In preschool today we have been making pizza, we used all different toppings to show it is ok for everyone to like different things. ❤️🍕⭐️
Yesterday we all attended Ash Wednesday mass at Church where we received ashes and took time to reflect upon how we can make a new start during Lent to get closer to God.
The children in Reception learnt about Shrove Tuesday. They then had the opportunity to choose and add toppings to their pancakes.
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.
Today CAFOD Club visited Year 1 and told them all about how they continue Jesus’ mission and help those most in need by donating to CAFOD World Gifts. They shared their reasons for what they had bought and inspired Year 1 to follow in their footsteps.
We have listened to the story of the ‘parable of the Sower’ the children retold the story as a group through art.
They each chose a part of the story and drew a picture to represent it. We then talked about the message of the story and how it teaches us to trust, believe and follow God.
We celebrated Candlemas with a special Prayer and Liturgy. We invited our families in to celebrate with us and everyone was asked to think about how they can shine their light on others.
Last week we celebrated the renewal of our Mission Statement by inviting all of the St. Jude’s community to a very special Prayer and Liturgy led by our CAFOD Club. A very joyous occasion for St. Jude’s and one that we will all remember. ‘Together, we will learn, love and grow with Jesus.’
Memories to look back on. Our Key Stage 1 children worked so hard. We were so proud of them all.
Some pupils from Y6 took an active role in our class prayer and liturgy on the baptism of Jesus.
Year 1 have been learning about Candlemas when candles are brought to the church to be blessed. We lit a candle for everyone in Y1 today and thought about how God’s loves all of us.
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.
This week Y1 learnt about the angels visiting the shepherds on the hillside. We then made a host of angels to celebrate the words from The Gloria.
At the end of our topic ‘Belonging’ in RE – we have looked at the concepts of fidelity, commitment and responsibility with a focus on service to God and Christianity. As a celebration, we have made ‘Commitment Cards’ to take home and show our love for others by promising to serve them in our own chosen way.
The children worked together to plan their own prayer and liturgy. They chose how they wanted everyone to gather and wrote their own response prayer.
Today, at 11 o’clock, we all gathered outside in our Spiritual Garden to observe a 2 minutes silence to remember all those who have fought for peace.
The children have been exploring the Bible. They have been finding out where different scripture are located for example, The creation story, is in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament.
In our RE topic this week we have been looking and learning all about how God loves everyone and how Mary loved Jesus. To celebrate this we made a collage heart to hang in our RE area. ❤️🙏
Today Y1 heard the story of the Annunciation. Children enjoyed hearing the story from the Bible, the Golden Box and then retelling it themselves.
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.
On Monday 23rd CAFOD visited our school to tell us all about how their World Gifts scheme has developed and how Catholic Social Teaching principles remind us how to live together, supporting everyone.
This week Year 3 celebrated Prayer and Liturgy in our Spiritual Garden. We listened to the creation story and discussed our duties as Christian stewards in protecting our special world.
Our Prayer and Liturgy this week reminded us that God will provide us with everything we need so we don’t need to worry. If we do have worries, like the bubbles, they will eventually disappear.
This week Year 1 celebrated Prayer and Liturgy in our Spiritual Garden. We listened to the sounds in the world around us and thanked God for all that he created for us.
Today we gathered together to welcome all staff and children back for our new school year. Mr Wilson led Prayer and Liturgy giving everyone the opportunity to reflect on what they are excited about for the year ahead!
