News and Updates
Catholic Social Teaching Assembly - FAMILY AND COMMUNITY
Miss Jones and Year 1 lead an assembly this week which focused on our current Catholic Social Teaching theme; Families and Communities. We discussed how we are all part of God’s family and the extra things we can do during Lent to support our community. Year 1 shared their ideas, which included: donating to food banks, giving money to charity and praying for people who are facing hardship. Year 1 challenge you to consider how you can do more for others during Lent.
Lent Retreat Day
We held a whole school Lent Retreat day at the end of February. We started the day with a Lent assembly lead by Mrs Williams where we were reminded about Lent and how we can help ourselves and others during this time. During the morning, each class created wonderful pieces of artwork for each of the 14 stations of the cross which will displayed around school. In the afternoon, the whole school took part in a faith-filled, prayerful and reverent afternoon taking part in the OneLife Music Lenten Retreat where we continued our journey towards the cross and developed our faith journey growing closer to God.
Lumen Christi Day of Prayer and Celebration
On 2nd February we joined with our MAC schools for a day of prayer and celebration. All schools attended and took part in a shared prayer service at St Brigid's Church where pupils and staff sang our Lumen Christi hymn, which was written and composed by Lumen Christi pupils. Each school took part in a day of wonderful activities which we shared on a MAC Padlet (see below).
RED WEDNESDAY
Today some of our pupils joined with other Lumen Christi schools to celebrate Mass at St Chad’s in honour of RED WEDNESDAY tomorrow. We attended Mass for those who cannot due to persecution. We were a voice for the voiceless.
CST Assembly - Right and Responsibilities
A wonderful assembly this afternoon lead by Miss Barton and the Y6 children introducing our new Catholic Social Teaching theme - Rights and Responsibilities. We were reminded of our rights and responsibilities as followers of Christ and set the mission to Go Forth and demonstrate how we love God by loving one another.
November is the month in which we particularly remember those who have gone before us. We have placed a book of remembrance in our school entrance and encourage anyone from our school and parish community to write the names of loved ones you wish to be prayed for during this month. Families and parishioners can also place photos, lists of names, funeral orders of service of any deceased loved ones on the table for us to pray for. You can also hang a heart on our tree to offer a prayer for a loved on who has gone to heaven.
Today, we celebrated a special Thanksgiving Mass for Mrs McHugh, who is retiring. Mrs McHugh has worked at St Paul’s as a learning support assistant for the last 27 years, and has been a committed member of our St Paul’s community. We wish her luck in the next stage of her journey and ask God to watch over and protect her.
CARITAS AMBASSADORS PUPIL LED MASS
Our Caritas Ambassadors lead part of Mass at St Paul’s this morning. They also introduced themselves to the parish and explained their role as Caritas Ambassadors. The Caritas Ambassadors are a selection of students who are witnesses to God’s faith by putting prayers into action and supporting those who are less fortunate than themselves. We then opened up school to invite parishioners over for tea/coffee and snacks. We had lots of visitors, including Fr Barry and Deacon Peter. Well done to our pupils today - you were fantastic!! Thank you to the families and staff who came to support today.
CST Assembly - Dignity of the Human Person
Mrs Pugh lead a wonderful assembly focused on our Catholic Social Teaching theme: Dignity of the Human Person. We were reminded that each of us are important, special and unique. We are made in God’s image and He calls each of us by our name. We were all challenged to ‘Go Forth’ and make everyone we meet, feel important, just as Jesus did before us. How can you make everyone everyone you meet today feel valued and important?
Harvest
The children are going to start to bring in tins for the local food bank. On the 16th October 2023, we had a whole school harvest Mass. We offered all of our offerings during the Mass and thanked God for all that we have.
The month of the Rosary.
The Prayer leaders are going to lead a decade of the Rosary on Monday and Friday lunchtime with children who would like to join them.
The children have been watching One Life's Open to creation prayers. It has focused us on thanking and praising God for the creation that He has given to us. We have also learnt some new hymns singing along with Dan and Emily.
Thursday 29th June 2023
Feast of SS Peter and Paul.
We loved celebrating our feast day. We started the day with Mass, then had an extra long playtime. Next we completed some activities on St Paul. In the afternoon, Mini Vinnies set up activities for us, we played on bouncy castles and we had an ice lolly.
Saturday 24th June 2023
9 children made their First Holy Communion at St Paul's Catholic Church.
Friday 26th May 2023
EYFS held their procession to celebrate the month of Mary- our Queen of Heaven. During the week, we made crowns of flowers to place at her feet. We had a special prayer time in our Prayer Garden and said her prayer, the Hail Mary.
Year 3 and 6 had a May procession.
Thursday 25th May 2023
May Procession
Year 1 and 4 processed around the field with their buddies after Mary. We went to the prayer garden, said a decade of the Rosary together and then we sang Ave Maria.
Thursday 11th May 2023
Prayer Buddies year 2 and 5 met to have a prayer service together with their buddies.
Tuesday 9th May 2023.
Our Prayer Buddies, Paula, Peter and Patrick, started to visit children's houses to say some prayers with their families. They are going to write prayers to Mary for Mrs Pugh to take on pilgrimage to Lourdes with her.
Friday 5th May 2023
King Charles Coronation
We had a day to pray for and celebrate King Charles coronation. We spent the day completing activities and praying for him. In the afternoon we had a special tea party and our families came to join us.
Friday 21st April 2023
Mission Statement retreat day
We had a retreat day to launch our new mission statement. We decided that we wanted to change our mission statement. We asked the parents, children, staff and governor’s words that they thought were important for the mission of our school. Our new mission statement is:
“In the family of St Paul’s, we live and learn together with Jesus’ loving arms around us.”
During our retreat day we explored the words, family, live and learn, in our statement and looked at quotes from the Bible. We ended our day with Mass with Father Barry praying for the future of our school.
29th March
Year 5 led the school in the Stations of the cross
Confirmation 23.3.23
Lent 2023- 22nd February 2023- 31st March 2023
23rd March 2023-
Francis from Kings Norton Baptist church came to lead our prayer service. He spoke to us about Easter.
During Lent, we have been having "Stay and Pray" sessions. The parents have been invited to join our class prayer sessions.
We have been praying with Dan and Emily daily. We have really enjoyed having another prayer time and singing and praying with Dan and Emily. These have enabled the children to develop their prayer life during Lent.
The Prayer leaders have been opening the library during lunch time into a quiet prayer space. They have loved leading and organising the room and the children. The prayer space has been very popular with the children.
This has meant that the children have had the opportunity to choose an additional time to pray. The Prayer leaders have also had the opportunity to lead and develop their own prayer ideas.
16.1.23
Faith and Culture week
This week the children have been learning about different faiths.
Reception and year 1- Visited Francis at the Baptist church and St Paul's Catholic church.
Year 2- Learnt about Judaism and went to visit Singers Hill synagogue
Year 3- Learnt about Buddhism
Year 4- Learnt about Islam
Year 5- Learnt about Hinduism
Year 6- Learnt about Hinduism and visited the temple on Sisefield road
6th January
For the Feast of the Epiphany we held a special prayer service in year 1. We blessed ourselves and our classroom.
Friday 2nd December 2022
We joined Dan and Emily for a live streamed prayer for Advent. We sang lots of hymns and said lots of prayers.
Advent 2022
Throughout Advent, we had a special prayer led by Dan and Emily at 1pm. We learnt about the focus for each week. Week 1 being hope, week 2 being love, week 3 being joy. We learnt Advent hymns with signing and said some special prayers. Especially for people who are expecting babies.
Year 6 visit to St Chad's Cathedral
As part of our Confirmation programme, Year 6 visited St Chad’s Cathedral in Birmingham on Thursday 20th of October.
We discovered that the Cathedral was built between 1839 and 1841 and was the first Catholic Cathedral built in England since the Reformation. Augustus Welby Pugin, who was the architect for the palaces of Westminster and the iconic clock tower of Big Ben, designed it.
After an informative tour of the building including visiting the crypt, we celebrated mass with Monsignor Tim Menezes, who is the Cathedral Chaplain. We all experienced a very spiritual day, which has prepared us for our forthcoming Sacrament of Confirmation in March
Here are some quotes from our Year 6 children
‘ There was a ten foot cross with Jesus on it, it was very beautiful.’ Lily
‘ In St Chad’s Cathedral, there were some relics, and we found out that the bones of St Chad were in a golden casket. There were two angels guarding it.’ Zoe
Francis RE Exhibition: 5th October 2022
Francis and his friends came into school to lead an RE exhibition with the children in KS2. They had the opportunity to learn about the life of Jesus, and what it was like for him growing up in Palestine 2000 years ago.
Retreat Day on Pilgrimage
On Friday 9th September we had a retreat day based on Pilgrimage. In their classes, the children thought about own life pilgrimage so far. The children then took part on a pilgrimage around our school learning and taking part in different types of prayer. To end the retreat, we had a procession around the school playground to the church and sang “Oh Lord, hear my prayer.” Finally, in church we took part in a meditation as a school community.
Mass for Peace and Prosperity for Lebanon
St Paul’s Chapel, Edgbaston
On Sunday the 19th of June, four Year 6 children took part in a Mass for Lebanon at St Paul’s Chapel, Vernon Road, Edgbaston. We listened to the priest who said the mass in both English and Arabic and we read bidding prayers. Most of the congregation who attended were from Lebanon, Syria or Iraq.
There were also pupils from St Paul’s Girls School in Edgbaston who spoke about their links with Lebanon. One of our Year 6 children also spoke about our Geography curriculum and how we have been learning about Beirut.
I was a very special celebration and it was lovely to share it with the Lebanese people.
Year 6 Confirmation
On Thursday the 31st of March, eight children from Year 6 received the Holy Spirit in Confirmation. Father Barry and Deacon Pete concelebrated the sacrament, and it was wonderful to see so many family members join us for the celebration.
Christmas Retreat day- 7th January 2022
We had a whole school retreat day focused on the Christmas story. We started the day by praying about the stable and Mary and Joseph. We enjoyed a meditation and then discussed if the stable was a place fit for a king. Then we drew pictures of the stable with baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph.
In the second session we focused on the Shepherds. We prayed about them and then we discussed why the shepherds were chosen by God to see Baby Jesus. We drew pictures of this part of the story.
In the third session we focused on the Three Wise Men. We prayed about them and then we discussed who the three wise men were. We then drew this part of the story too.
In the afternoon we painting a picture of the whole Nativity scene.
The school has been so peaceful and prayerful all day. The children really enjoyed the calm atmosphere and praying while they were drawing.
Vocations Workshop
Thursday 18th November
On Thursday 18th November, Tharushi from the Diocesan Vocations Office visited Year 6 to discuss vocations to the religious life. She began with this quote from St Catherine of Sienna.
‘ If you are what you should be, you will set the world on fire’.
This means that each and everyone of us is amazing, unique and special. A vocation is who we are; it is God’s plan for us to be the happiest we can be.
Tharushi told us that it can take seven years to become a priest, and much of this time is spent thinking and praying through what God is calling them to be; this is called discernment.
At the end of the workshop Tharushi asked two questions :
What is God asking us to do?
How can we serve him in little ways?
‘
St Paul's Primary and St Paul's School for Girls
Annual Intercultural Mass at St Osburg’s Church Coventry
On Saturday 18th of October, Mrs Damms, Mrs Barton and four year 6 pupils attended the annual Multicultural Mass at St Osburg's, Coventry. We were delighted to share this celebration with pupils and teachers from St Paul’s School for Girls in Edgbaston.
It was a wonderful celebration which included dancing, singing and drama and we listened to readings in different languages. The homily was led by Cannon David Evans who spoke about how wonderful it is to have such a diverse and interesting community.
Mrs Damms and Dr Casserly – Head Teacher at St Paul’s Girl’s School – spoke about our links with Immaculate Conception school in Beirut and how we are ‘ Brothers and Sisters in Christ.’
St Paul's Refugee Pilgrimage - July 2021
Pope Francis has asked us to go on a special journey and to think about all the refugees in the World today. He asked us to ‘ walk alongside ‘ the refugees who are forced to make very dangerous journeys to find safety and a better life. We chose special areas in school where we could stop and reflect on the life of a refugee and the problems they face.
Station One
Here we stopped to think about where refugees are coming from, and we learned that people are leaving these places because of war and fighting.
Station Two
At this station, we learned that one in nine people will go hungry, and this is one of the reasons people leave their homes. They move away to find a better way of life, yet some people question their right to seek better lives for their families.
Station Three
One of the major causes for people leaving their homes is persecution due to religious beliefs, viewpoints or ethnicity. When people leave their homes, they no longer have their nationality or identity yet in God’s eyes, we all share the one true identity – as his children.
Station Four
The children imagined that they had to flee their home because of fighting. They could only pack a few belongings into a small rucksack, and they didn’t know if you would ever return home.
Station Five
As the refugees travel to other countries, some family members are left behind. This might be because they are too weak or there is not enough money to pay for the passage ; some get lost or even die on the way.
Station Six
At Station Six, we heard the devastating story of when, in 2013, a boat carrying 500 refugees from Eritrea and Somalia, sank off the island of Lampedusa. Only 151 people survived.
A local carpenter on the island met some of the survivors he then collected some of the wreckage of the boat. He made crosses from the wreckage for the survivors as a symbol of hope for the future.
At St Paul’s, we understand the difficulties which refugees face every day. We pray for them and know that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.
Year 6 Leavers' Mass
On Thursday 15th July, Year 6 celebrated their Leavers'Mass at St Paul's Church. Father Barry spoke about growing up and the importance of choosing the right friends. He also spoke about trying our very best and using all the talents God has given us.
Father Barry presented us with a Good News Bible and bookmark and he asked us to leave the bible open at a different page each day.
Ciaragh read the beautiful poem, 'Footprints in the sand' as our Communion Reflection.This poem tells us that Jesus is with us every step of the way, through the good and bad times.
Vocations Retreat Day
On the 5th July 2021, we had a whole school retreat day focusing on Vocations. The day consisted of 3 sessions. In the first session, the children thought about qualities and the qualities that God has given them. In the second session, the children listened to videos of people who have a variety of different jobs. In the third and final session, the children thought about their own vocation and who God is calling them to be. The children felt very inspired by the end of the day.
Confirmation
On Thursday the 1st of July, we celebrated the sacrament of Confirmation at St Paul’s church. It was a wonderful evening when Father Barry reminded the children of the gifts of the Holy Spirit and how these will guide them as they move on to secondary school. The children where fully prepared for the sacrament and chose Saints who demonstrated these gifts.
Well done Year 6!
On Monday 28th of June Deacon Owen, from the Diocesan Vocations Office visited Year 6 to discuss vocations to the religious life. He began with this quote from St Catherine of Sienna.
‘ If you are what you should be, you will set the world on fire’. This means that each and everyone of us is amazing, unique and special. A vocation is who we are; it is God’s plan for us to be the happiest we can be.
The children also learned about Nuns, Deacons and Priests and how the religious life is bringing Jesus to us today. Deacon Owen asked the question, ‘ Do you think Jesus calls you?’ Year 6 replied by saying,
‘Jesus calls each and everyone one of us to be loving, caring and compassionate to all we meet’.
Immaculate Conception School Beirut, Lebanon
During the summer term Year 6,along with St Paul's Secondary School Birmingham and Saint Vincent De Paul Primary Liverpool, established links with Immaculate Conception School Beirut, Lebanon. This was a fantastic opportunity to learn about the lives of children living in Beirut and to share experiences.
In preparation for this, Year 6 learned about Lebanon in Geography. We focussed on the countries which border Lebanon, the climate, culture and sadly, the explosion which happened in Beirut on the 4th of August 2020. We learned how devastating this explosion was and the impact it had on the pupils and staff of Immaculate Conception School.
On Friday 7th of May, we met up with the schools over zoom to share our experiences and learn about their life in Beirut. We also shared some information about our lives in Birmingham.
The children of Year 6 have thoroughly enjoyed learning about the Immaculate Conception School and realised that, even though we live so far away, we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.
Here are some quotes from our Year 6 children about the experience.
Esther
I have learnt that the children in Beirut had difficulty in adjusting to the new way of learning after the explosion, it was very hard for them, not only was their school destroyed they had lost many of their loved ones.
I think the Zoom meeting was an amazing idea to share our support and love, to understand how people felt about what had occurred.
Jamin
I learnt that the children in Beirut are struggling due to an explosion, however they have a smile on their faces everyday as they continue to do their Zoom lessons. I learnt they celebrate lots of days.
I was surprised that they are very similar to our school and do lots of amazing things. I enjoyed learning about the school over Zoom.
Olivia
I learnt about the children in Beirut, they have only recently had an explosion that was caused by dangerous chemicals that were stored incorrectly. The explosion injured many and even left people homeless.
During the Zoom meeting, I felt excited to be learning about the other schools and what The Immaculate Conception did after the explosion. It was also very interesting as I got to learn new things and what other schools do.
Rotan
I liked the Zoom meeting because they each had a chance to speak about their school.
Lizzie
I learnt that the children in Beirut speak Arabic and they also eat Lebanese food. They did not have enough electricity in school due to the explosion.
I felt nervous because I have never met people who speak Arabic but I learnt a lot about their country.
Max
I have learnt that the children in Beirut are brave because of the massive explosion that happened on the 4th August 2020.
On the Zoom meeting with other schools, I was surprised, because I thought that I had already learned enough about the school but I learnt more.
Leah
I felt happy and amazed because I was happy to see other schools and I was amazed about what has happened in Beirut.
Oliver
I felt excited about the Zoom meeting because we got to know a lot about each of the schools. It was very nice to see Sister Marlene on the meeting as well. We also got to show our school to the other schools which I felt proud about.
Heaven
I learnt that the children in Beirut have school that has a primary and secondary so their school is huge. They also celebrate holidays like Lebanese Freedom Day.
I felt excited about learning about a new place that I didn’t know much about. I was also excited because I was meeting someone who saw the explosion in real life.
Sian
On the Zoom meeting, I felt like I wanted to know more about Lebanon and what the children are doing to help.
Ciaragh
I felt that the Zoom meeting with the other schools were fun. I learnt a lot about the other schools and I would totally do it again. It was nice and I liked speaking to the schools that were further away.
Jordan
I was excited, as we got to see and hear about the children in Beirut and in different schools.
Brooke
I felt excited that I could finally meet them and see and listen to what it is like at their school; at the same time, I was nervous that they wouldn’t like our school or our presentation. Apart from that I really enjoyed the time we spent together. I hope the Year 5s will be able to do this too.
We even had a Lebanese food tasting afternoon.
One life Music Live Stream Event- 23rd March 2021
Dan and Emily led us in a live prayer event focusing on Lent.
Advent- Whole School Retreat day- 10th December 2020
We had another retreat day based on the Nativity. The children learnt about the Annunciation and Mary's yes to God to have the baby Jesus. Then they heard about the journey that Mary and Joseph travelled to get to Bethlehem. To reflect the children drew a picture of Mary and Joseph. Next the children heard about the Stable where Jesus was born. Then they drew a picture of the stable, Baby Jesus and some of the animals. In the afternoon the children painted a picture of the nativity scene.
See Curriculum- Trips and experiences for pictures from each year group.
Christ the King- Whole school Retreat day- 20th November 2020
The children had a lovely retreat day for Christ the King. We prayed about the Christ, ourselves and then others.
For Jesus we heard about how he calmed the storm and then we drew a picture of Jesus in groups.
For ourselves we heard psalm 139, then we wrote why Jesus is our best friend.
Then we heard about Africa and Cafod and thought about how lucky we are to have water, key stage 2 thought about climate change.
See Curriculum- Trips and experiences for pictures from each year group.
Whole school retreat with Emily and Dan-6th March 2020
Dan and Emily came to lead a whole school retreat for us based on Lent and the year of the God who speaks.
We started the day with prayers and time in the hall. Then we played lots of games and had to guess the bible story from different clues.
Then we had a break and early years and key stage one learnt a new song with Dan and Emily
Then we did some work in our own classes, listening and thinking about scripture.
Next we went into the hall to play some more games and ended the day with a very special prayer service.
