Catholic Life at St. George's
“Jesus took a little child and set him by his side and then said to them: ‘Anyone who welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me, welcomes the one who sent me. For the least among you all, that is the one who is great.”
Luke 9:47, 48.
Every pupil who enters our school is a member of God’s family.
We come together to pray each and every day. The children use recognised prayers of the Church, the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the morning offering, for example. We also invite the children to create personal prayer and provide opportunities for reflection and meditation. The liturgical year provides a framework for our worship and we reflect each week on the message of Sunday’s Gospel reading.
We participate in the ritual and tradition of the Catholic faith and follow the 'Come & See' RE Curriculum.
We are fortunate to have a priest from the Cathedral Parish, as our school chaplain. He celebrates regular school and class Masses with us each year, as well as the sacrament of reconciliation for those who have made their first confession. He also joins us on a weekly basis for whole school assembly, where school, parents and church come together. Further, each May we have a May procession in honour of Our Lady. We also have Rosary on a weekly basis in October and May. Parents and Carers are always welcome to attend these events, alongside staff and children.
The children celebrate their achievements in Whole School Assembly each Friday morning. EYFS and Key Stage 1 celebrate Christmas through annual Nativity Plays and we carry out the Stations of the Cross at Easter.
As a Catholic school we are part of a wider network of Catholic Schools, across our Deanery, our Diocese and the Catholic Education Service as a whole. We work closely with the other Primary Schools in the diocese of Southwark.
Wednesday Word
Every Thursday the KS1 and KS2 teachers lead the children in a discussion, reflection and prayer linked to the Wednesday Word. Children also get to take a copy of the Wednesday Word home so they can continue that discussion and prayer with their families.
The Months of Mary
In October and May the Spiritual Life Committee lead a daily praying of the rosary alongside the teachers, we also invite the parents in before school to join us in a decade of the rosary. In May there is a procession where the whole school process around the school and then sit together in the playground to prayer a decade of the rosary and reflect on the life of Mary our Mother.
What is Catholic Social Teaching?
Catholic Social Teaching
As part of our termly whole school RE projects, the children learnt about what Catholic Social Teaching is and how it links to their own lives. Each class focused on a specific area, and the children wore their own clothes to school to raise money for charity.
The Liturgical Year at St George's 2022-2023
Lenten Reflection: Thank you to our parents and pupils for attending our weekly Lenten reflections. If you were not able to attend, please see the PowerPoints below to share and discuss as a family.
Ash Wednesday - On Wednesday 22nd February we came together as a school to reflect and receive the ashes from Fr. Michael and begin our Lenten journey. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent. We mark Ash Wednesday by having the sign of the cross made on our foreheads. The ashes symbolize sadness and death, and the cross reminds us that we belong to Jesus who died for us.
Advent Carol Service - Our children attended and participated in the annual Advent Carol service at St George's Cathedral
All Saints Day - Thank you to Fr. Francis for coming in and leading our whole school assembly based on All Saints day.
Month of Mary - Thank you to the children and their families for joining us in saying a decade of the rosary.
Harvest Festival - Thank you to our children and their families for their generous donations to our Harvest collection. The collection was donated to St George's Cathedral food bank, which is for the vulnerable and homeless people in our local community.
CAFOD National Assembly September 2022
Beginning of Year Mass - Thank you to Fr. Michael for leading our beginning of school year mass.
The Liturgical Year at St Georges 2021-2022
End of Year Blessing - Thank you to Fr. Francis for leading our end of year blessing.
International Mass - Thank you to Fr. Francis for leading our international mass this year to end our whole school international week. At. St George's, international week is an important celebration of our different cultures and how diverse our community is. It is an important time to reflect on that even though we are all different, we are all made in the image of God and we are all special.
May Procession - Thank you to our Spiritual Life Committee for leading our May procession this year. All children at St George's participated by placing a flower by our beloved statue of Mary, and took a quiet moment of reflection to think about Mary and our Mums.
Easter Meditation
Stations of the Cross
Our Year's 3,4,5 & 6 classes along with the Choirs of St. George's Cathedral, put on a very moving re-enactment of the journey of Jesus to Calvery Hill.
Ash Wednesday
On Wednesday 2nd March we came together as a school community to reflect, receive the ashes from Fr. Francis and begin our Lenten journey. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the season of Lent. We mark Ash Wednesday by having the sign of the cross made on our foreheads. The ashes symbolise sadness and death, and the cross reminds us that we belong to Jesus who died for us. Palm branches from previous Palm Sunday are burned to make the ashes. As we receive the ashes, we pray that we will turn away from sin and grow closer to Jesus during this special season.
St George's Cathedral Carol Service
Children from Years 5 and 6 attended and participated in the Christmas Carol service at the Cathedral
Advent Blessing - Thank you to Fr. Francis for giving the whole school an Advent blessing
Christmas Carol Service - KS2 participated in our Christmas Carol Service at the Cathedral. Thank you to Joe and Jonathan for your support, and to the members of our local community who attended.
CAFOD COP26 - What is it? Why is it important?
COP26 is the annual UN climate conference. A ‘COP’ means ‘conference of parties’.
Governments and negotiators from across the world will travel to the meeting to discuss how to keep temperature rises below dangerous levels and prevent the climate crisis from causing even worse catastrophes for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people.
Our school council is working in collaboration with Cafod to help raise money to tackle poverty caused by the climate crisis. Over the year children will participate in different activities to highlight how we can make the planet a better place. Together we can shine a light on some of the causes of the climate emergency while doing our bit to guard God's creation and protect our common home.
Harvest Festival - Thank you to everyone who donated to our harvest collection. The food donations were given to St Vincent De Paul's food bank at St George's Cathedral by children from our Spiritual Life Committee.
Important Visits
Our local MP Neil Coyle recently visited our school to talk to our Spiritual Life and School Council children about on the importance of taking care of the environment.
