RE
CAFOD Club Assembly
Today (Thursday 18th April 2024), CAFOD Club held our second whole school assembly to let everyone know about our plans for the next two terms.
1) We would like to make the world a brighter place to live in! We would like to invite you to come to school dressed in bright colours to brighten up the world by fundraising for our global family by donating the money to CAFOD. We would ask you to bring a donation if you come to school in your bright colours. This will happen on Friday 3rd May 2024.
2) We showed a video of a bus that was being used in Pakistan as a mobile clinic to support those in need who were suffering as a result of the devastating floods of 2022. We are also inviting you all to take part in an art competition. For this, you will need to create a piece of artwork showing the community of St Thomas’. Just like the bus is being used in Pakistan. Your entry must either A4 or A3 sized and have your name and class written on the back. Your entry must be handed in to your class teacher by Tuesday 14th May 2024, winners from each class will be announced in celebration assembly on Friday 17th May 2024.
3) We are going to be hosting a whole school dancethon in term 6. More details to follow!
We are really looking forward to helping brighten up St Thomas', our local community and the whole world!
Holy Week in School 2024
Throughout this special time of Holy Week all the children will be taking part in different reflections and assemblies. In our hall we have images showing the Stations of the Cross.
Easter Assembly
At the end of the day on Thursday we celebrated all the fabulous Easter bonnets and decorated eggs that so many of the children had spent time creating. They all looked amazing!
The Way of the Cross
On Thursday, Year 6 shared Jesus' final hours with the whole school and parents. It was a time for thinking about how Jesus felt during the events of Good Friday.
Last Supper
On Wednesday, we gathered as a whole school again to reflect on the events of the Last Supper. We all sat in the hall and broke bread thinking about Jesus' last special meal with His disciples.
Palm Sunday
On Tuesday, key stage one and foundation stage shared a Palm Sunday assembly with the whole school. They sang some beautiful songs, acted out the story of Palm Sunday and other parables Jesus taught.
Tuesday 26th March 2024
Stations of the Cross
Today, both year 3 and 4 visited St. Thomas’ Church in Canterbury to accompany Jesus on his journey through The Stations of the Cross. This is one of the most simple, yet powerful, ways to prayerfully walk alongside Jesus and to reflect on his great sacrifice for us.
There are fourteen Stations of the Cross. Each is an invitation to contemplate and experience a pivotal moment from Jesus’ sentencing to his death to his burial. They are a powerful way to step into some of the most significant moments in human history and encounter Jesus like never before. One of the most impactful times to pray the Stations of the Cross is during Holy Week, especially on Good Friday.
There are traditionally fourteen Stations of the Cross. Each station represents a different moment in Jesus’ Passion and Death, including:
- Jesus is Condemned to Death
- Jesus Carries the Cross
- Jesus Falls for the First Time
- Jesus Meets His Mother
- Simon Helps Jesus Carry His Cross
- Veronica Wipes the Face of Jesus
- Jesus Falls a Second Time
- Jesus Meets the Women of Jerusalem
- Jesus Falls a Third Time
- Jesus is Stripped of His Garments
- Jesus is Nailed to the Cross
- Jesus Dies on the Cross
- Jesus’ Body is Removed from the Cross
- Jesus is Laid in the Tomb
Lent Penitential
On Monday morning each key stage took part in a special penitential service. Canon Anthony and Fr Giovanni came to celebrate these. Key stage two children were then invited to confession with our priests.
Year's 5 and 6 Stations of the Cross
On Tuesday 19th March 2024 year's 5 and 6 walked down to St Thomas' Church to have some reflection time walking through the Stations of the Cross. We all stopped at each station to listen and reflect on each significant part of Jesus' last footsteps.
RE Displays Around Our School
We have been sharing lots of RE learning through our corridor displays this term. Take a look at what some classes have been doing.
Monday 18th March 2024
Age UK visit
Today, year 4 visited Age UK in Canterbury to sing a selection of Easter songs to visitors to the centre.
After, the children read some pages of their books to the people visiting the centre.
We thoroughly enjoyed our visit and we were grateful to lend our support to the local community
12.03.24. Canon Anthony joined Year 2's learning about Mass.
Class Liturgy 21st February 2024
Ash Wednesday
Year 4 celebrated Ash Wednesday by holding our own class liturgy.
Lent explained
Lent is a time when we pray, do kind things for other people, give up things and give to others, as we prepare to celebrate the great feast of Easter.
For forty days, we accompany Jesus on his journey to Calvary and we see the mercy he shows towards others, despite his suffering. Just as God shows mercy towards us, like Jesus, we try to show mercy to others.
This Lent, we are also making our journey alongside families around the world living in poverty, especially those who do not have the basic things they need like enough nutritious food to eat.
We began with a hymn, followed by an opening prayer, scripture reading from Joel (2:12-13), the response, A CAFOD story, Lenten promises before finishing with more prayers and a final hymn.
Year 5 RE Celebration - Wednesday 7th February 2024 Inspirational People
Today we shared the learning from our work on inspirational people. The children wrote the RE celebration themselves and were proud to share this with lots of our parents! The children talked about what makes an inspirational person and how Jesus taught us the beatitudes to help us follow His example. They also acted out the life of Pier Giorgio who was known as ‘the boy of the eight beatitudes’.
Year 2 RE Celebration 5th February 2024 The Good News of Christ
Year 2 shared their RE learning with their families by acting out some of the miracles that Jesus performed. From these miracles, the children learned that Jesus was truly human from the way he cared about others but also like God in the way he had holy powers to help those in need.
Jesus Feeds 5000 People.
Jesus Heals The Paralysed Man.
Jesus Heals The Ten Men With Leprosy.
Wednesday 31st January 2024
RE Celebration
During year 4's RE Celebration, we showed our parents some of our learning so far.
The focus was explaining about Jesus the Teacher, which was achieved through acting out a scene from scripture – The presentation of Jesus in the Temple.
Litter Angels Winners - Rosie Duffield visits Year 5!
We were very lucky this afternoon to have a visit from our MP, Rosie Duffield! She came in to announce the winner and runners up for the Litter Angels competition we entered earlier in the year! All of the posters were incredible! We knew it was important to share this important message with as many people as possible, we are all stewards of God''s creation and have a responsibility to care for our world.
Our runners up were:
Jolena
Chloe
Our class winner was...
ANDREW!
Well done!
Here are some pictures of our afternoon!
Look out for all of the posters, which will be put up around the school gates soon!
Well done year 5, I am so proud of you!
Year 5 Class Assembly - Thursday 18th January 2024
Today year 5 shared their learning with the whole school and parents from term 3 so far. They have already looked at so much and tried to fit in as much as they could! They shared their learning of long multiplication in maths, expanded noun phrases in English, inspirational people in RE, earth and space in science, drawing eyes in art and learning to play the glockenspiel in music. As well as sharing some of their singing.
St Nicolas Carol Concert in Canterbury Cathedral
On Sunday 10th December 2023 a large number of year 5 joined other local schools to sing at the St Nicolas concert in Canterbury Cathedral. The children were all absolutely fantastic and sang beautifully. The represented St Thomas' wonderfully!
Advent in school
We have been busy in St Thomas' preparing for the Christmas season. We have been celebrating the start of Advent with key stage assemblies about Advent and each class has put together their own Christmas display sharing their part in our whole school Nativity. These have been displayed outside each classroom along the corridor and they look fabulous!
The Rosary
During the moth of October we Pray the Rosary. Here is a guide about what the Rosary is and how to pray the Rosary.
Year 5 RE Celebration - Creation - Monday 16th October 2023
We welcomed parents into class to share our RE learning from this term. We have been looking at Creation. We got into groups and each planned our different parts for the celebration. We shared what we had learned about the story of Creation from Genesis, what Stewardship is and why it is important, the story of The Fall, gave examples of two of God’s great helpers, St Martin de Porres and St Francis of Assisi, explained what co-creators and de-creators are and why it is important to not litter.
Wednesday 11th October 2023
Year 4 RE Celebration
During our class RE Celebration, we showed our parents some of our learning so far. This included bible stories, most notably the story of Abraham
The children all took part in the celebration.
Through Abraham, God shows His people that, if they have great faith and complete trust in Him, He will look after them.
Year 4 Class Assembly
Thursday 5th October was our first class assembly of the year. We shared our learning from RE, Science, English, Geography and DT. During RE the children described and acted out the story of God's call to Moses.
Year 5 Class Assembly
Year 5 shared their learning with the whole school today (28.09.23). The shared what they had been learning in a number of subjects. In their RE work they have been learning about Creation and being Stewards of the Earth. They shared the story of Creation, prayers they had written about looking after Creation and posters they have designed to encourage the people of Canterbury to stop littering.
Start of Year Mass
We celebrated our start of year Mass this week on Friday 15th September. We welcomed the whole school and parents to celebrate the start of a new school year. Canon Anthony celebrated the Mass alongside Fr Giovanni. It was lovely to gather as a school family once again.
Oscar Romero Award
We are incredibly proud to share that we have achieved the first level of the Oscar Romero Award. We are now at a Participator Level.
What does this award show?
Epiphany Mass in Church
On Friday 6th January 2023, our whole school celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany, at St. Thomas' Catholic Church.
Advent Mass 2022
Nativity 2022
It was wonderful to be able to once again invite parents and carers to watch our whole school nativity at St Thomas' Church this year. All of the children were absolutely amazing. We hope you enjoy looking through this selection of photographs from the performance.
Christmas Displays 2022
Here are the wonderful displays that each class put together to share their part of our whole school nativity.
All Saints Mass at Church
On Tuesday 21st November the whole school attended All Saints Day mass at St. Thomas' Church.
Beginning of the Year Mass at Aylesford Priory - September 2022
On Wednesday 28th September, year 6 pupils from St. Thomas’ joined pupils from a number of Kent Catholic schools at Aylesford Priory for a mass to mark the beginning of the new academic year. Mass was be celebrated by The Most Reverend John Wilson, Metropolitan Archbishop of Southwark.
Other Faiths Week 2022
The whole school took part in our annual Other Faith's week in the first week of July. It is always a wonderful celebration where the children learn about a different World faith. The children always enjoy this week and love sharing their learning. Here are some pictures of what each class looked at:
Holy Week 2022
We celebrate this special time leading up to Easter Sunday in many different ways. We hold penitential services and special reflective assemblies focusing on the key events in Holy Week.
Penitential Services
Canon Anthony and Father John visited us on Monday for Lent Penitential services.
Palm Sunday Assembly
On Tuesday, Foundation Stage and Key Stage 1 children shared the story of Palm Sunday, retelling the events for the rest of the school.
Last Supper
On Thursday, we took part in a whole school reflection of the Lord's Supper, where we all sat in class circles by candlelight as we heard the story of Jesus' Last Supper with his disciples.
Ash Wednesday Mass in Church - 2nd March 2022
This morning pupils and staff attended a Mass at the church to observe Ash Wednesday. Pupils from the Mini-Vinnies group gave readings.
Epiphany Mass in Church
On Thursday 6th January 2022, our whole school (and a surprise guest) celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany, at St. Thomas' Catholic Church, which was a great way to begin 2022 altogether.
Holy Week 2021
For Holy Week this year we decided it would be nice to show the Easter Story through displays outside each class room. Each class were given a different part of the story to show. We also had a week of assemblies which were pre-recorded and each class watched in their classrooms. All the children took part in various activities throughout the week. Here are some images of our displays along the corridor.
Holy Week 2019
As part of Holy Week the whole school took part in different assemblies and activities throughout our last week of term. We started the week with Lenten Penitentials, where we had time to refelct and as for God's forgiveness. Key Stage 1 shared the story of Palm Sunday, retelling the events for the rest of the school. We took part in a whole school reflection of the Lord's Supper, where we all sat in class circles by candlelight as we heard the story of Jesus' Last Supper with his disciples. The final part of the Holy Week journey was The Way of the Cross, where Year 6 acted out the story of Jesus' final hours.
Key Stage Two also took part in other reflective services. Year's 3 and 4 took part in a Holy Week carousel in the hall, stopping at different points and creating some artwork. Year's 5 and 6 went to St Thomas' Church to follow the Stations of the Cross.
Other Faith's Week 2019
During our first week back in term 4 each class spent the whole week learning about different aspects of one of the world's major religions. All of the children worked incredibly hard and took so much for what they were looking at.
Foundation stage - Christianity
Year 1 - Hinduism
Year 2 - Judaism
Year 3 - Orthodox Church
Year 4 - Buddhism
Year 5 - Sikhism
Year 6 - Islam
We shared some of our learning with parents in golden assembly on Friday.
Nativity 2018
We had another successful whole school nativity at St Thomas' Church this year. All of the children were absolutely amazing. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.
Christmas Displays 2018
Here are the lovely displays that each class put together to share their part of our whole school nativity.
Holy Week Activities
Our last week of Term 4 is during Holy Week. As usual we have celebrated this special time leading up to Easter Sunday in many different ways. We have had various assemblies, starting with our Lent Penitential on Monday, the children were given the opportunity to speak with Fr Anthony or Fr Daniel and ask for God's forgiveness for any wrongs they have committed.
On Tuesday Key Stage 1 shared a Palm Sunday assembly with the rest of the school, which retold the story and why we celebrate it. The performing arts club also sang a lovely song during the assembly. Year 5 and 6 carried out some activities as a big group. They followed the stations of the cross, having time to reflect on each stage of Jesus' journey before he was crucified. After this they created mini canvas' which will be displayed in the new year 5 and 6 area when they move in.
On Wednesday we shared bread as Jesus did with his disciples at the Last Supper. We all sat in our class families in the hall listening to the story and reflecting while listening to quiet music. After this Year 3 and 4 worked as a group following various activities based on the themes of Holy Week.
A Journey in Love
At St Thomas' we are going to be using a new scheme to teach our Sex and Relationship Education (SRE). As of September 2019, SRE is going to be statutory in all primary schools. After looking at a number of schemes on offer we have decided to use 'A Journey in Love'. This is a scheme that will run throughout the whole school from Reception to Year 6. It will run alongside our RE lessons and is based on Catholic Teachings.
Each class teacher has a copy of the book we will be using to support our SRE lessons.
If you have any questions at all please feel free to come and see Mrs Michael (RE leader and Year 5 teacher) or Miss D'Agostini.
Other Faith's Week 2018
In our first week of Term 4 we celebrated Other Faith's Week throughout the school. Each class looked at a different world religion and spent each afternoon investigating them. It has been another lovely week in our school looking at what people around the world believe and why.
Here are some pictures of our class displays:
Advent Displays
We have put our lovely Advent displays up in school. The children from each class made the displays themselves and represent the part each class plays in the whole school Nativity. Enjoy...
RE Achievements
Emily from Year 3 came and shared her trophy and certificate with the whole school. She had travel to Birmingham to take part in the competition. Emily said she had to talk about miracles, but she didn't find out the subject until she got to the event. This is wonderful to see one our of school family flourishing in her RE and spiritual work outside of school. Well done Emily!
Start of School Year Mass
On Friday 22nd September we held a welcome back to school mass. Fr Anthony and Fr Daniel came to celebrate this with us. We welcomed our new reception class and any other children who have joined our school family. We had lots of parents attend to celebrate with us.
Fr Daniel Visits Year 3
Year 3 were lucky enough to have a visit from Fr Daniel. The children asked lots of questions about being a priest and what this means. Here are some pictures:
Academic Year 2016-2017
Mini Vinnie's Afternoon Tea
The Mini Vinnie's held another successful afternoon tea for the parishioners of St Thomas' Church. The weather was glorious so we were able to go outside this time. There were scones, biscuits, cakes, tea and coffee. Both children and adults really enjoyed the occasion as usual!
First Holy Communion Celebration
On Friday 16th June 2017 we celebrated a special mass for those children who have made their First Holy Communion this academic year. It was a lovely mass attended by parents and the whole school. The children came dressed in their finery and looked absolutely wonderful! Congratulations to all the children who have made the next step in their faith journey.
Holy Week in School
During our last week of term before Easter we had some assemblies to show the events of Holy Week. All children took part in a Lent Penitential and the children in key stage 2 had the opportunity to go to confession with Canon Anthony or Fr Daniel, the children in Key Stage 1 shared what happened on Palm Sunday with the rest of the school, the whole school took part in a reflective assembly looking back at the Last Supper of our Lord, sharing bread with each other, year's 3 and 4 took part in a Holy Week carasel where they created different things relating to the days of Holy Week, finally, year 6 then shared The Way of the Cross with the whole school and parents.
Other Faith Week
Monday 20th February - Friday 24th February 2017
We have just had another wonderfully successful Other Faiths week in school. Each class looked at a different world religion, finding out interesting information about that religion and how it is celebrated. We enjoyed celebrating other faiths and cultures as we have such a wide variety here in school, which is what makes us so special. Foundation Stage looked at Christianity, Year 1 looked at Hinduism, Year 2 looked at Judaism, Year 3 looked at the Orthodox Church, Year 4 looked at Buddhism, Yeah 5 looked at Sikhism and Year 6 looked at Islam. All of the children thoroughly enjoyed our week, we shared what we had learned with parents in our Golden Celebration Assembly on Friday. Here are some pictures from around the school...
Year 5 and 6 Joint Mass
Year's 5 and 6 are working together to plan a mass to celebrate inspirational people. They are looking at each part of the mass carefully to make their mass as special as it can be. They are gong to plant a tree in our school grounds to commemorate the occasion
Term 3 RE Celebrations
Our end of term RE celebrations have been taking place in every class over the past couple of weeks. These are special times where we can share our RE learning with our families. Here are some pictures of different RE celebrations throughout the school.
Rosary Club
Every Wednesday lunchtime Miss D'Agostini will be running a Rosary club, this is open to children in years 4, 5 and 6. This is a special time for children to come together and pray.
Mini Vinnie's Coffee Afternoon
On Tuesday 24th January 2017 our Mini-Vinnie's group welcomed some parishioners from our Church to school for a coffee afternoon. We had a lovely afternoon, the children were chatting to those who came, serving them tea, coffee and biscuits. It was enjoyed by all who came and all the children also loved every minute. We would like to thank those people from our parish who came and donated £48, the Mini-Vinnie's will decide next week at our meeting who they would like to donate the money to. We can't wait for the next event with our parishioners in summer!
Class Masses
In term 3 we have started our class masses. Year 5 and Year 4 have celebrated their masses with our families this term. They have both been lovely and peaceful times spent with Fr Anthony and Fr Daniel coming to celebrate the masses with us. Here are some pictures of the class masses:
Advent Penitential
On Monday 19th December all of our children took part in an Advent Penitential. Both key stages came into the hall to think about what they have done wrong and the ask for God's forgiveness. The children had time to sit in darkness, looking at the light of the Advent Wreath. Fr Anthony and Fr Daniel also came to give the children a blessing and the listen to any confessions from our Key Stage 2 children. It was a very special morning with lots of reflection.
School Nativity
Our whole school went to St Thomas' Church to tell the most important story ever told, The Nativity. Each class had a part of the story to tell and we performed for our parents three times. All of our children told the story wonderfully and showed the true meaning of Christmas. They acted and sung beautiful hymns to which we can all reflect and think about at this busy time. Well done to all the children and adults who helped!
Advent Displays
Each class has designed and made their own Advent display telling the Christmas Story. The display each class has made links with their part in the school Nativity which we are performing in our Church.
Year 3 Meet our Priests
Year 3 invited Fr Anthony and Fr Daniel into their class to ask them questions. This was linked to their RE topic: The Christian Family. It was enjoyed by all who were there!
Mini Vinnie's Afternoon Tea Party 28th June 2016
Our Mini Vinnie's group held an afternoon tea party for members of our parish. Both adults and children thoroughly enjoyed it. The children served the parishioners drinks and cakes. The children sat and talked to the parishioners, asking and answering questions finding out about their lives. The parishioners very kindly donated some money to the Mini Vinnie's, for which we are very grateful for. We can't wait for the next one now.
First Holy Communion
Twelve of our children made their First Holy Communion on May 1st 2016 at St Thomas' Church. We celebrated at a school family with a special mass in school. The children were invited to wear their Holy Communion clothes and their families were invited along. The children all took part in the mass, which was enjoyed by all. Congratulations Mary, Mekha, Arthur, Elliot, Dylan, Zuzanna, Jakub, Ferdinand, Olivia, Elizabeth, Grace and Emmanuel.
Jubilee Year of Mercy
Pope Francis has announced that this year is a special Jubilee Year of Mercy. We gathered as a school family to welcome the Year of Mercy candle which has been around several schools in our diocesan family already this year. Fr Anthony joined our celebration, talking about how Jesus taught us to be merciful and what we can do in our daily lives to show mercy.
We shared this prayer together:
Thank you for sending us your son Jesus to show us how much you love us and to show us how we should love each other.
Remind us to treat everyone we meet with love and care because they are your child too.
Send us your Holy Spirit to help forgive people when they upset us, and to say sorry when we upset you or each other.
Amen
We will be taking part in many different activities as a school to celebrate this special jubilee year.
Holy Week 2016
During Holy Week this year we had special reflective assemblies. Both KS1 and KS2 took part in Penitential services, with KS2 children having the opportunity to go to confession after the service. KS1 children shared the story of Palm Sunday with the whole school, with some of Year 1 acting out Jesus' entrance into Jerusalem. We also shared a reflective assembly as a school of the Lord's Last Supper, this quiet time gave children the opportunity to think about the sacrifices Jesus would make for us. Year 6 shared 'The Way of the Cross' with the school and parents. This showed Jesus' last few hours before His death.
Year 2 Ecumenical Service at Canterbury Cathedral
On the 11th March 2016 our Year 2 class went to Canterbury Cathedral with other Year 2 classes from other schools in Canterbury. The children all prayed together in the crypt and Ferdinand shared a lovely prayer which he had wrote. It was a lovely morning which all the children thoroughly enjoyed.
Class Masses
Our class Masses began in term 4, with Year 5 and Year 4. These are special times where we can celebrate Mass as a class family along with parents in our classrooms. Fr Anthony has celebrated these with us.
Here are some pictures of the Year 4 Mass which took place on Tuesday 8th March 2016.
Faith Week
Monday 22nd February - Friday 26th February 2016
During our first week of Term 4 the whole school took part in a Faith Week. Each class had a different Faith to explore. Some of the children's work has been put on display and we all shared what we had learned in Golden assembly with parents. It was an extremely successful week which all the children really enjoyed.
Reception - Christianity
Year 1 - Hinduism
Year 2 - Judaism
Year 3 - The Baptist Church
Year 4 - Buddhism
Year 5 - Sikhism
Year 6 - Islam
