Catholic Life & Mini Vinnies

"Living and Learning together in the love of Christ."

Collecting for charities...

This academic year so far we have raised...

£133.97 for Macmillan Coffee Morning.

£185.89 for Poppy Appeal, The Royal British Legion.

£202.40 for Red Cross.

£165.99 for Salvation Army.

£166.00 for Acorns Hospice.

Rainbows

Rainbows is a support group providing a safe setting in school to foster emotional healing for young  people who are experiencing difficulties within their lives. The young people can talk through their feelings with their peers who are experiencing similar situations and they are helped to  articulate their feelings with a trained facilitator. We are lucky that we have a group of adults trained and led by our Rainbows Director and Pastoral Support Leader, Mrs Stanley. If you feel that your child would benefit from this support or even a chat with Mrs Stanley please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Parish Jubilee - October 2024

In October, our parish of St Mary and St Thomas More in Cannock held a joyful and historic Jubilee celebration, marking the 100th anniversary of our church’s opening and the 150th anniversary of our parish’s founding.

This remarkable milestone was honoured with a series of events showcasing the rich legacy of Catholic life in Cannock, as well as a renewed commitment to the parish’s future.

We welcomed Archbishop Bernard Longley to our school where he joined us for a special prayer service. We had the opportunity to hear him speak to us and ask him some questions of our own. Year 6 wrote some beautiful prayer to mark the event. Children in KS2 decorated special prayer cards that were given out to parishioners at the Jubilee Mass that evening.

Parish Mission - September 2024

This is a special event and time of Grace in the life of our Parish. A Mission happens only once every few years. It is a great opportunity to slow down, take time and think about our relationship with God. A Mission is a reminder of the love God has for each one of us and for our world. It is also an invitation to work more closely with God and our local Parish.

Our Parish Mission is being led by the Mission Team. The Fathers live and work in different parts of the country. Their mission is to share the Gospel and help people become closer to God. We welcomed Father Peter Morris and Father Royston Price to our school where they shared Mass with us. They blessed bookmarks of our class saints for us to take home to remember this special occasion.

Live Simply Award - Potato Harvesting

Earlier in the year, some of the children planted potatoes in the school garden. Last week, it was finally time to harvest them. The children enjoyed finding lots and even got to take some home to enjoy with their families. Some had them for Sunday dinner and some even made their own yummy crisps!

Vocations Day

On Thursday 8th June we held our first school Vocations Day.

 In the Bible, God says: “I know the plans I have in mind for you - it is the Lord who speaks - plans for peace, not disaster, reserving a future full of hope for you.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

We are passionate about helping the children to understand the meaning of vocation and begin to assist the children in discerning theirs. “Vocare” is the Latin word for “to call.” Our vocation is “the call to holiness” - not just our occupation. Every vocation is a call to follow Jesus on the path he has marked out for us, for our own happiness and for the good of those around us - it is about being the person that God created us to be.

 https://vimeo.com/220802961?embedded=true&source&signup=true

We strive to support children in identifying and developing their God given gifts and talents by providing them with a wealth of opportunities and experiences. Our gifts are not just for us; the gifts that God gives us are there to be shared.  This is where vocations come from - we believe that everyone of us has a calling to share our gifts.

In Baptism, we begin our Vocation journey.  It is strengthened by the sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist and further developed in Confirmation.

 Our pupils live out their vocations in ways which include:

•  Class Prayer & Liturgy Leaders

• Retreat Days
• Classroom monitors
• Mini Vinnie's, Pupil Parliament, Eco Monitors, Sports Leaders
• Altar Servers
• School guides to support new parent visits

We are very proud of the roles and responsibilities that our pupils lead in the school, We are one family- our children look after each other just like Jesus looks after each member of His family.

We are grateful that during our Vocation's Day the children were able to enjoy talks and demonstrations from visitors who spoke with them about many different careers such as Nursing, Policing, Graphic Design, Aeronautical Engineering and Translating. We shared what vocations members of our family had and how they shared their skills to help others. The 'Pop up Play Village-Cannock' allowed our EYFS and Year 1 to try their hand at a range of fun jobs. They enjoyed being performers, vets, hairdressers, construction workers, hospital workers and supermarket workers. 

Our school saints have made powerful comments about their vocation:

A prayer for Vocations:

Live Simply Award - Our School Garden

The children have been adding compost to the planters to plant lots of wildflowers in our garden. We are hoping to welcome many mini beasts, in particular, pollinators such as bees, butterflies and moths! Great Stewardship skills!

St George's Day

The children enjoyed having the opportunity to proudly wear their uniforms to celebrate St George's Day!

Easter themed decorate eggs

Each year we hold an egg decorating competition and we were thrilled to have lots of religious themed entries. Father Peter enjoyed displaying them in church to bring a smile to our Parish family too.

Father Hudson Appeal

We are very proud that our school community have raised £132.93 for the Good Shepherd Appeal 2023. Families were given collection boxes to gather together any loose change that they were able to donate. Our donation will go towards supporting the fantastic work carried out by Father Hudson Care within the Birmingham Diocese. You can find out more about the work they do by following the link:

https://www.fatherhudsons.org.uk/who-we-are.htm

Thank you for your generosity!

Donations for our School Essentials Bank

Today has been our final donation day for food for our Essentials Bank & local food banks. Once again, a heartfelt thank you for the mountain of donations we have received. Our Essentials Bank is well stocked & we were able to make a generous donation to the Lighthouse Foodbank too.
Please remember, the Essentials Bank is here & ready to help. With the Easter break coming up please feel free to come & stock up on what you need.(24/03/23)

Live Simply Award - Seed Planting

Years 3 have been busy planting seeds that are being cared for by Year 2 until they are big enough to be planted in our school garden. The children love caring for God's creations and developing their stewardship skills. (17/03/23) 

Donations for our School Essentials Bank

A big thank you from the Pupil Parliament and Mini Vinnies for the generous donations of dried goods that have been donated today. They will be used to stock up our Essentials Bank and to support the Cannock Foodbank and Lighthouse Foodbank. Thank you for your generosity. This photo is just part of what was donated! (17/03/23)

Live Simply Award - Our School Garden

The children in Year 2 and 3 have been busy being stewards of God's creations by preparing the planters and planting potatoes in our school garden. They have learnt that it will take about 10 weeks for the potatoes to grow. A big thank you to Mrs Rennocks who volunteers her time to support this great project!

We hope to make all of our produce available as part of our Essential's Bank and any that is spare can be bought for a small donation by our families. Keep watching for more planting news and updates!

Donations for our School Essentials Bank

Thank you for the generous donations of toiletries for our Essentials Bank. There are lots of full drawers and shelves! Please call in via the school office if you need any items. (10/03/23)

Fruits of the Holy Spirit

We wanted to share some lovely new art work that was completed over 1/2 term by the very talented Mrs Heath.
It displays the fruits of the Holy Spirit that we want to nurture and grow so we can care for each other and grow to be more like Jesus.

Earthquake Appeal

Some of our Pupils from Year 6 asked if we could have a non uniform day on Friday 17th February for the people in Turkey and Syria who have been devastated by the terrible earthquake. What a wonderful display of our Catholic Social Teaching values of 'Putting those in most need first' and 'Showing we care.' Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of our families £300.56 has been sent to the British Red Cross in order to:

• Distribute essentials like food, water and blankets
• setting up temporary shelters
• providing first aid and crisis support
• providing psychosocial support to those who have been traumatised

Pancake Day Races

The children had great fun partaking in our annual Pancake Day Races before half term. 

Essentials Bank

Our Pupil Parliament and Mini Vinnies have worked hard to organise an appeal to set up an Essentials Bank to support families within our school. They have written to parents, designed posters, organised a non uniform day (10/02/23) for donations and organised the mountain of donations that were received. Yet again we are amazed and humbled by the support that our school community show towards each other. The Essentials Bank is now open. Please come to the school office and get what you need (we even have lots of bags!).

Raising money for a good cause by enjoying maths

On Friday 3rd February, we spent the day enjoying maths! We played maths games, took part in quizzes and brushed up on our times tables with some Times Tables Rock Stars challenges. As well as having fun we raised £60.70 for the NSPCC. Thank you!

CAFOD visitor and learning about Catholic Social Teaching

On Friday 9th December, we were pleased to welcome Mrs Nicholson from CAFOD into Year 3 & 4 to talk to us about Catholic Social Teaching. We heard an extract from Pope Francis' letter, 'Fratelli Tutti,' in which he asks us to care for each other. This is what Catholic Social Teaching is. Watch the short video below to find out more.

Mrs Nicholson has also visited Year 5 & 6 on Friday 27th January and EYFS/Year 1/Year 2 on Friday 3rd February. The children have loved finding out more about how we can use Catholic Social Teaching to serve others.

KS2 Christmas Reflection

It was fantastic to be back at our parish church of St Mary & St Thomas More in Cannock for our KS2 Christmas Reflection. The children read and sang beautifully sharing the true meaning of Christmas with our families. Thank you for the kind donations at the end of the service. A wonderful amount of £201 was raised for St Giles. Thank you for your generosity!

The reflection and the KS1 Nativity were shared virtually with our families and parish community. We hope we brought a little Christmas cheer to everyone's homes.

School Christmas Fair

Monday 5th December was our School Christmas Fair. The children have been busy creating wonderful Christmas decorations, cards and calendars to share with their families. A huge thank you to everyone who had a stall, for the many donations received and to everyone who came along to support. It was a fantastic event and thoroughly enjoyed by all. A fabulous £1108 was raised. Well done, everyone!

Parish Christmas Fair

Saturday 3rd December was the Parish Christmas Fair. The children from school donated chocolates and sweets as part of an own clothes day. People came along to see if they could win some of their favourite sweet treats and enjoy lots of lovely stalls! It was lovely seeing staff, families and the local community coming together to support this super annual event. Father Peter was thrilled that the combined efforts managed to raise almost £3,000! Well done everyone!

Taste Testing

Our Pupil Parliament were making sure that they were using their Catholic Social Teaching skills of 'Taking Part' and ensuring that 'Everyone should have a say' when sampling the menu from a prospective new catering company. During the previous Pupil Parliament session the children thought of questions they would like to ask. They sampled a selection of food from the menu, asked their questions and discussed what they would like the new menu to look like in school. It's safe to say, they thought the new menu was delicious!

Christmas Jumper Day

We enjoyed coming to school wearing our Christmas jumpers! It was all for a good cause as we raised £141.00 for Save the Children. 

Mini Vinnies Macmillan Coffee afternoon

The Mini Vinnies organised and prepared everything needed for a fabulous Macmillan Coffee afternoon. We were pleased to welcome many of our families to share the event with us as well as selling cakes to our friends at morning break. We even welcomed the youngest addition to our school community to his very first school event! We were over the moon to have raised £250.96 for such a fantastic charity.

Mini Vinnie's Harvest Appeal

During the lead up to our Harvest Mass, the Mini Vinnie's launched an appeal for donations for our local foodbank. We were delighted with the generosity of our wonderful school community towards helping others. An incredible 132.40 kilos of food was donated to the Cannock & district foodbank. We are very proud of how we were putting out learning of Catholic Social Teaching into practise. 

Working towards our Live Simply Award

We are very proud of our Stewardship of God's creations. We have taken care of the seeds we have sown in our school garden and were proud to sell some of our fabulous produce to our school community.

Silver Jubilee Celebrations

A wonderful Mass was enjoyed by children, parents, staff and governors celebrating Father Peter's Silver Jubilee of his Ordination into the Priesthood. The children wrote special bidding prayers and all contributed to a lovely card and gift. Congratulations Father Peter!

Great Wyrley Carnival

After the disruptions of Covid it was fantastic to get back to joining in with celebrations within our local community. Staff, parents and children came together to plan and decorate our float to celebrate 'All things British.' The children thoroughly enjoyed decorating, dressing up and travelling around Great Wyrley being cheered on by everyone. To top off a sunny and fun day, we even won 'best float.' Well done everyone!

May Procession

Year 3 led the Mass to celebrate Our Lady for our annual May Procession. They were joined in the school prayer garden by the rest of the school to sing and sign the Hail Mary and crown Mary. Our Reception class looked wonderful in their finery and our Holy Communion children were proud to wear their special outfits to lead us. 

Celebrating the Sacraments

Holy Eucharist - Sharing the Mass

Each week 2 of our classes celebrate Mass with Father Peter in the school hall. We enjoy sharing the Gospel and the weekly Wednesday Word is a great way of us celebrating. Classes produce prayers and art work to accompany the Wednesday Word and Father Peter bases his homily around it. The children enjoy writing their own Prayers of Intercession which are shared as well as singing and signing to our favourite hymns.

Baptism

This year we have been lucky enough to welcome 3 new children into God's family. Children in Reception, Year 2 and Year 5 were all lucky enough to witness this beautiful Sacrament and share the celebration. Here are a few pictures of a proud big brother celebrating his little brother's Baptism.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

In December our Year 3 Holy Communion children make their first Confession with Father Peter. This followed a lovely class Mass where families joined them to support them in this important faith milestone.

All Catholic children have the opportunity to receive this Sacrament during Advent and again during Lent.

Holy Communion

In May we celebrated the First Holy Communions of our friends in Year 3. Congratulations to you all!

Confirmation

In February, some of our friends in Year 6 received the Sacrament of Confirmation. They enjoyed a visit from Bishop Stephen where they had the chance to ask him lots of questions before receiving the gifts of the Holy Spirit at St Mary & St Thomas More Catholic Church, Cannock later that evening.

Cafod Walk Against Hunger

Each day during Lent the children have been 'Walking Against Hunger.'

More information can be found here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWG7DvH7u_s&feature=emb_imp_woyt

An amazing £215 was raised! Thank you to everyone who walked and everyone who donated!

Ukraine Appeal

We have all been very moved by the plight of the people of the Ukraine. We very much wanted to put our faith into action and see how we could best support our global neighbours in their time of need. We have been completely overwhelmed by the level of generosity shown and the sheer volume of donations! 

A local company based in Bridgetown launched an appeal called the '3 Minis Aid for Ukraine.' We learnt about it through Father Peter and immediately set out to help. When the donations were taken, the organisers couldn't believe it was only from 1 primary school! Well done everyone!

It was great to be able to follow the journey of the aid via social media too!

Foodbank Friday!

We have been asking for small donations of food each Friday during Lent which we could donate to the Cannock Foodbank. We had so much that the foodbank had to come to use with  their big van to collect it! A whopping 294.9kg of food was donated! Thank you for the donations! 

NSPCC number day

We all enjoyed getting dressed up with a number theme and taking part in some great maths activities throughout the day to raise money for the NSPCC. A fantastic £100 was raised. Well done, everyone!

Pancake Day Races 

To kick start Lent we enjoyed taking part in our annual Pancake Day Races. Lots of fun was had by all!

Christmas Toy Appeal

During Advent the children were asked to have a sort out at home so they could donate any unwanted toys and games to the Chase Lighthouse Toy Collection. Thank you to everyone who kindly donated!

Cafod LiveSimply Award - Tree Planting

We received free trees from the Woodland Trust to improve our school grounds and create more habitats to attract wildlife. Years 1 & 2 loved the opportunity to get muddy and get planting! Year 2 also how Pope Francis has asked us to do more to be Stewards of our environment through his letter called 'Laudato Si.'

More information can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFKnZP7ldLk&feature=emb_imp_woyt

Cafod LiveSimply Award

We are working towards becoming a Cafod Live Simply School. 

The LiveSimply award is earned by communities and schools who can show how they have been living:

• simply
• in solidarity with people in poverty
• sustainably with creation.

Cake Sale for Macmillan and St Giles

The Mini Vinnies organised and hosted a cake sale for the school and our families. We recieved many fantastic donations or homemade and bought cakes which were thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. The proceeds were evenly split between our 2 chosen charities with each gratefully receiving £117.71! Thank you!

Remembrance Sunday and the Poppy Collection

Around 11th November we hold our annual Service of Remembrance Mass. Classes contribute to the prayers used for the Remembrance wreath that is laid during Mass. This year, classes followed the BBC remembrance service in their classes and observed the minute silence.

Members of the Beavers, Cubs, Scouts, Rainbows, Brownies and Boys Brigade all had the opportunity to wear their uniforms in school to commemorate this special day.

A big thanks to our Poppy merchandise sellers who went class to class with their box of goodies. £185.89 was raised to support the Royal British Legion. Thank you!

Harvest Festival

Each October, we have our Harvest Festival. This is a celebration for all that we have. We see this as an opportunity to share with others. This October we have collected food to share between the Cannock Food Bank and The Lighthouse charities.

Our fantastic Mini Vinnies helped to take it to the Foodbank and see what happens there.

Marie Curie Cake Sale - Friday 1st March 2019

Marie Curie Assembly - Monday 21st January 2019

The Mini Vinnies was set up in Spring 2016.

Their aim is to

‘Put Concern into Action.’

Mini Vinnies Assembly

This was the assembly when we learnt all about the Mini Vinnies, what they do and how they help people in their community.