Parish schools

Parish News and Announcements

27th March News from our Parish Schools

2 days ago

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

https://stjosephsgilesgate.bwcet.com/

We would like to say a huge thank you to all the friends and families who joined us for our Easter event in school on Friday. Your support and involvement made the celebrations truly special for the children. As we enter Holy Week, we will be taking time to reflect on the journey of Jesus. It is a special time for prayer and coming together as a school community to deepen our understanding of faith, hope, and love. Below are our events in Holy Week:

Monday 30^th March at 2.30pm, Year 1 and 2 would like to invite friends and families into school to join us for Palm Sunday Celebration of the Word.

Tuesday 31^st March at 2.30pm, Year 3 and 4 would like to invite friends and families into school to join us for The Last Supper Celebration of the Word.

Wednesday 1^st April at 2.30pm, Year 5 and 6 would like to invite friends and families into school to join us for The Garden of Gethsemane Celebration of the Word.

Thursday 2^nd April at 2.30pm, we will gather together as a whole school for The Crucifixion Celebration of the Word. Following this Celebration, we will break up for the Easter holidays and return to school on Monday 20^th April.

St Godric's Catholic Primary School

https://stgodricsdurham.bwcet.com/

As we enter Holy week, we have lots planned in school, including a Year 1 trip to the Life Centre, an Early Years visit to the library and a whole School decorated egg competition. Or Y6 children will be leading us in Stations of the Cross at 2.30pm on Thursday, in the school hall. Parishioners are welcome to join us.

St Thomas More Catholic Primary School

https://stthomasmorebelmont.bwcet.com/

As we approach Easter, and spend Holy Week in school, we have some very special activities taking place. Firstly, once again, we encourage our families to create an 'Easter Garden' at home and then bring it into school to be judged. We always have a wonderful uptake on this activity and some beautiful, unique, Easter Garden interpretations.

On Thursday 2nd April, we welcome families to join us for The Stations of the Cross, in our school hall. We hope this special Celebration of the Word will help us, as Christians, to grow in our faith - as we embark on a spiritual pilgrimage, through contemplation of the Passion of Christ.

In Class 2 we will be welcoming some visitors from the RNLI - Royal National Lifeboat Institution - to deliver some learning on safety at sea and how the RNLI save lives. We look forward to welcoming our guests on Wednesday 1^st April.

Lots of spring and Easter crafts and activities will be taking place in our classroom environments, too. What an egg-citing and action-packed Holy Week.

St Leonard's Catholic Secondary School

https://stleonardsdurham.bwcet.com/

St Leonard's Sixth Form Retreat to Ampleforth

On Thursday 19^th March our Year 12 pupils joined the 4 other secondary schools across the Bishop Wilkinson Catholic Education Trust on a day retreat to Ampleforth Abbey. Joined by Fr Bede, students took part in 4 sessions looking at the history of Ampleforth and reflecting on what is on their 'spiritual radar'. Students had the chance to go on their Emmaus walk as well as ask thought-provoking questions to Fr Bede. We hope everyone on the retreat took away the message that they're deeply loved and prayed for by those around them.

20th March News from our Parish Schools

Mar 20

Parish School pages on our website

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

https://stjosephsgilesgate.bwcet.com/

Wednesday 25^th March - the children in Year 5 and 6 will be attending Mass in church at 10am. All families and friends are welcome to attend.

Wednesday 25^th and Thursday 26^th March - Parental Consultations will be held in school from 3.30pm to 6pm.

Thursday 26^th March - we are getting a visit from Jet and Ben the Police Dogs following the work Year 5 and 6 children did with the Mini Police. The children are looking forward to meeting the dogs and their handlers and learning more about what their role is within the local area.

Friday 27^th March at 2pm - we would like to invite families and friends into school for our Easter Bonnet Parade. Come and watch the children showcase their creative bonnets, full of colour and imagination. There will also be an exciting Easter raffle with lots of lovely prizes to be won. Refreshments and Easter treats will also be available. We look forward to celebrating together and hope you can join us for this special occasion.

St Godric's Catholic Primary School

https://stgodricsdurham.bwcet.com/

We have loved spending time with our families during this season of Lent with our stay and pray sessions. This week, Year 4 families joined us as we reflected on God’s compassion for us all.

Next week we will be celebrating World Maths day and Year 2 have a trip to Beamish Museum on Wednesday to learn all about what it was like to go to school in the Victorian times.

St Thomas More Catholic Primary School

https://stthomasmorebelmont.bwcet.com/

Please join our St. Thomas More Community at a Lenten mass on Friday 27^th March. It would be wonderful for our families and parishioners to join us at St. Joseph's Church at 10:00am. The friends of St. Thomas More, PTA group, will also be serving some refreshments, afterwards, for those who don't have to rush back to work.

In school this week, each class is getting ready for spring by learning a different 'spring themed' song. We will be performing these, to our families, at 2:30pm on Friday 20^th March. We hope to see you there - to welcome in the spring equinox!

St Leonard's Catholic Secondary School

https://stleonardsdurham.bwcet.com/

Here at St Leonard's we celebrated the final Mass in our school Chapel before moving into our new building. On the Feast of St. Patrick, Year 9 pupils gathered to lead the liturgy with confidence, writing prayers, creating a prayer focal point and playing music during communion.

Fr Andrew spoke about how our tradition of carrying and sharing the Catholic faith continues int our new build, just as it once was brought to the Chapel where we gathered. Mr Simmons reminded pupils at the end of Mass how our new building will be filled with new items which are important to us, however some of the most special items in our school will be brought and transition with us from our school chapel: the altar, tabernacle and lectern.

We're so proud of all pupils and staff who have led and celebrated Mass and times of prayer and celebration in our school chapel over the years and we look forward to building on this in our new space

13th March News from our Parish Schools

Mar 13

Parish School pages on our website

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

https://stjosephsgilesgate.bwcet.com/

We would like to send out a big thank you to all the parents and families who attended the Somone Special Celebration in school. It was wonderful to see everyone share such a lovely occasion with the children. The children were incredibly excited to welcome their special visitors into school and proud to share the celebration they had prepared. We appreciate you taking the time to come and support the children and our school community.

On Friday 20^th March it will be a Non-Uniform Day in school. We kindly ask if children could bring in an Easter Egg donation which will help support our Easter activities in school. You generosity and continued support is always greatly appreciated.

St Godric's Catholic Primary School

https://stgodricsdurham.bwcet.com/

We are delighted to share the outcome of our recent Catholic Schools Inspection, in which St. Godric's was graded Outstanding in every area of Catholic Life, Religious Education and Collective Worship.

Inspectors were particularly impressed by the children’s confidence in leading worship, their thoughtful engagement in lessons and the strong sense of belonging they expressed. They highlighted the school’s “very strong culture of community and togetherness, where all are welcomed and included warmly.”

This exceptional outcome reflects the dedication of our pupils, staff, parents, and the wider parish community. We are incredibly proud that our distinctive ethos and daily practice has recognised so highly across every aspect of the inspection framework

St Thomas More Catholic Primary School

https://stthomasmorebelmont.bwcet.com/

Class 2 had a wonderful trip to Wharton Park this week. In their workshops they used the text 'Martha Maps it out' to help them improve their map skills - linking to their Geography topic work, in class - and they learned all about physical and man-made features.

They also got to try out using compasses and extended their knowledge of compass directions. The children were exceptionally well-behaved and enjoyed being out in the fresh-air and taking part in all the exciting activities.

St. Thomas More are so thankful and grateful to John Hayton, one of our parishioners, who is giving up his time and supporting our year 4 children - who are making their First Holy Communion this year. John is supporting the teaching, of our RE curriculum, by extending the children's knowledge of The Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Eucharist - bringing new knowledge and expertise to our children. Thank you, John, the children are really enjoying their session.

St Leonard's Catholic Secondary School

https://stleonardsdurham.bwcet.com/

St Leonard's Year 7 Retreat

This week saw 88 Year 7 pupils attend retreat to the Youth Village in Consett. Pupils explored the theme of 'Living Hope' developing on from our Jubilee year.

Everyone enjoyed taking part in workshops, competitions and spent time outdoors. on Wednesday morning the group finished their time together celebrating Mass with Fr. Andrew Downie. We hope that our Year 7 pupils bring the messages they received back to school and continue to put their faith into action.