Parish schools 2/17

Parish News and Announcements

20th March News from our Parish Schools

Mar 20

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.

6th March News from our Parish Schools

Mar 6

Parish School pages on our website

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School

https://stjosephsgilesgate.bwcet.com/

We would like to thank all the children and families for the amazing costumes, outfits and Shoebox Story competition entries for World Book Day. It was a fantastic day, and it showed the creativity and imagination the children learn from reading. Everyone enjoyed celebrating books together.

The children in Years 3 and 4 will be attending Mass in church at 10am on Wednesday, 11^th March. All families and friends are welcome to attend.

On Thursday 12^th March at 9am EYFS have a ‘Stay and Discover Number’ event. This is a parent and pupil session. Also, on Thursday 12^th March, we are hosting a ‘Somone Special Mother's Day Celebration’ event in the school hall at 2.30pm. There will be a special performance from St. Joseph's School Choir. We look forward to seeing you all.

St Godric's Catholic Primary School

https://stgodricsdurham.bwcet.com/

It’s been lovely to see everyone back in school after the half‑term break, especially with a bit of sunshine to brighten the week! This Sunday at 9am, we welcome our children preparing for their First Holy Communion to Mass.

Looking ahead, our next Nursery Open Morning will take place at 10am on Wednesday 11^th March. If you or anyone you know has a child aged 3 or nearly 3, we’d be delighted to meet you. Our new Nursery cohort will join us after Easter.

St Thomas More Catholic Primary School

https://stthomasmorebelmont.bwcet.com/

We are delighted to share the exciting news that we have secured our school visit to the Houses of Parliament for this year. Our Year 5 and 6 children will travel to London on 12^th June to enjoy a guided tour of Parliament, see Buckingham Palace, and take in some of the other iconic sights of our capital city. This is always a memorable opportunity for our pupils to deepen their understanding of democracy and British heritage.

We are also offering tours of our school and nursery for families with children who will be turning three in the next year. Spaces are filling up quickly, so we encourage families to get in touch soon if they would like to join our nurturing early years.

St Leonard's Catholic Secondary School

https://stleonardsdurham.bwcet.com/

On Friday 20^th February members of our Faith in Action group walked to Melbury Court Care Home to spend the morning with some new friends. Our pupils worked hard to prepare prizes, activities, rehearsed a sing along as well as creating 'goodie bags' for every resident in the home. It was lovely to see our pupils putting their faith into action and spreading messages of hope and faith at the start of Lent. Photos can be found on our social media pages.