Religious Education around our school – Spotlight on 5/6

This week students in 5/6 learned about how Shrove Tuesday is celebrated in other countries. Whilst in Australia we have traditionally celebrated with pancakes (YUM!!) in other countries they go really wild with huge celebrations. In many countries they have Mardi Gras to enjoy a wild party before the solemnity of Lent. Mardi = Tuesday and Gras = Fat so it literally translates into Fat Tuesday – a day of feasting and fun. A key element of the Mardi Gras is masks so we decided to make our own. Check out our beautiful creations:

Religious Life of St Michael’s

Shrove Tuesday

Thanks to those who shared some of the fun of ‘Pancake Day’ yesterday. I hope everyone enjoyed some delicious pancakes to celebrate Shrove Tuesday.

Ash Wednesday

It is Ash Wednesday today. We have come together as a whole school community (socially distanced in our own classrooms of course) to mark this special day in our Church calendar with a liturgy shared online. In our classrooms the children all received ashes sprinkled on their heads as was done in ancient times. Staff have had a cross placed on their foreheads as a reminder to turn away from sin and live out the Gospels.

Project Compassion boxes / Lenten Appeal

Today eldest children in the family will be bringing home Project Compassion money boxes. We ask that families join us in the annual Lenten fundraiser for Caritas and fill the money boxes in the coming weeks. Usually we donate extra money that we have from giving up things during Lent – doing our fasting. This might be the nightly ice-cream, weekly chocolate or favourite fizzy drinks. This money is then given to Caritas to do their missionary work in Australia and around the world. You are encouraged to return the boxes to our front office in our last week of school, or the Church in the week before Easter. Thank you in advance for your generosity to those in need.

Week 1 Caritas

Each week we will look at an example of people who have been helped through Caritas’ excellent work around the world.

In week 1 we meet: Anatercia, Mozambique. 12-year-old girl Anatercia can now access clean drinking water, eat nutritious food and focus on her schooling. Anatercia, a 12-year-old girl living in southern Mozambique, was struggling to cope with adult responsibilities after her father passed away. With your support, she participated in training and gained access to psychosocial supports. Now, her quality of life has improved and she can focus on doing well at school. A video giving more information is linked above.