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- Written by Loarraine Davies
- Category: News Stories
Dear Parishioners of Our Lady of Lourdes,
The pupils of Our Lady of Lourdes School are seeking people in our local school and parish community to support us with our RE learning this half term about modern ‘Pentecost People’. We would be grateful if you were able to assist with this.
This half term, our whole school focus for our RE learning is based on Pentecost. The children have been learning about the recount of Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit by exploring the scriptures, so that they can retell what happened. Our topic moves forward to explore the question: What is a Pentecost Person? The children will be taught that, since the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke to those they met about the Good News, people who believe in God have continued to live their lives differently – to live remembering what Jesus taught and what he showed in his life. We will teach the children about people who have lived their lives differently, by first looking at the group of Pentecost people, who we read about in the Bible, such as: Peter, Paul and the Gospel writers. Then we will learn about people today who believe in God and try to live as God would want. These will be examples of modern ‘Pentecost People’.
In order for the teachers to teach about modern ‘Pentecost People’ and provide good real life examples for the children to learn from, we are looking for volunteers to provide us with this information. Therefore I am contacting a range of different believers (men, women, older, younger, ordained and lay) from our school and parish community to see if they are able to assist with our ‘data’ collection. We were hoping to interview people directly by asking various different questions. Please see here for the questions, in order to help the children achieve the level of attainment they are working towards. Obviously, we would not want to ask anyone anything without giving them time to prepare ideas and examples which you feel comfortable saying.
If you feel you are able to help in any way by providing an example of a modern Pentecost Person, it would be greatly appreciated. We would need the information as soon as possible, within the next week (week beginning 04/05/15) or possible week after (week beginning 11/05/15). There are various ways you could help us. Firstly, we can arrange a time for you to visit one of the classes so that the children can interview you. We would also like to film/record the interview so that other classes can also access the information. Another way could possibly be that just a teacher interviews you and films/records it, so that the information can be used in classes. Finally, if you are unable to come into school or do not wish to be filmed, you could write down the answers to the questions and send/e-mail to school. This information can then be distributed to teachers to use.
I appreciate that you are busy, however real life examples are always fantastic models to the children and helps them learn much better. Anything that you can provide would be extremely useful and beneficial to us. If you are able to help, please contact the school office to arrange a time when you could come into school for the children or teacher to conduct the ‘interview’ or send in/e-mail your responses for the attention of myself.
Thank you very much for your time.
Lorraine Davies
Assistant Headteacher / RE coodinator
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- Written by JA Ward
- Category: News Stories
The School Admissions Code requires us to notify pupils currently in Year 5 and transferring to Secondary School in September 2015 of the results of our tests before they complete the Common Application Form (CAF). These changes will affect all applications to selective schools and partially selective schools.
As a parish from which pupils have recently applied for a place at St Michael’s Catholic Grammar School, I am writing to ask for your help in raising awareness of the time schedule involved. We would be particularly grateful if you could include these important dates in your newsletter to prevent disappointment for parents.
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- Written by Edoardo Albert
- Category: News Stories
Fr Tom, Fr Damian and the Parish Council welcome you to the Our Lady of Lourdes parish website. We hope that in the months and years to come it will prove a great resource for us all.
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- Written by Patrick Bolger
- Category: News Archive
Parish Pilgrimage to Rome & Assisi 2th October to 2nd November 2014
Twenty-three intrepid pilgrims assembled in the church car park on Monday 27th of October at 6am and boarded the coach for Heathrow Airport. Our pilgrimage had begun!
We were blessed with excellent weather throughout with barely a drop of rain. Our hotel in Rome was close to St Peter’s and over the next four days we visited St Peter’s Basilica, St Paul Outside the Walls and many of the notable churches and places of interest including the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel.
On Wednesday morning we were in a very large crowd in St Peter’s Square for the Papal Audience. Pope Francis appeared in relaxed and friendly form and many of the pilgrims saw him close to hand in his Popemobile. Unfortunately he didn’t pass close by us but his presence was evident from the screens around the square. Our parish was formally welcomed over the public address system!
Every day Fr Tom celebrated Mass for the group mostly on a private basis which was a wonderful experience for us all. Among the churches where Mass was celebrated was the Irish Chapel in St Peter’s Basilica and St Anne's Church just inside the Vatican City, along with other local churches in Rome. While in Rome we also visited the church of San Clemente with its underground remains of previous churches and Roman dwellings.
On Friday the 31st of October we departed by coach to Assisi. When we last visited Assisi it was quiet and a contrast to the hustle and bustle of Rome. This time the town itself was lively with street markets and music, which was very atmospheric.
We visited the basilicas of St Francis and St Clare as well as the Franciscan monastery of St Damian, where we were given a most interesting talk by a monk from Northern Ireland about the history of the monastery still used by the Franciscan Friars today. He came as a tourist some seventeen years ago and stayed.
On our last day Sunday November 2nd we visited Orvieto and its wonderful Cathedral. Our visit coincided with the Eucharistic Jubilee year of the Diocese which finishes at the end of November 2014. We followed the pilgrim route and were able to see two chapels not normally open to the public, one of which displays a miraculous host from medieval times.
The pilgrimage involved a fair amount of walking up and down some fairly steep gradients. Most of us come back a little slimmer and fitter!
There were many other highlights and every day had something of interest to take in and appreciate. Mgr Tom Egan was a wonderful spiritual leader. We prayed for the parish intentions during the pilgrimage.
We were fortunate to have Sinead Howe as our guide. She was unfailingly helpful, cheerful and knowledgeable throughout. The pilgrimage group was a very harmonious one. New friendships were made and we hope to meet up gain to renew the experience of the pilgrimage together in the near future.
Patrick Bolger
Pilgrimage Organiser