RE at St. Mary's -

Christ at the centre of everything we do

At St. Mary’s Catholic Primary School, Personal, Social, Health, and Economic (PSHE) education is embedded within our

overarching curriculum that prepares our children for many different aspects of their lives.  

Our overall goal is to help our children to become well-rounded individuals with strong character, who will eventually go out into the world of adults and be actively and positively involved in society.   In order to do this, we are striving to create a conducive environment around the school and this year we have created our own specific Personal Development Curriculum that is entwined with our academic curriculum.

Our curriculum aims to provide engagement and enrichment and through this, we aim for all children to have equal opportunities to thrive together.  

Catholic Life at St. Mary's

The Catholic life of St. Mary's is rich in opportunities for children to encounter God and to deepen their relationship with Him as a loving, compassionate Father. Below, we aim to share with you and celebrate many of the elements which make our Catholic school so special. Here you will find information and that we have been up to as we work together with our families, the Parish and the school work together in supporting the development of our children’s faith.

Above, you can select from one of the star options to find more about what else we have been doing in Curriculum RE and Prayer and Liturgy.

Harp and Piano Class joined Fr Stephen and St Wulstan's for the celebration of the Feast of St Peter and St Paul. It was lovely to join the two schools as part of Fr Stephen's parishes and another BEBCMAT school.

We were invited to St Wulstan's on Monday 23rd June to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of BEBCMAT. Maria read the responsorial psalm beautifully and it was lovely to see so many schools gathered together to represent the Trust. 

We were honoured to welcome Bishop Paul to our school to celebrate the 30th anniversary of our school building. His visit was a joyful occasion, filled with prayer, reflection, and community spirit.

Bishop Paul was warmly greeted and taken on a guided tour by some of our dedicated Mini Vinnies, who proudly shared highlights of our school’s mission and values in action. The celebration continued with a special Mass led by our Key Stage 2 pupils, where Bishop Paul commended their reverence and participation.

Our youngest children in EYFS and Key Stage 1 joined together for a beautiful liturgy, thoughtfully led by the Mini Vinnies, on the theme of being a child of God. This meaningful message reminded us all of our shared dignity and worth.

The visit concluded with Bishop Paul officially opening our newly created Peace and Prayer Garden—a sacred space for quiet reflection, prayer, and connection with God. We are deeply grateful for his presence and blessings on this special milestone in our school’s journey.

We are deeply grateful to Bishop Paul for joining us on this special day and helping us celebrate 30 years of faith, learning, and community in our school building.

As part of Refugee Week, we celebrated with a whole day to launch the week. We began with a whole school liturgy on the theme of being welcoming.

For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. '

Afterwards, each class completed different activities linked to why refugees have to leave their country, who is classed as a refugee and how we should help anyone seeking refuge and safety and how we can be superhero in our community and help others.

On 9th June, Saxophone Class rolled up their sleeves, put on their aprons, and brought the heat for our Annual Great British Bake Off Cake Competition! The theme this year was “The Festival of Hope and Light”, linking to our Pilgrims of Hope year and wow—did our bakers rise to the challenge!

On Thursday 5th June, we held our very first Feathers and Flames Festival to celebrate two significant events in the Christian calendar: The Ascension and Pentecost. The Mini Vinnies beautifully led liturgies for both feasts, helping us enter into the spirit of these special moments before we continued with our own class reflections and activities.

Ascension

To celebrate the Ascension of Jesus, we began with a thoughtful liturgy led by the Mini Vinnies. After this, we released balloons carrying our personal messages—a symbolic reminder that Jesus has returned to His Father in Heaven, yet remains with us always.

Next, we played “Jesus Hide and Seek,” where each child received their own small Jesus figurine to keep. This activity helped us remember that even though we cannot see Jesus in the same way, He is still with us every day.

We ended our celebration by taking a special photo to answer the question: “Where is God?” The children’s beautiful responses included: in the sky, in my friends, in my heart, and in nature.

Pentecost

In the afternoon, we celebrated Pentecost—often referred to as the birthday of the Church. We started with a joyful liturgy, then created handmade birthday cards, which we took to church for parishioners to enjoy.

We were delighted to meet Fr Stephen, to whom we presented a birthday gift—generous donations collected from our families. Back at school, we finished the day with a mini birthday party to celebrate this joyous occasion.

This week after receiving the news of Pope Francis' death, we shared a whole school liturgy in his memory and have spent time in class reflecting on his life and dedication to the Church. The Mini Vinnies distributed a  poster and prayer to each class for their worship area. 

On Monday 7^th April, our tradition of presenting the story of Good Friday continued; each class created a representation of one of the Stations of the Cross, telling the events Jesus experienced. Each class took it in turns to visit the hall which had a lovely, calm, reflective atmosphere and the story was retold together. After, the children had the opportunity to revisit any station, engage with it, pray and write a reflection. At lunchtime, the Mini Vinnies welcomed parishioners from church and Fr Stephen and led 'The Way of the Cross', like they've done every Tuesday lunchtime during Lent. They were a credit to themselves and our school.

Our Big Walk for CAFOD was a huge success on Friday. There were 172 people (children, staff and family members) who completed 2.5 miles each - that's a total of 430 miles altogether. During our year of being Pilgrims of Hope, we completed our pilgrimage with our flags and mascot (Luca) in the wind! We were just pleased the rain stayed away and allowed us to have organised chaos on the prom when we met Year 7 (150 pupils) from Cardinal Allen who were also on their sponsored walk.

 

To end our time with the statue of Our Lady, the Mini Vinnies, along with Mrs Kowalska and Mrs Sewell, delivered her to Sacred Heart primary as she continues her journey around diocese. The children shared the deliverance prayer and stayed for the school's welcome liturgy.

During our visit from the statue of Our Lady, we had prayer stations set up from the children to engage with and to spend time in the presence of the statue. She is visiting the schools in our diocese as part of the Year of Hope, declared by Pope Francis.

To celebrate the start of Lent, KS2 came together with St Wulstan's to celebrate Ash Wednesday Mass. EYFS and our KS1 classes shared a liturgy and Mrs Sewell came and distributed the ashes.

Pope Francis has decreed that 2025 will be a year of Jubilee, a holy year which happens every 25 years in the Catholic Church. The Holy Door in Rome has opened and will remain open until 6th January 2026.

In a world that is growing more unjust and unequal, we are inviting our children in school as well as their parents to experience the joy and strength in coming together as we respond to God’s call for a reset, a renewal of faith and a recommitment to a just world.

We'll be doing lots of activities over the year related to this...watch this space!

Our Pilgrims of Hope banner has arrived from CAFOD. We bought the banner to support the charity CAFOD, and to show to our community, how we as a school, are part of the Pilgrims of Hope year, set by the Pope for this Jubilee Year. 

Piano Class thoroughly enjoyed their visit to Emmanuel Church learning about how to make a Christingle and what each part symbolises as well as having time to reflect on why we call Jesus the Light of the World.

Such beautiful words from Helen from BSYW who came and worked with our Year 4/5 and Year 5/6 classes over 5 weeks during Autumn 1. We can't wait to get more involved and have Helen and her team in school again.

As part of our tradition at St. Mary's, during Advent each class sends home their own posada box which contains prayers, a candle and figurines of Mary and Joseph, which they take out and provide a home for, for the night, as they make their journey to Bethlehem.

Well done KS1 and EYFS for sharing your nativity full of songs and sharing the story of the coming of baby Jesus.

Congratulations to all of KS2 for their superb Carol Service that they shared with the staff, parents and friends of St Mary's in church on Tuesday 17th December. The children worked incredibly hard and did themselves and us proud.

The children used role-play to re-tell the story of the Annunciation, they thought about how Mary felt when she received the message from God and why she was chosen to be the mother of Jesus.

We celebrate whole school mass to celebrate Harvest Festival with Fr Stephen. Maria was excellent completing her first alter serving for school (she's been serving on Sundays for a couple of months) and the Year 6s read beautifully, which was all finished off with our school choir, singing Make me a Channel of your Peace during Communion.

Fr Stephen, our new priest in charge at St. Mary's, came in to introduce himself to the children in Bodhran class.

Fr Stephen has been into school to visit Year 2/3 (Flute Class), introduce himself, give the children the opportunity to ask questions and share some reflection time. 

All of KS2 have taken part in the first class mass of the year. We have have sadly said goodbye to Fr Alf who looked after St. Mary's for the last few months and we have now welcomed Fr Stephen, who is the priest in charge at St. Mary's.

2023-2024

Congratulations and Thank You to our fantastic Year 6 of 2024 - you read beautifully at Mass as we celebrated the end of your time at St. Mary's.

Over the last term, Fr Alf has come and spent time with each class, talking to them about who he is, his role and sharing their learning. The children have thoroughly enjoyed it.

On Thursday 9th May, as a school we visited church to celebrate Mass with Fr Alf for the Ascension - when Jesus returns to sit at the right hand side of his Father. The Year 6 children read beautifully and the children's singing, responses and reverence was comment on by Fr Alf.

A lovely on the last day of the term before finishing for Easter. Year 4 (Blake Class) had a lovely couple of hours at the Emmanuel Church to join them in retelling the story of Holy Week, concentrating on what happened on Good Friday and what it means for us. The children also made their own tomb representation out of biscuits.

On Wednesday 27th March, we held our our Stations of the Cross, which has become a St. Mary's tradition. Each class created two representations for the stations, involving the children in their class. Each class visited the hall and retold and reflected on the events Jesus experienced on Good Friday. During lunchtime, parishioners joined our Way of the Cross team for the service, using our stations, and then came for tea and biscuits in the staffroom.

During Lent, each class from Year 1 - Year 6 had their own Easter Mystery Box which went home and engaged the children with reflecting on the true meaning of Easter. They could share the story, light a candle and share a prayer with their family.

Six children were selected to join Mrs Halloran in visiting church, during their lunch on Friday 15th March, for church's Lenten Lunch. They children enjoyed the company of parishioners and tucked into some lovely soup made by Mr Lynch.

Each half term, KS2 classes have the opportunity to visit church to participate in the celebration of Mass.

Throughout Lent we are hosting cake stalls, one per class to raise money to support CAFOD, a Christian charity that works to help people in underdeveloped countries.

The children represented our school brilliantly at Remembrance Sunday service in the Memorial Park. They were dressed smart in their uniforms, participated in the service and lay a wreath from our school.

Justice

Today, we started talking about what justice was and what are human rights are.  We then worked as a group to gather ideas for a debate about refugees.  The children came up with some very interesting points and it gave us lots of discussion points. 

Breaking News from the Sky Newsroom 

Warning - contains miracles!  Our children reporting live from the scenes of Jesus' miracles.

Catholic Life at St. Mary's 

2022 - 2023

Bible Studies 

Shelly Woods class enjoyed an RE lesson with a difference today. We were lucky enough to enjoy a lesson devoted to exploring the Bible. This involved actions, dress-up and some class discussion about certain aspects and stories within the Bible. It was fun and informative, the children were engrossed. 

In Daley Class we contributed to the wonderful Stations of the Cross display in the hall. We talked about our faith and what each station represents.

Eid al-Fitr

To celebrate Eid, the celebration to mark the end of Ramadan, Shelly Woods class enjoyed some special treats. 

Today the children have the opportunity to role play the nativity story. The children were able to ‘interview’ the shepherds and discuss how they felt when they first heard the news, from Angel Gabriel, that the Son of God had been born. Some children were able to identify that the Angel Gabriel told the shepherds first because they were normal people, just like us! We also spoke about what gifts they would have bought Jesus, like wool to keep them warm in the stable!

Holmes Class (Year 1) Advent Promises 2022.

Shelly Woods Class School of Justice - A Courtroom Visit

To ink with our RE Justice topic and British Values in school, we were lucky enough to visit the mock courtroom at UCLAN.  The children got to dress up and perform a courtroom role play.  We had lots of fun!

Woods Class - Showing Compassion

During our RE session, we looked for Bible scriptures whereby Jesus showed mercy and compassion.  We talked about how we could show mercy and compassion and what OUR mission was. 

Catholic Life at St. Mary's 

2021 - 2022

Wednesday 30th March saw St. Mary's coming together to create each station of the Stations of the Cross, Jesus' journey to his death. The classes created two stations each and placed them, in the hall, in order. When visiting the hall, each class had the opportunity to retell the story and spend time in reflection and prayer, thinking of Jesus' sacrifice. Our group of children who have been doing The Way of the Cross service, did the service using our stations instead of visiting church. Fr Michael and some parishioners joined us and then enjoyed a Lenten lunch together.

Some of the children in Year 6 went to The Emmanuel Church and ate a Lenten Lunch together.  They enjoyed interacting with the rest of the community and enjoying some food together! 

A small group of our Year 6s, during Lent, are participating in The Way of the Cross, every Thursday at church led by Fr Michael. The children read the child part of the readings are the moved around the stations remembering the events of Good Friday. Fr Michael and parishioners will be invited to our Stations of the Cross on 30th March to complete the service.

On Wednesday 2^nd March, as a school, we went to church and participated in Ash Wednesday Mass to celebrate the start of the season of Lent. We all received Ashes on our forehead and celebrated Mass together. We reflected on how we make a Lenten promise and prayed to God to help us in the next 40 days as we prepare for Easter.

The children in Year 3 and 4 had the opportunity to visit Emmanuel Church to participate in activities linked with Lent - what is it, how we prepare and why its important. The children played games flipping pancakes, learnt the history of Shrove Tuesday, ate some pancakes with a topping of their choice and wrote their own Lenten Promise.

The children of Year 5 and 6 attended their half termly class mass which fell on 'The Presentation of the Lord'. This is a special feast day remembering Jesus being presented in the temple 40 days after he was born. The children read beautiful and were a credited to themselves and school.

On Thursday 27th January, 18 children from Year 4-6 participated in a sponsored walk to raise money for Isabelle, a local girl who needs to go to America for Cancer treatment. The children completed a 3 mile walk on the promenade in Fleetwood, with a stop off at the Beach Park before heading back to school. We are looking forward to seeing how much we have raised.

To spread some Christmas joy, all of the classes prepared a carol and sang it to their parents outside whilst wearing their Christmas jumpers. The children thoroughly enjoyed preparing their carol. When asked why we sing carols, some of the children's responses were about how singing brings joy, it is a form of prayer and it helps to tell the Christmas story.

As a whole school, we contributed a harvest collection, consisting of tins and packets of food for our local food bank, as we do each year and we went to church to celebrate Harvest Mass. It was the first time, in a long time, due to lockdowns, that we were able to be there together as whole school. it was lovely to all be together to listen to the Word of God and sing hymns.

The children Garrido Class (Year 3/4) returned to church on 22nd September to celebrate mass with the parishioners. It was lovely for the children to attend mass together as a class, especially after not being able to go together as a class or school for over 12 months. The children followed the mass cards brilliantly so they could join in with the responses and watched and listened to Fr Michael closely.

Catholic Life at St. Mary's

2019-2021

30th Sept 2019 - 31st Dec 2020

celebrating, living and sharing God's word

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales have designated 2020 as 'The God Who Speaks': A Year of the Word to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Verbum Domini - Pope Benedict XVI’s Apostolic Exhortation on ‘The Word of the Lord’, and the 1600th anniversary of death of St Jerome, who translated the Bible into Latin.

Mass dates for this term are as follows:

15th January - Year 5/6

22nd January - Year 4/5

29th January - Year 3/4

Ash Wednesday mass will be celebrated by the whole school on the 26th February at 10am mass.

4th March - Year 5/6

18th March - Year 4/5

25th March - Year 3/4

Stations of the Cross will be presented in the school hall for our day of reflection on the 1st April. Parents and parishioners are all welcome.

Hobby Class took part in a nativity workshop by visits from BYSW.  The children followed the story of the birth of Jesus; they listened to the Angel Gabriel tell Mary she was going to have a baby and how she felt. They visited the stable where baby Jesus was born, saw the shepherds and talked to one of the wise men.

Kestral Class were invited to spend a morning at Emmanuel Church. They spent the morning reflecting on being thankful. They read a story about ‘The Giving Tree’, which showed them that when we give things to other people, we feel really good; they also read a story about Jesus healing the Leapers. This showed them that they should always say thank you when someone has helped us with something. they had a great morning and are looking forward to experiencing another reflection session with them! The children really enjoyed talking about being thankful for what they had and they have all come away reflecting on what they have to be thankful for.

Lest we forget

Year 6 children went to the Cenotaph on Sunday to participate in the Remembrance Sunday Serive in Fleetwood Memorial Park. Molly, Julia and Kian as Heads and Deputies went with Mrs Kowalska to the Marine Hall to represent school at the Remembrance Day service on the 11th.

RE at St. Mary's in 2018 - 2019

Today, all of the staff and children at St. Mary's joined a group of children from St. Wulstan's and St. Edmund's and Cardinal Allen to celebrate mass at St. Mary's for Corpus Christi. This is a special feast day to celebrate the body of Christ and which always happens on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday. With this year being The Year of the Eucharist, this mass was extra special and as catholic schools in Fleetwood, we wanted to celebrate together. We used the icon of the Year of the Eucharist to led our procession together to and from church. 

After Mass the students from Cardinal Allen led an act of worship to Year 6 children about Corpus Christi: the important of Jesus in our lives and him being the Eucharist. The Year 6 children had planned and delivered their own worship on the same theme, the day before, across school to the younger classes in preparation of going us celebrating mass.

Year 2/3 (Hokusai/Michelangelo) children have listened attentively to a French version of the Nativity story. (La Nativité).  They showed understanding by joining in and responding.  They made a greetings card to celebrate Joyeux Noël.

Prayer Requests

Amazing things can happen when people come into agreement.

Matthew 18:19 says

“I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven.”

The children and staff will be delighted to pray for you or a loved one this week.

As soon as we receive your request, the children and staff will keep your request in our hearts and minds as we pray throughout the day and week.

Our children have prayer and liturgy within their classrooms and as a whole school. Look at the prayer and liturgy star and see the acts of worship the children are involved in, as well as actually planning and delivering themselves to their peers. 

The Year of the Eucharist

Cardinal calls us to the presence of Christ - Adoremus 2018

Adoremus - the Eucharistic Congress and Pilgrimage took place in Liverpool 7th - 9th September 2018

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp7E0tjXitI

Following the National Eucharist Congress to be held in Liverpool, schools of the Diocese of Lancaster are invited by Bishop Paul to observe a ‘Year of the Eucharist’. The aim of this year is to develop a deeper understanding of the Eucharist as the ‘source and summit’ of the Christian life and to encourage and foster regular devotion to the Blessed Sacrament within our schools. Rather than organising central events, the Diocese of Lancaster Education Service will work with schools, deans and local clergy to encourage Eucharist Adoration at a local and deanery level.

This is an opportunity to enhance our devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and share the Cardinal’s hope for a 'rejuvenation' of love for the Eucharist in our school. It is important to remind ourselves that Christ is at the heart of our schools and learning and that 'We grow, learn and achieve by following Christ.' 

RE at St. Mary's in 2017 - 2018

Check out Einstein Class' Lenten Liturgy on being patient:

https://st-marys-catholic.primarysite.media/media/lentern-liturgy 

Class Masses for Spring Term:

17th Jan - Year 3 

31st - Year 4

7th Feb - Year 5

21st Feb - Year 3

28th Feb - Year 4

7th March - Year 5

14th March - Year 6

On Tuesday 27th, our Stations of the Cross will be on display in the school hall which will have been made by the children. More information to follow after half term.

Mass Dates

Key Stage 2 Class Masses

Year 3 - Wednesday 13th September

Year 5 - Wednesday 20th September

Year 4 - Wednesday 27th September

Year 6 - Wednesday 4th October

Whole School Harvest Mass - Wednesday 11th October

Key Stage 2 Class Masses

Year 3 - Wednesday 8th November

Year 4 - Wednesday 15th November

Year 5 - Wednesday 22nd November

Year 6 - Wednesday 29th November

KS2 Christmas Carol Service Monday 18th December 6pm at St. Mary's Church 

RE at St. Mary's in 2016 - 2017

KS2 Class Mass Dates for the Summer Term - all masses at 10am:

Descartes - Wednesday 3rd May

Euler - Wednesday 10th May

Fibonacci - Wednesday 24th May

Summer Term II

Descartes - Wednesday 7th June

Euler - Wednesday 14th June 

Fibonacci - Wednesday 21st June

End of Year/Leavers' Mass - Tuesday 18th July at 10 am

Upcoming Masses for Autumn II and Spring I for Key Stage Two classes have been arrange with Fr Michael.

Autumn II

Descartes - Wednesday 23rd November 10am

Euler - Wednesday 30th November 10am

Fibonacci - Wednesday 7th December 10am

KS1 Nativity - Tuesday 6th December and Wednesday 7th December

KS2 Carol Service - Tuesday 20th December 6pm at St. Mary's Church

Spring I

Euler - Wednesday 18th January 10am

Descartes - Wednesday 25th January 10am

Fibonacci - Wednesday 1st February 10am