Catholic Life
Parish Newsletter 21st May 2023
Who is St. Simon of England? 
Our School Values.
At the beginning of every school year we share our School Values week to celebrate and remind us of the core values at the heart of our school as we begin a new year.
Policies and inspection reports.
RE. Policy
This policy is in line with the diocesan policy on Religious Education and Collective Worship and the content here in includes:
- Mission Statement and Rationale of Religious Education
- School Ethos
- Policy statement
- Principles of teaching and learning in
- Collective worship
- Spirituality
- Teaching of other Religions
- Role of the RE co-ordinator
- Role of the Parish Priest
- Role of Parents
- Role of Governors
Religious education.
Shared Worship.
The moral and spiritual imperatives of the Catholic faith are experienced in every area of school life. Central to this, the children pray together three times each day and the prayer life of the school is a strong and a living feature of the family community we strive to create.
Our School Prayers.
Living and Understanding the Liturgical Year.
As an integral part of our Catholic ethos, all pupils are made aware, throughout the school year, of the changes and celebrations relating to the Church's Liturgical Year and their significance to our faith. These periods and events are highlighted, in our our assembly hall,our whole school theme displays, in every classroom’s through the focal point for prayer reflection and are also central to our shared worship. Shared Worship.
Performance and Liturgies. The Liturgical year is also punctuated by performance and Liturgies.
The children are aware of the liturgical changes with the changing colours of our cloths and displays.
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Crowning of Mary 2023
Liturgical colours
Liturgical Leadership.
awaiting content.
Mass in Southwark Diocese
When I can't get to Church
Daily Family Worship.
Every day.
Gather together as a family and light a candle.
- Say the Our Father together as a family.
- Offer your own bidding prayers for your own intentions …….We pray for……
- Put all your prayers through Mary the mother of our church by saying the Hail mary.
- One member of your family can read the Gospel aloud.This Sunday’s Gospel is when Jesus appeared to the disciples on the road to Emmaus. This helps us to understand that Jesus is always with us in our heart.
- Take a few minutes to think about the words you have just heard.
- Share with your family any words or phrases that particularly struck you whilst listening to the readings.
- How do you think the Gospel message is relevant to you and your family today?
- Say our school Morning Offertory.
Gospel from the Wednesday word.
Wednesday Word Home Learning
The Prayer Intentions of the Holy Father 2023
Preparation of the prepared prayer intentions? The faithful from around the world suggest papal prayer intentions in each country some of these intentions are sent to the office of the Pope’s Worldwide Prayer Network in Vatican City. The Pope prays and selects some prayer intentions and then the chosen official set of monthly prayer intentions, are then translated into the major world languages and published in print and digital formats for us all to share.
JANUARY
For educators
We pray that educators may be credible witnesses, teaching fraternity rather than competition and helping the youngest and most vulnerable above all.
FEBRUARY
For parishes
We pray that parishes, placing communion at the centre,may increasingly become communities of faith, fraternity and welcome towards those most in need.
MARCH
For victims.
We pray for those who have suffered harm from members of the Church; may they find within the Church herself a concrete response to their pain and suffering.
APRIL
For a culture of peace and non violence
We pray for the spread of peace by decreasing the use of weapons by States and citizens.
MAY
For church movements and groups
We pray that Church movements and groups may rediscover their mission of evangelization each day,
JUNE
For the abolition of torture
We pray that the international community may commit in a concrete way to the end of torture and offer support to victims and their families.
JULY
For a Eucharistic life
We pray that Catholics may place the celebration of the Eucharist at the heart of their lives, transforming human relationships in a very deep way and opening to the encounter with God and all their brothers and sisters.
AUGUST
For World Youth Day
We pray that the World Youth Day in Lisbon will help young people to live and witness the Gospel in their own lives.
SEPTEMBER
For people living on the margins
We pray for those persons living in inhumane life conditions; may they not be overlooked by institutions and never considered of lesser importance.
OCTOBER
For the Synod
We pray for the Church, that she may adopt listening and dialogue as a lifestyle at every level, and allow herself to be guided by the Holy Spirit.
NOVEMBER
For the Pope
We pray for the Holy Father; as he fulfills his mission, may he continue to accompany the flock entrusted to him, with the help of the Holy Spirit.
DECEMBER
For persons with disabilities
We pray that people living with disabilities may be at the centre in society, and that institutions may offer inclusive programs which value their active participation.
Partnership and Parish.
At St. Simon’s, we work closely in partnership with parents and have strong links within the parish.
We believe that parents are the first and most important educator of the child. They are always kept informed of events and activities within the school and along with members of the parish are always very welcome to attend any of our Masses and liturgical celebrations.
At St. Simon’s we are served by the parish of St. Simon Stock. The Parish and school work together in supporting the development and enrichment of our children’s faith journey and Religious Education.
The Whole School joins Mass in the parish twice each term and all Holy Days of Obligation are observed. The children are responsible for the preparation of the Liturgy and every child is offered the opportunity of participating at Mass in some way.
Reverence and joy characterise the celebration of Mass for St Simon’s School and many visitors express their praise and thanks for the respectfulness, and prayerfulness of the children. The children also sing in a choir on significant fest days, attend Eucharistic adoration throughout the year and walk the Stations of the Cross during Lent.
Father Hans the priest in charge of the parish is always a welcome visitor and regularly visits the school to celebrate class Masses and liturgies and also to provide the opportunity of reconciliation for our Key stage 2 children.
Sacramental Preparation.
Children at St. Simon's take part in the structured Parish-based sacramental program for First Holy Communion.
This celebration of First Holy Communion in the Parish is attended and shared by staff at St. Simon's .
The Wednesday Word.
We use the Wednesday Word as a scripture resource to enrich our home school and Parish partnership through the sharing of the Sunday Gospel with families.
http://www.wednesdayword.org/school/index.htm
Partnership in the Wider Community.
awaiting content.
Social Justice and the Common Good.
Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’(Matthew 25:40)
At St. Simon’s we teach our children the principles of Catholic Social Teaching as a guide to help them to understand and live their faith in the world.
This means helping others in need and caring for the world given to us by God the Father.
Each year, we turn our concerns into action, fundraising regularly for a variety of charities chosen by the children.
Charitable Giving.
On Tuesday 8th October 2019, Year 3 led the school in our Harvest Festival Liturgy. During the liturgy we said thank you to God for all the gifts he has given us, at the same time as thinking of others who are less fortunate than us. We collected donations of tinned and dried foods, which were used to create a harvest display. All the goods were then donated to “Vinnie’s Diner,” a charity that prepares meals for the homeless and needy within the Ashford area.
In October 2019 we held our McMillan Coffee Afternoon to raise money to make a difference to the lives of people living with cancer.
Lenten Charities.
In March 2020,We held a crazy hair and dressing up day to raise money for Cancer Relief UK, which was set up to help cancer sufferers in the UK during their illness.
We chose this charity because it is always there for families, helping with bills, travel expenses, treatment and even a special treat to help people forget about their cancer and have fun with their family for a day.
Also as part of our Lenten charity,every child in the school undertook a sponsored mile on our school mile track, to raise money for Sport Relief. This money will help to tackle issues including mental health, homelessness and child poverty right across the world. https://www.sportrelief.com/
Vocation.
What is God calling us to do?
We need to find our ‘Vocation’ in life.
The word comes from the Latin ’vocare’ which means ‘to call’. Vocation, then, is about a calling in people’s lives’. God calls each and every person into existence and then calls us to be a living sign of his love for the world.
This means that for Christians, a vocation is not just something that God calls us to do; it is also the person God calls us to be.
To discover your vocation look at others and consider the qualities they have, that you would most like to have yourself? What kind of person would you really like to be? What talents do you have, that you can share with the world?
