Celebrations
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St Francis' Feast Day

We celebrated St Francis' feast day by attending Mass with Fr Reg and enjoying a special animal-themed day. One of the Year 6 pupils rode her horse around the school field, while children in Year 2 cuddled Flash and Toothy, two very furry guinea pigs! We also had a visit from some birds of prey from Avon Owls and a horse called Rosie. Great fun was had by all as we gave thanks to God for His creation, for St Francis and for our school community.

School Pilgrimage to Downside Abbey to Celebrate Feast Of St Francis

We had a fantastic day at Downside Abbey. Thank you so much to all our parents, grandparents and governors who joined us for this very special celebration of our feast day. The children did us proud with the Abbey staff being impressed by their behaviour and the way in which they were so interested in what they did and saw. Talking to the children afterwards I was struck with how much they appreciated going somewhere so different and their enthusiasm through the day. They all engaged well when completing their practical tasks around the abbey, and sat beautifully for mid-day prayer in the abbey with the monks.

Education Mass

At the end of June, 16 of our children attended the annual Diocesan Education Mass at Clifton Cathedral. They joined with teachers, governors and pupils from other Catholic schools in the Diocese to give thanks for all that they have achieved this year and to celebrate the work of all those involved in Catholic Education. At the Mass, Bishop Declan invited representatives from each school to come forward to receive a candle and the children from St Francis' led a reflection; dancing to the hymn "This little light of mine".

May Procession

Year 5 did a wonderful job leading our May Procession this year. Thank you to all our year 5 children (and Mrs Field) who organised and led this so enthusiastically and for all who attended and helped make the occasion a special one.

Pentecost Assembly

A Pentecost Party took place this week to celebrate the birthday of the Church. Senior citizens from the parishes of St Francis' Nailsea and the Immaculate Conception Clevedon joined children and staff for a Pentecost Celebration in the school hall. Each class presented in word, song, dance and drama thoughts about the Holy Spirit and everyone enjoyed a slice of birthday cake. The celebration was organised by the School Prayer team who wanted to do something special for those who are elderly or live alone. Here are some comments from some of the visitors who spoke to the prayer team after the event "First class in all aspects!" "A really enjoyable morning. All the children did so well." "Thoroughly enjoyed it. Reminded me of my childhood!". "Fantastic assembly. Very creative". "Wonderful! The children have such a clear understanding of Pentecost and the Holy Spirit". "What a lovely way to celebrate the Church's birthday. Thank you St Francis' School!"

Passover Meal

On Wednesday afternoon, Key Stage 2 children enjoyed celebrating a Passover meal together. Tables were spread with an array of foods arranged on Seder plates, each food representing an aspect of the freeing of the Jews from slavery in Egypt. Children listened to Passover music and shared the food together in a special order. Our six very youngest children all asked a question about the Passover meal, and the year six children answered them.

Many thanks to our fantastic year 5 parent helpers who went shopping, cooked food, chopped food and helped clear up afterwards!

KS1 Christmas Craft Workshop

Reception Class and the children in Years 1 and 2 took part in a Christmas craft workshop. They listened to the Christmas story and made Christmas cards, Christmas decorations and edible mangers containing baby Jesus! Lots of parents came into school to assist the children and an enjoyable time was had by all.

KS2 Carol Service
The rafters rang at St Francis’ Church as our Key Stage Two children did us proud with their wonderful retelling of the Christmas story through singing, acting, reading and dancing.

There are so many people we need to say ‘thank you’ to for helping us put this carol service together - all the staff who have rehearsed, sung, stapled broken costumes, supervised children, made head dresses and carried furniture about , parent ‘walkers’ to and from church and our ‘man with the van’ who helped transport staging and benches to and from church to name but a few.

KS1 Nativity

What a fantastic re-telling of the Christmas story we have been privileged to see this week, with our infant performance of ‘Mary’s Knitting’ whisking us back to Bethlehem all those many years ago. The children sang with gusto, the narrators and actors were crystal clear and the smiles on every child’s face showed how much they enjoyed performing for their parents, parishioners and other pupils.

Advent and Blessing of the Wreaths

A wonderful number of Advent wreaths appeared in our classrooms and school hall. They were blessed by Father Reg and returned to the children's homes to enjoy as part of our families' Christmas preparations. The children also created beautiful Advent place mats.

Christingle

Thank you to our year 1 and 5 children and staff for leading a beautiful mass this morning filled with music, dance and light.

Celebrations please click on the pictures to view full size...