Winter 2023
Catholic Social Teaching Day - 3rd December 2023
During the season of Advent, we reflected that because God loves us we must love each other- so it was a perfect time to dedicate a whole day to Catholic Social Teaching. We were delighted to welcome back Jan Beaumont from CAFOD who visited each class to support us with our activities.
Good Samaritan Workshops led by the Faith Leaders
The workshops were held in the hall, where children gathered in a circle around the Faith Leaders.
Each year group was asked to imagine that they were part of the crowd listening to Jesus telling this wonderful parable. Children were invited to help the lawyer answer the question, “Who is my neighbour?” Others were chosen to walk down the road to Jericho and act out what they would have done had they seen the injured man. Years 1 to 4 took part in role plays led by the Faith Leaders to think about how we can be like the Good Samaritan today. In addition to these role plays, Years 5 and 6 were challenged further to think about why Jesus chose a Samaritan to be the hero of the story and were asked to reflect and share their experiences of being like the Good Samaritan or like the passers-by.
Every child was given something to take away to enable them to keep the message of this story in their hearts.
Years 1 and 2 were given Good Samaritan puppets and were asked to write an example of a time they have been like the Good Samaritan.
Years 3 and 4 were given a helping hand template and asked to reflect on how they will use the season of Advent to be Good Samaritans at home and at school.
Years 5 and 6 were given a sealed envelope as they entered the hall, which contained a message from Pope Francis about the choice we face each day to either be Good Samaritans or passers-by. At the end of the workshop the children opened their envelopes and reflected and discussed the challenge of this choice and how they will act on it.
The Faith Leaders are already thinking about what they will do for their next workshop!
The Faith Leaders ran a cake sale after school to raise money for CAFOD. Among the delights on offer were biscuits freshly iced by Year 1 and Year 5 that day.
Each year group spent the whole day focussing on one of the principles. This included finding out about an area of CAFOD’S work, and linking it to a piece of scripture. All activities had the theme of doing good for others.