Our School Mission Day 

On Friday 9th September we celebrated our annual mission day looking at our wonderful school mission of "Success for all in a Christ-Centred community". This year we looked at St. Monica and the influence that she has on our school mission. Each year group took a different part of the mission statement - Early years and Year 1 looked at 'Success', Year 2 and Year 3 looked at 'for all', Year 4 and Year 5 looked at 'Christ-Centred' and Year 6 looked at 'Community'. We all had so much fun participating in a wide range of activities including drama, dance, writing, artwork and song. The day ended with a fantastic celebration assembly where we all shared what we had been doing. 

Ukraine 

We are taught in the Bible to always strive in Peace.

"Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and Peace will be with you." Corinthians 13:11

Therefore as a School and Parish Community we are deeply saddened at the outbreak of war in the Ukraine. We always want to seek ways to help as the Catholic Social teachings tell us that God wants us to help people who don't have a safe place to live. We have reached out to our Parish and school communities for donations to send to the people of Ukraine. A local organisation has arranged for lorries with essential humanitarian supplies to be sent to the Polish-Ukrainian border. These supplies will be distributed to help mothers with children who had been forced to flee. Our community have been so wonderful and we cannot thank you enough, we have received so many boxes of donations that we had to hire our own van to deliver them to the Charity. You have been so wonderful. We will continue to keep the people of Ukraine in our hearts and prayers and we pray for a peaceful resolution.

Our Start of Year Mass - St. Monica's Church

On Monday 26th September we as a school all gathered in Church to begin our new school year together with God. We welcomed our Reception classes to their first ever school celebration in Church and they thoroughly enjoyed the mass as Father Ged explained the different parts of the mass to them. Our Year 6 children led the mass beautifully as we prayed for a successful and happy year ahead for all.

Class 3L's Family Assembly - Harvest

Class 3L started our Harvest celebration with a wonderful assembly all about Harvest Festival, the traditions behind it and how we are able to help others at this time of year. It was wonderful to have our families joining us and sharing this special celebration.

Our Harvest Festival 

As part of our Harvest Festival, we made up food and toiletry bags to help those in our local community. We also donated some bags to Liverpool Food bank. 

Meet our Religious Education Ambassadors

Please meet our wonderful RE ambassadors for this year. This wonderful group of representatives from Year 3 4, 5 and 6 will be promoting RE across the school. They will be helping across the different year groups in a range of different ways: promoting the Catholic life and mission of the school, helping children to plan and deliver prayer and liturgy and assisting with our charitable work. They all embody and embrace our Mission Statement of 'Success for all in a Christ-Centred Community. 

Class 5F's Family Assembly 

Class 5F presented a wonderful family assembly based on the theme of 'Forgiveness'. They used rhyming couplets to tell the story of The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15: 11-32). They told us all about the importance of being able to forgive others and why it is so important to do so. We were so lucky that so many of our wonderful families were able to join us to watch this special message.

Children in Need - November 2022

We had a wonderful day raising money for Children in Need by completing a series of sporty circuits in our classes. Our wonderful families donated money and we raised money for vulnerable children in the United Kingdom. 

Poppy Appeal 2022 and Armistice Day 

For this year's poppy appeal our wonderful year 6's sold a variety of poppy day stationary to raise money for the British Legion Appeal. Our families and children were as generous as ever and we raised just over £150. On Armistice day a group of children from Years 3 - 6 had the opportunity to visit the World War 2 memorials at the King's Garden in Bootle. We laid wreaths from the school and reflected upon the sacrifices made by all of those who were killed. We finished with a prayer. At School we held a special assembly and marked the 11th hour with a two minute silence. For the fallen, we shall always remember.

Baptism visit from Father Ged

We were incredibly lucky to be joined by Father Ged today as part of our RE topic looking at the Sacrament of Baptism. He was able to tell us all about the Sacrament, the signs and symbols involved and how we are welcomed into God's family through Baptism. Father helped us to role play what happens so that we had a better understanding. Thank you Father Ged!

Beginning of Advent

Sunday 3rd December marked the beginning of Advent. In school we have been busy getting ready, our nativity scenes have been placed within our classrooms and our school foyer, our prayer table cloths have been changed to purple, we have made our Advent promises, begun to lit our advent wreaths and we have begun to open our Advent calendars. We are focused on learning all about the events leading up to Christmas and the Birth of Jesus. Our advent calendars are always special and focus on following Jesus' example by doing kind and caring things during this special time to show that we are getting prepared.

Class 4W's Family Assembly - Advent

Class 4W marked the beginning of Advent with a beautiful family assembly exploring the meaning of Advent and how it is celebrated around the world. They reflected upon Advent promises that they had made and how our school helps others during this special time as we wait in joyful hope. Our wonderful families were able to join us and share the lighting of the Advent Wreath.

Our Christmas Toy Drive 

At the end of November, as part of our commitment as a school to the Catholic Social Teachings of the 'Common Good', we collected donations from our Parish and School community of new or nearly toys. We know that God wants us to help others so that everyone can have a good life. We opened the school to any families who were in need of these toys for Christmas and we also donated some to the Venus Centre in Bootle who are a local charity that support women and children. 

Samaritan's Purse - Operation Christmas Child

The mission of Operation Christmas Child is to show God's love in a tangible way to children in need around the world, and together with the local church worldwide, to share the good news of Jesus Christ. Since 1990, more than 157 million children in over 160 countries have experienced God's love through the power of simple shoebox gifts from Operation Christmas Child. This year, St Monica's have donated to this wonderful cause, sending over 100 shoeboxes. Thank you to all of wonderfully generous children and families who created a memorable Christmas for less fortunate children around the world.

Our Infant Nativity

On Thursday 15th December and Friday 16th December our infants performed our annual Nativity, we were very excited as it was the first time in two years that we were able to invite all of our families and friends into school to watch our performances. Our Year Two children led the way telling the story of Jesus' birth while Year One sang beautiful hymns and carols. Our Nursery and Reception also added extra sparkle with their own songs about this wonderous event. Thank you to all our wonderful families who came to watch and we wish you all a happy and holy Christmas.

Christmas Carol Concert

On Monday 19th December Year 6 led our traditional Christmas Carol Concert at St Monica's Church. Our entire school was present to listen the Nativity of Our Lord told through scripture readings and song. Year 6 led the service with wonderful contributions from Year 3, 4 and 5 who sang a selection of traditional carols and hymns. We were also very lucky to be joined in Church by many of our families and Parish community as well as our wonderful Parish Priest Father Ged. It was a reflective morning which focused on the true meaning of Christmas - the birth of our Lord Jesus.

Our Christmas Community Foodbank

Just before we finished for Christmas we collected in food donations from a local company. We also purchased turkey crowns, potatoes, vegetables and mince pies to make up Christmas Dinner bags to help families over the festive period. Families were able to come and collect a bag. Bags were also donated to members of our local community and Liverpool Food Bank.

Visit from Father Ged to Year 4

As part of their RE work for the community topic, Year 4 received a visit from our Parish Priest Father Ged. He taught the children all about the symbolism behind actions at a funeral mass. A big thank you to Father for giving us so much of his time, the children learnt so much.

CAFOD Visit 

On Friday 10th February we were very fortunate to welcome Justine from CAFOD who came into deliver a whole school assembly. During this assembly she told us all about the wonderful work that they do across the world and how our vital fundraising helps them to continue this work. We learnt about children and families on the other side of the world and how we can help them. This half-term we will be taking part in CAFOD's Big Lent work and we look forward to raising money for CAFOD. We finished our assembly with a prayer and liturgy asking God to help us. 

Our School Foodbank 

We have been collecting donations of food for our pantry and on Saturday 11th February we opened up school to any families who wanted to collect a bag of food and toiletries to help them over the half-term holiday. We also gave some bags to those in our local community as well as the Liverpool Food Bank.

Class 1H's Family Assembly

Class 1H invited their wonderful mums into school this Friday to celebrate them. As Mother's day is approaching Class 1H wanted to show their appreciation for all that their mums do for them and thank them. They offered prayers to God to look after their mums. They also honoured the Mother of Christ - Mary with a beautiful rendition of the Hail Mary. We wish all of our Mums a very happy Mother's Day.

Ash Wednesday

On 22nd February we were very fortunate to welcome Father Ged into school to mark the beginning of Lent. We have been busy marking the beginning of Lent by looking at the symbolism behind Ash Wednesday, we have made our Lenten Promises and our Holy table cloths are now purple in accordance with the Churches liturgical year. We gathered together in the hall and Father Ged delivered a prayer and liturgy with prayers and an understanding of why we receive ashes on this important day. Finally we all received our ashes. 

Class 4M's Family Assembly

On Friday 17th March Class 4M celebrated St Patrick's Day with a special Family Assembly. We were fortunate to so many of our families into school to watch while we shared special prayers and liturgies while learning all about the life of St Patrick.

CAFOD Big Lent Walk

During Lent this half term we as a school registered and completed our Big Lent Walk for CAFOD. This involved our school community walking set distances in order to raise money to help people overcome poverty. Almsgiving is such an important part of our Lenten promises as a school and despite some difficult weather conditions we had so much fun raising money for this wonderful charity. A big thank you to all of our wonderful and supportive families for their donations.

Easter Pageant 

On Thursday 30th March, our entire school visited our Parish of St. Monica's to watch our wonderful Year 3 as they retold the events of Easter. Through narration, song and dance they beautifully led us through Palm Sunday, the arrest of Jesus, his trial and crucifixion and his wonderous resurrection on Easter Sunday. We were so lucky to be joined by some of our families as well as our Parish Family and Father Ged. The Pageant was very moving and allowed all children to understand the significance of the most important date in the Churches calendar. A big thank you to our wonderful Year 3 children and staff and we hope that everyone has a very blessed Easer.

St Monica's Pantry at Easter

Due to our fundraising efforts with our school lottery we were able to put together a number of food parcels for families that may need it over the Easter holidays. This included all the essentials needed to make a full family dinner for Easter Sunday as well as some additional chocolate treats. We hope all of our families have a very happy and blessed Easter.

Class 1M Family Assembly 

On Friday 5th May Class 1M celebrated the coronation of King Charles. We were very lucky to be joined by so many of our families who shared some very special prayers for our future monarch. We are very excited to be celebrating such an important moment in history.

St Monica's Pantry (May half term)

'Don't forget to do good and to share what you have because God is pleased with these kind of sacrifices' 

Hebrews 13:16

As part of our Catholic Social Teaching we know that God wants us to help our community. We have been collecting food donations this half term and our children were able to make up over 25 bags of food for any families in our community that needed them as well as donating some to the Liverpool Food bank.

Leavers Mass - Year 6 (Thursday 13th July 2023)

On Thursday our entire school gathered together to bode our Year 6 farewell as they leave our school and move onto the next phrase of their lives. We prayed that they would settle in quickly to their new schools and that they would continue to grow surrounded by God's Love. We also gave praise and thanks to God for our school year and asked for his guidance to keep us safe over our Summer holidays. The Mass was led beautifully by our Year 5 along with Father Ged. A big thank you to the many families that were able to join us and to our Parish community. Goodbye Year 6, we will miss you.

'For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God' (Colossians 1: 9-10)

August 2023 - Uniform Day (Serving our Community)

On Thursday 30th August we opened our school up to anybody from our community who needed any uniform. We were so very lucky to receive such wonderful donations of newly new uniforms before we finished school in July and were able to offer these to other families. We know how important it is to look after our environment and this is another wonderful example of being able to recycle clothes which can be used again.

'And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased' (Hebrews 13: 16)

Our School Mission Day - 2023

'Success for All within a Christ-Centred Community'

On Friday 15th September 2023 we celebrated our annual Mission Day. This year as well as focussing on our wonderful Mission Statement and what it means to us as a school, we also looked at our Mission Statement and how it fits with the themes of Catholic Social Teaching. Catholic Social teaching is wisdom given to us from the Church about how we can live out our faith in the world.

Each year group had their own theme to explore:

Year 1 explored the theme of 'Dignity' (God made each person, so every life is important and should be protected). They looked at how we ensure that everyone in our school is important and that everyone is treated well.

'Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you' Jeremiah 1:5

Year 2 explored the theme of 'Solidarity' (God made us to be part of a community, family and countries so that all people can share and help each other). They looked at how we are a community here at St Monicas, how we help our local community and how we help our wider community.

'In truth I tell you, in so far as as you did this to one of the least of these brothers (or sisters) of mine, you did it to me'

Matthew 25:40

Year 3 explored the theme of 'The Common Good' (God wants us to help to make sure that everyone is safe, healthy and can have a good life). They looked at how we work for the common good in our school.

'Do for others, just what you want them to do for you' Luke 6:31

Year 4 explored the theme of 'The option for the poor' (God wants us to help people who are poor, who don't have enough food, a safe place to live or a community). They looked at how we help others in school and how we help those who are in need.

'When you give to the poor, it is like lending to the Lord, and the Lord will pay you back' Proverbs 19:17

Year 5 explored the theme of 'Peace' (God made everyone so we are all brothers and sisters in God's family wherever we live). They looked at how we achieve peace in our school community and peace in the wider world.

'Happy are those who work for peace; God will call them his children' Matthew 5:9

Year 6 explored the theme of 'Creation and environment' (The world was made by God so we take care of all of Creation). They looked at how we help to take care of God's creation here at school and how we contribute to taking care of the wider world.

'Then the Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and guard it' Genesis 2:15

We started the day with an introductory assembly and were lucky enough to have Father Ged join us to give us a blessing for the school year ahead before embarking on a range of activities including art, music, drama, singing and prayer writing. We finished our mission day with a celebratory assembly during which each year group presented their work and what they had discovered. We had such a wonderful day and learnt a lot about our mission statement and Catholic Social teaching.

Start of Year Mass - Tuesday 26th September 2023

We were so blessed to be able to gather together as an entire school on Tuesday morning at Church. Father Ged along with our wonderful Year 6's led the mass which welcomed our new reception children into our school family and asked for God's blessings and protection for this school year. We shared Gospel readings, bidding prayers and a selection of beautiful hymns. We were so lucky to be joined by some of our wonderful families. A big thank you to all who joined us and to our wonderful Parish Priest Father Ged.

Sharing Prayer and liturgy with our Governors

We were delighted to invite our wonderful governor Mrs C Roughneen in to join our wonderful prayer and liturgies this week in Key Stage 2. Our theme was 'Thankfulness' and we shared a selection of scripture together from Matthew's Gospel, the Psalms, Thessalonians and Ephesians. We shared prayers and songs and silently reflected upon what 'Thankfulness' meant to us and how we can go forth and share our own thanks to God in our everyday lives.

'Sing to the Lord, all the world. Worship the Lord with joy; come before him with happy songs! Acknowledge that the Lord is God. He made us, and we belong to him; we are his people, we are his flock. Enter the temple gates with thanksgiving, go into its courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise him. The Lord is good; his love is eternal and his faithfulness lasts forever.' (Psalm 100)

Career's Day Prayer and liturgy

On Tuesday 3rd October we celebrated our Careers day with the children. In keeping with our core values of 'Faith' and 'Aspiration' we began the day with a whole school Prayer and liturgy led by our Headteacher Mr Gouldbourne. We listened together as a whole school to the story of the Lost Sheep (Luke 15: 4-6) and reflected upon how we can always help one another to achieve our dreams, how to never give up on ourselves and others and how to ensure that everyone in our school community feels happy and safe. 

Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them—what do you do? You leave the other ninety-nine sheep in the pasture and go looking for the one that got lost until you find it.  When you find it, you are so happy that you put it on your shoulders  and carry it back home. Then you call your friends and neighbours together and say to them, ‘I am so happy I found my lost sheep. Let us celebrate!’

Luke 15: 4-6

St Monica's Church 100th Birthday (Friday 6th October)

Our amazing Church turned 100 years old on Friday and to celebrate their centenary we as a whole school created a very special birthday card for them. Each child wrote their own personal message to the church and a group of our year 6 children went on Friday morning to drop the card off to Father Ged to be displayed in Church for all of our wonderful Parish community to see. We celebrated in school with a party at lunchtime and some very special Prayer and liturgies. On Friday evening our staff attended a very special Mass at St Monica's Church. This holy mass celebrated 100 years since the dedication of the First Church of St Monica, Bootle and was led by The Most Reverend Malcolm McMahon OP. It was a beautiful evening of celebration and reflection, filled with music by the Liverpool Brass Band and the Cathedral Choir.

'I have chosen this place for a house of sacrifice. My eyes shall be open and my ears attentive to the prayers of them that shall pray in this place.'

(Very Rev. Canon Hughes)

Sharing Prayer and liturgy with our Governors 

We were delighted to have another reflective walk this week but this time it was to experience Prayer and liturgies in our Early Years and Key Stage 1. Our theme was 'God is great' and a selection of Psalms from the Bible were shared including Psalms 8 and 34. We shared prayers, singing, dance and were given handmade paper crosses to go forth with remembering that how great God truly is.

'I will always thank the Lord; I will never stop praising him. I will praise him for what he has done.'

Psalm 34

Father Ged visit to Year 3

Year 3 were very lucky to receive a visit from Father Ged this week. He came in to tell us all about the Sacrament of Baptism. We talked about what happened during the Baptism and the signs and symbols that are used. We learned a lot and now have a much better understanding about this important Sacrament.

 As soon as Jesus was baptized, he came up out of the water. Then heaven was opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God coming down like a dove and lighting on him. Then a voice said from heaven, “This is my own dear Son, with whom I am pleased.

(Matthew 3: 16-17)

Class 6M's Family Assembly - Tuesday 17th October 2023

On Tuesday morning Class 6M welcomed their families and the rest of KS2 to celebrate Harvest Festival. They told us all about the importance of the Harvest and how important it is to share what we have with others. We thanked God for all of our blessings and prayed for those who are not as fortunate as ourselves. We shared the story of the Rich man and the Lazarus. We want to thank all of our wonderful families for helping us to celebrate this very important festival.

Command them to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share with others. (Timothy 6: 18)

Harvest Festival - October 2023

A huge thank you to all of our wonderful families for your donations this Harvest festival - your generosity has been overwhelming. We are so incredibly grateful, we have been busy sorting all of the many donations and they will be distributed to those in our local community who need it as well as Liverpool Food Bank. Thank you!

St Monica's Pantry - October Half term

We have been busy today preparing food bags to help our school community over the half term break. We are so pleased to announce that our Pantry has been growing over the last year and we are building towards having a permanent cupboard in our foyer next half term which will be kept stocked and anyone who is in need can take items whenever they need. We hope that this will be a big help.

Sharing our Catholic life (Our RE work)

We have made a wonderful start to our RE work this year and are proud to share with you some of the wonderful display work that we have displayed in our classrooms to celebrate.

Father Ged's Visit to Year 6

Year 6 were very fortunate to receive a visit from Father Ged this week, he came in to tell us all about his vocation to be a priest and what is involved in the Sacrament of Ordination. We learnt so much from Father Ged and he shared with us photographs from his own Ordination and he even brought in his Chalice and Paten to show us. We were very honoured. We developed an understanding about all the different signs and symbols involved in Ordination and he gave us a blessing for our last yea here at St. Monicas. We finished with some very special prayer and liturgy all about Remembrance and shared some special prayers together. Thank you Father Ged.

Our St. Monica's Pantry

We were absolutely thrilled this week to install our 'Pantry' in our foyer. We started our pantry last year with food bags that were available for collection each half term and have been able to build up to having a permanent pantry where families are able to come and collect food at any time. We hope to continue building our pantry up in order to serve our wider Parish Community. 

'And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased' Hebrews 13:16

Children in Need 2023

On Friday 17th November we celebrated 'Children in Need'. We completed a range of different sporting activities and were sponsored by our amazing families. In doing so we were able to raise a lot of money for vulnerable children across the United Kingdom.

Our Christmas Toy Drive

On Thursday 30th November we held our annual toy drive. This is part of our commitment as a school to the Catholic Social Teachings of the Common Good. Lots of our amazing families, staff and wider members of our community donated new or newly new toys, books and games. We understand as a school community that we are required by God to help others so that everyone is able to have a happy life. We opened our doors to any families who needed these toys to share with their own families this Christmas. 

Poppy Appeal

Our wonderful RE ambassadors gave up their own free time to sell poppies across the school in order to raise money for this years poppy appeal. We were delighted to receive our certificate this week confirming that we as a school had raised £167.93. This money is valuably needed by the Royal British Legion to support those who have fought for their country. 

Santa Dash 2023 

On Friday 8th December 2023 our entire school took part in a Santa Dash. Thanks to our families very generous sponsorship we were able to raise money for the Claire House Charity https://www.clairehouse.org.uk/. This money will help to support all of the fantastic work that they do.

Our Key Stage 1 Nativity 

What a delightful retelling of the birth of Jesus taught through drama, narration and song. Our Year 2 were amazing presenting the story of the nativity in their own unique and wonderful way accompanied by our angelic sounding Year 1 choir. All of the children were so wonderful and told the story with such reverence. Families were invited to share these special performances.