RE Homework

Please note that as of September 2021, all weekly RE homework for all children will be posted on your child's Google Classroom Page. If you would like additional ideas, please click the link for 'Suggestions for RE home activities all year round'.

Lent Homework 

On Wednesday 26th February Father Michael led a beautiful Ash Wednesday liturgy for the children to mark the start of this period of Lent. During this time we prepare for Easter and try to be the best people we can possibly be usually by giving more, fasting and praying which are the three practices Jesus asked of us. We are collecting donations for the CCS this year which is a fantastic charity.  

The children have been thinking about Lent promises in their classes and during this time of Lent it would be wonderful if you would like to share your promises with us at school. Get creative and perhaps write a word or symbol on a stone,  rock or piece of wood linked to your promise. These can be handed in at ANY time during Lent and will form part of a school display. Thank you!

The Lord's Prayer

The children this half term are learning about the Lord’s Prayer. Your task is to copy out the Lord’s Prayer onto a page in your homework book and decorate it beautifully or create a piece of art based on it.  These are due during the week of the 13th January and can be handed to teachers or Ms Emmanuel. Please be reminded that as faith school, it is important to complete RE based homework with your children. Thank you in advance!

Good Deeds

Last week in RE,  the children learnt about signs and symbols associated with the Epiphany and have looked at Matthew’s Gospel this week to find out what happened to Jesus after the story of his birth. The answer is...we don’t know for certain! 

Matthew goes from ‘The Return from Egypt’ where Mary, Joseph and Jesus set up home in Nazareth, to ‘The Baptism of Jesus’ - so based on this Scripture, we don’t find out very much about Jesus’s childhood.  In some classes, they talked about what Jesus may have been like as a child and came up with ideas together. Lots of children thought he may have spent a lot of time in the Temple praying, or perhaps fishing. Others thought he would be the child who always looked for children who were lonely and sad and tried to include them in his games. Whilst other children thought Jesus was likely to always be helpful at home and do what his parents asked of him. So many lovely ideas! 

With this in mind, your weekend homework is to use this as inspiration to think of lots of good deeds you can do to be extra kind and helpful at home! Whether it’s helping with the clearing up after dinner, tidying your room without being asked, going to bed on time, saying your prayers before bed or making an effort to get along with your brothers and sisters. If you get caught being super helpful, please take a photo and send it in to  admin@holycrossrc.lbhf.sch.uk

Please note that RE homework is not specifically due on the Monday after receiving the newsletter. It can be handed in at anytime during the week! Thank you.

Advent

During the week, Ms Emmanuel was asked by a few parents if RE Homework is compulsory. In order to clarify this, Ms Macgonigal and Ms Emmanuel would like to request that where possible, parents and families do support children in nurturing their faith by completing RE activities at home.  

At Holy Cross we are proud to live out our School Mission each day and really develop ‘Full Lives’ (John 10:10) which we believe is also achieved through working together as a partnership - school, parish and home. 

It has been amazing to see so many families take the time to complete which should hopefully be creative, interesting or useful Religious based tasks. This supports the exceptional RE taught by our wonderful teachers. It would be great if this became even more common, as we believe it really ensures your children develop a keen interest and understanding of faith. 

This week, as Advent begins and we excitedly prepare for the Coming of God into our lives through Jesus, we would like to invite the children to make an Advent Promise. During this time, we use the colour ‘violet’ which represents prayer, sacrifice and penance. This is because we are trying to the best version of ourselves during Advent. So think carefully about the sort of promise you will make. Put it into your Homework books or be more creative! Design a candle, your own Christmas decoration or card and record your promise there. Any pieces received by Ms Emmanuel will go into a special book being made. Thank you in advance for your support!

 Month of the Rosary

The month of October is dedicated to the Holy Rosary. The rosary — and, more specifically, Our Lady of the Rosary — is credited with victory in a number of battles Christians have historically faced. The best way to celebrate the Month of the Holy Rosary is, of course, to pray the rosary daily. The children will be doing so in class and in addition to this, Father Michael is kindly going to offer some opportunities for parents to attend some sessions led by him. The dates and times will be published over the coming weeks and we would be delighted if you could attend. 

For your homework, see if you can either design or make your own rosary beads.  Think about how many beads there should be and be creative in what you could make the beads from! Please bring any creations to Ms Emmanuel by Friday 11th October.