Hope – Whole School Prayer Resources

This week’s prayer resources were planned by 7N!

This week we are praying for:

• People who are homeless and who are struggling in the cold weather
• People who have lost hope
• Peace in areas of war and conflict

Please keep them in your prayers this week and don’t forget to add any suggestions for prayer intentions to the comments box below!

Celebration of the Word and Chaplaincy Rota:

Monday:

• Y7 and Y8 COTW in the chapel.
• Becket Reads – students who are leading the after school Advent evening need to come to the chapel for planning and a rehearsal.
• The chapel is open at lunchtime for Advent colouring, crafts and jobs.

Tuesday:

• Y9 and Y10 COTW in the chapel
• Becket Reads – students who are leading the after school Advent celebration evening need to come to the chapel for planning and a rehearsal.

Wednesday:

• Y12 and Y13 COTW in the chapel

Thursday:

• Y11 COTW in the chapel

Friday – Y9 Advent Retreat Day

• On Friday year 9 students will need to attend their normal form time. At 9:05am, Y9 students will come down to the hall for their retreat day. They will be off timetable from periods 1 -5. They do not need to bring lesson books or PE kits, but they do need to bring their usual equipment.
• As the day is Advent themed, year 9 students are allowed to wear purple on Friday e.g. swap an item of uniform for purple clothes or wear purple accessories, but they must still wear their school blazer.

Friday form time – if you would like to start sending your Emmanuel House donations down to the hall then you are welcome to, or you are welcome to keep them in your form room until later in December. If you are dropping off donations, make sure to label they box/bag with your form group so that they contribute to your form totals.

Advent Celebration Evening – Thursday 12th December

Advent Appeal 2024

Last week our Advent Appeal was launched! Emmanuel House is a Nottingham based charity who give aid and shelter to homeless people in Nottingham. We challenge you to help build God’s Kingdom, by giving what you can to support those who are in need.

We’re challenging each student to try and donate at least one item. The form who donate the most items will receive a CHRISTMAS PRIZE in the last week of term. Every donation makes a difference!

Be in with the chance of winning a luxury Christmas Hamper!

Poetry Competition

The Tower Poetry Competition 2025 invites UK students aged 16-18 to submit an original poem (up to 48 lines) on this year’s theme by February 20, 2025. Prizes include £5,000 for 1st place, £3,000 for 2nd, £1,500 for 3rd, and ten £500 runner-up prizes. The top three winners also attend the Tower Poetry Summer School. Entry is free; more details are in the PowerPoint and on the Tower Poetry website. Please see Mr Myers in B13 for any more info. 

We invite you to make the Sign of the Cross. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Today we are going to think about the work that we can do in our school community to provide hope for others. Last week we saw the launch of our Advent appeal to support the work of Emmanuel House. Let’s find out about the work of Emmanuel house and what we can do to support them…

Spend some time (Maybe with some festive music) getting your thoughts down in your prayer journals about how you can help to bring hope to others.

Thanks to 7N for helping and for inspiring us to bring in any tins and toiletries and items that we can donate others in more need, and remember the form with the biggest amount of items will be getting a fabulous Christmas prize!

We can provide hope for others, but also, we can hope that we’re gonna get those sweet treats on the last week of term!

We pray together…

God of hope,
increase our love,
so that this time of Advent waiting
will make us ready for you,
whether you come in poverty and need
or power and glory.
Amen. 

We invite you to make the Sign of the Cross as we finish this time of prayer together…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

We invite you to make the Sign of the Cross. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Today we will begin to create our form Advent Wreath. This is something that we’re going to add to each week in form time, just as we add light to our Advent Wreath in the church each week.

The first step in creating our Christmas wreath is to cut out a circle from the card provided.

Then you will each receive a laurel leaf. The leaves on an Advent wreath symbolise everlasting life and hope. As evergreens, they remind us of God’s unchanging love, even in the darkest seasons, and our journey toward the eternal joy of Christ’s coming.

On your green leaf write an answer to the following question…

What is one way you can grow spiritually this Advent?

For example: “I could go to church more”, “make more room and time for prayer in your life”, “go to reconciliation when it’s offered in school or at church”, or “attend the school Advent celebration evening”, “pray more”

Once you’ve completed that as a class you’re going to glue those leaves down to the base of your wreath. Don’t worry if it’s not covered all of your cardboard, there will be lots of activities over the next few weeks for you to add to your wreath. It’ll be looking gorgeous and full before we finish for the Christmas break!

Lord help us to make room and time for you during this season of Advent so that we may feel closer to You. Amen.

We invite you to make the Sign of the Cross as we finish this time of prayer together…

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

We invite you to join us in making the Sign of the Cross. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen

Today we will be adding our first candle to our Advent wreath.

You need to create a “hope” purple candle out of the toilet roll and purple paper and you can use the yellow/gold paper for the flame. Label the candle “Hope” and then pass your candle around the room and on your candle write answers to: How can you bring hope to someone who might be feeling lost or discouraged? For example, through prayer, writing a letter, calling an elderly relative, or giving to the Advent appeal or charity.

We would like to share something very hopeful with you…

Louis (13P) and Martin Noudeviwa (11B) are building hope by raising money for their uncle’s school in Benin, West Africa. 

Their uncle recently built a school called ‘Notre-Dame de L’Esperance’ (Our Lady of Hope) from scratch using his own money for children in his neighbourhood who didn’t have access to education. It is an inspiration to us all as he does not make any profit from it, in fact he is using his pension money to fund it. 

Louis and Martin have already established a pen-pal relationship with year 11 students from both schools in 2022 in the form of letters. This was truly an incredible experience for both the Y11s and the students of Our Lady of Hope. But the two brothers would like to do much more for this family project. In the new year we will be hearing much more about this project from Louis and Martin, but in this week of hope we would like to recognise the importance of their work and the hope that they are bringing to many children and their families in Benin. Well done and we’re looking forward to supporting this project further in the New Year!

Loving God,
Help us to bring hope to the world through our words and actions.
May we shine your light in dark places and share your love with all we meet.
Amen.

We remember that God is with us throughout our day as we make the Sign of the Cross…In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit