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Jubilee of Hope
In this Jubilee year, Pope Francis invites us all to be signs of hope in our world and this holy year will be a significant and memorable moment for children and young people. Reflecting on Jesus’ message of the good news of justice, freedom and love, there are opportunities for the whole school community to experience the joy of taking action as Pilgrims of Hope in building a better world.
Jubilee 2025 Launch Assembly
On Monday 13th January, Holy Rood Catholic Primary School launched the Jubilee Year with an assembly led by Deacon Liam. Pope Francis has set the theme as “Pilgrims of Hope” and wishes it to be a year of hope for a world suffering the impacts of war, the ongoing effects of COVID-19 pandemic, and climate crisis. In our assembly, Deacon Liam packed it full of not only useful information about the jubilee but also trumpet playing, a gospel reading and even got some of our Year 6 House Captain up dancing to music with trumpets in! Our assembly finished with Deacon Liam reminding us that the focus is hope. Hope for a better world. Light is a common symbol of hope, and we quite often talk about “a light at the end of the tunnel” or a “ray of hope”. Throughout the Jubilee Year, a Torch of Hope will travel to every school in our Trust. The torch will be passed from one school to the next and schools will be invited to focus activities and liturgies around their time with the torch. For us, the torch will be arriving at Holy Rood later this year. We look forward to sharing with you the many ways in which we will be celebrating this jubilee year so keep an eye out in our newsletters.
24 hours for The Lord
On the penultimate day of the spring term, the whole school participated in 24 Hours for The Lord. This was our annual Lenten fundraiser, where the money raised went towards the ASCAT ‘Hope Fund,’ which aims to provide support for families in financial crisis within our Academy community. This day was not only part of our Lenten celebrations but also reflected Pope Francis’ guidance on how we should mark the Jubilee Year of Hope — by dedicating time to the Lord as a way to draw closer to Him.
It was a day full of art, prayer, and penance. The day began with an opening liturgy led by Mrs. Willis, followed by a range of reflective, art-based, prayerful activities in class. These were led by class teachers and further supported by the wonderful help of Deacon Liam and Miss Barton from the ASCAT Chaplaincy Team. Our closing liturgy was then led by Deacon Liam. Each family was given a sheet to take home to help continue 24 Hours for The Lord in the family home and create their own family crest.
Through the incredible generosity of the families in our school, we raised a fantastic £2,200 for the ASCAT ‘Hope Fund.’
24 Hours for The Lord
24 hours for The Lord closing Stations of the Cross
To conclude this Spring Term and draw our 24 Hours for the Lord to a close, our Chaplaincy team, with the support of Ms. Boyle, led the school in a Stations of the Cross liturgy. The event began with everyone coming together in the hall for a short prayer service. Then, the Chaplaincy team guided each class through the Stations of the Cross, sharing scripture, reflections, and prayers at each station.
A heartfelt thank you to our Chaplaincy team for all they continue to do in supporting the prayer life of our school, particularly during important liturgical seasons like Lent.
Jubilee Year Art Week
This year, we enjoyed our annual Art Week, where the theme focused on the Jubilee Year of Hope as well as Icons in Our Faith. It was wonderful to walk around the school and see children exploring art through all manner of mediums such as clay, printing, collaging, model making, painting, drawing, and much more. There have even been giant 3D models made from chicken wire structures and papier-mâché! Children learned about people, events, and symbols of significance throughout the liturgical year, with their outstanding artwork displayed in an exhibition that follows the liturgical calendar. They also created art centered around the Jubilee of Hope icon image, which was painted by Mulugeta Araya, an artist from Ethiopia supported by CAFOD.
Jubilee for Schools Animation | CAFOD
ASCAT Jubilee Torch Closing Ceremony
Holy Rood received the torch from Divine Saviour. The torch arrived at Holy Rood on September 29th and we carefully looked after it in our school Chapel until October 17th 2025. We held our ASCAT Jubilee Torch Closing Ceremony, marking a significant moment in our school's journey of faith in this year of jubilee having been the caretakers of the torch for a few weeks. During this special event, we handed over the Jubilee Torch to St. Joan of Arc School, continuing the spirit of light and service. We were honoured to be joined by several wonderful guests, including Lower Sixth Form students who serve as Heads of Houses at St. Joan of Arc, Mrs. O’Hanlon (Headteacher of St. Joan of Arc), Fr. Dom, Deacon Liam, and Mr. Stephen Wheatley, CEO of ASCAT. As part of the ceremony, we reflected on the four Jubilee pledges created by our children just before the torch's arrival. We celebrated the meaningful ways in which the pupils of Holy Rood have been a light to the world and to those most in need. These included: donating food to support those experiencing hardship, praying with Mary for the needs of our world, standing up against racism and raising funds for a charity committed to building an anti-racist world and recognising and valuing the gift of education, and ensuring that we do not take for granted our ability to learn safely in school. In return for passing on the torch, Holy Rood was gifted a beautiful candle, which now proudly stands in our school chapel. This candle will serve as a lasting symbol and reminder of our mission: to share light in a world that can sometimes feel dark, and to bring joy, hope, and love to others. We are so proud of our school community and all that we have achieved during this Jubilee celebration. Let us continue to be bearers of light in all we do.
We also had a Jubilee celebration on Friday 21st November.
Synod
Pope Francis is planning a special meeting called a ‘Synod’, to discuss how we as a Church can be better at journeying together. This Synod focusses on our relationships with one another; our relationship with the church (locally, nationally and globally) and most importantly our own relationships with God.
This is a special Synod because he wants to hear from everyone and especially those who don’t always feel that they have a voice.
Pope Francis wants to hear from children, parents, teachers, parishioners … he wants to hear from everyone!
Have a look at some of our responses!
Watch the video below to learn more about The Synod...
Within schools, Pope Francis has asked us to think about:
* Who are the people who do not feel welcomed or valued in the Church?
* What is my dream for the Church?
* What does the Holy Spirit want for my life?
In order to help us answer Pope Francis’ questions, Holy Rood Catholic Primary School, and in fact all of our Trust schools, will be conducting the following activities as part of this
* An assembly for students to explain the synod process taking place across the world
* An opportunity for students in their RE lessons to participate in the Diocesan synodal process
* Opportunities for staff to participate in the synodal process through a dedicated ‘listening’ process
* Opportunities for parents and carers to participate in the synodal process through a dedicated ‘listening’ process, which will include the opportunity to meet and talk face to face as well as the opportunity to complete an online survey
Letters to Parents and Children
Laudato Si’
Pope Francis urges us to, 'Live Wisely, Think Deeply and Love generously'
Laudato Si’ discusses the damage being inflicted on the Earth by humans and calls on ‘every person living on this planet’ to make urgent changes to our lifestyles and how we consume energy in order to protect the planet which was lovingly and carefully created by God. It is one of His Greatest Gifts to man-kind. It deals with many environmental issues including pollution, climate change, water, loss of biodiversity and decline in the quality of human life. In his letter, Pope Francis implores us to work together to create a better world for future generations and asks us to make the necessary changes in our lives in order to take care of, respect and value our ‘common home’.
At the start of the academic year, we all learnt about what Pope Francis said in this encyclical letter and how we, as Catholics, can act. We created displays around the school to help us remember the importance of caring for our common home - the World.
Library display of books to support our learning about Laudato Si’ and care for our common home.
Take a look at our displays ...
Laudato Si' Video
Further Information
For more information about Laudato Si', why not visit the CAFOD website by clicking here!
Holy Rood Supports Ukraine Project
In July 2022, Inna Shakhman, a Headteacher at the Nedoharky Lyceum in the Poltava region of Ukraine and relative of a pupil at Holy Rood, asked to come and visit a primary in England to see what school life is like in comparison to home. On Inna’s visit, she was sending video messages to her Headteacher’s network back home showing them pictures of displays, resources and school spaces used to support children’s learning. It was a very positive visit and I was able to ask her questions about school life for her pupils as well. Inna shared with me at this point that her pupils, aged between 5 and 18, are learning remotely due to the conflict and they cannot return to school until a bomb shelter has been built which can hold all children and staff. Inna shared with me that her husband is the ‘Mayor of their village and together they support many refuges fleeing the East of the country and taking shelter in villages like theirs.
This initial meeting sparked the beginning of a professional friendship between Inna and I through email exchange and the development of a project between Inna’s pupils and our own. This started with the exchange of video messages showing our pupils and communities what our schools are like and extending a hand of friendship to one another. As we currently have three Ukrainian families at Holy Rood, the children from these families helped me to translate our videos as much as possible and for them to be involved in getting this project underway, something they really appreciate and enjoy being involved in.
We then chose one of our year 5 classes to become international pen pals with the 4th and 5th class at the Lyceum, beginning with the exchange of Christmas cards in December and video messages showing them being received. The teachers involved here at Holy Rood and at the Lyceum will be meeting online to discuss how this project will develop further including the exchange of ‘All About Me’ passports and photographs between the children to strengthen their relationships further and hopefully continue to offer thoughts of hope and love to our Ukraine brothers and sisters as the conflict in their country continues.
A snapshot of our links so far...
All About the Lyceum
Christmas Card Deliveries
You can also watch another video about the Christmas card deliveries here.
