Catholic Life Blog
22 April 2024
Happy 50th Birthday to us!!!
We had a lovely day for our 50th birthday today. We were delighted that Bishop Paul was able to come to school to celebrate Mass for us in the morning, along with Fr Manny, Fr Nithin and Deacon Steve. Fr Ajish even came back to join us and it was lovely to see him.
The children served, read and sang beautifully and the Bishop was a great hit with them - particularly when he told them that it wasn't always easy to be good and that they could tell their parents that he had said that!!
After Mass, we had some refreshments provided and served by our parishioners and had the chance to catch up with some ex members of staff and ex pupils. We had lots of photos to look through and it was great to see some of our teachers when they first started teaching at St Pius and even some of our staff members who were pupils here.
The Bishop was able to go round each of our classes to meet the children and was even treated to a hug from on our our Reception children!
It was a very exciting day, and we hope the children will remember it for a long time - and maybe in ten or twenty years time they will be the ones joining us as ex pupils with many happy memories of their time at St Pius.
Easter Sunday 2024
We come together at Mass to celebrate the Resurrection and with the help of some of our children, we brought the Alleluia back out of its box ready to sing at Mass once more.
We hope all our St Pius family have a peaceful and blessed Easter, with lots of family time and, of course, chocolate!
Holy Week 2024 - Holy Saturday and the Easter Vigil
Today we remember Jesus being placed in the tomb and there is no Mass said during the daytime. In silence, the earth awaits the Resurrection.
The Easter Vigil begins at 8pm with the blessing of the new Paschal Candle in a fire lit outside church. This candle is then taken into the dark church and each parishioner is given a candle lit from the Paschal Candle, slowly filling the church with light.
We listen in darkness to readings and psalms and then, in a blaze of light and bell ringing with sing the Gloria.
Holy Week 2024 - Good Friday
On the afternoon of Good Friday, at 3pm, we come together to listen to the Passion of the Lord and to remember His death on the cross.
The priest brings a covered cross into the church, and proclaims "This is the wood of the cross, on which our Redeemer dies." The congregation respond "Come, come, let us adore." This happens three times, at the back of church, in the middle and at the front. Each time the priest proclaims, he uncovers a part of the cross until it is totally uncovered.
The congregation are then invited to venerate the cross - by kissing the feet of the image of Christ, by bowing or by kneeling.
Today we do not celebrate Mass - Good Friday is a solemn and the most sacred of all the Triduum. The altar has been stripped bare at the end of the Maundy Thursday Mass and no hosts are consecrated - instead the priest will use hosts that were consecrated at Mass on Maundy Thursday.
We gather at 3pm as this is the hour that Jesus died on the cross.
Holy Week 2024 - Maundy Thursday
At the end of Holy Week, starting on Maundy Thursday evening, we hold the Easter Triduum - from sundown on Maundy Thursday to Easter Sunday.
On Maundy Thursday we commemorate the The Last Supper, the final meal Jesus shared with His disciples which was the very beginning of what we know today as Mass.
It's also the time He washed the feet of His disciples to show that He was there 'not to be served, but to serve' and the priest will wash the feet of 12 members of the parish to show that he, like Jesus, is a servant.
At the end of this Mass, the Blessed Sacrament is removed from the main altar to the Altar of Our Lady where parishioners are invited to 'watch and pray' in silence, as Jesys asked his disciples to do in the Garden of Gethsemane.
28 March 2024
Chrism Mass at Lancaster Cathedral
18 March 2024
St Patrick - patron saint of Ireland
Today, Mr McGoldrick led an assembly all about St Patrick, whose feast day is 17 March.
His bible reading was from the Book of Isaiah (12:2)
God is my saviour, I will trust him and not be afraid"
Mr McGoldrick told us that St Patrick had been kidnapped as a child and taken to Ireland where he was made to look after the sheep but that one night, in a dream, he heard a voice telling him that there was a ship waiting for him. When he woke, he found the ship and returned home.
When he had another dream telling him he was needed in Ireland, he went back as a Bishop to help people convert to Christianity.
He believed that the voices in the dreams had been God telling him what to do, and he trusted in Him.
Mr McGoldrick told us that even though Patrick had been taken away as a child from his home, his faith in God had grown stronger in his time away looking after the sheep.
His prayer, a prayer that Christ will be beside us in everything we do is shown below.
Living out our Gospel Values - Compassion
Today we were very sad to learn about a boy in one of our fellow MAT schools who has died suddenly.
Some of our children made a card to send to his school to let his friends know that we are all thinking about them and the rest of the school at such a sad time.
First Holy Communion 2024
Some of our children have begun their preparation for making their First Holy Communion in May.
We are looking forward to helping them on their journey to receiving Christ in the Eucharist and ask you to remember them in your prayers.
14th February 2024
Ash Wednesday
Before we broke up we talked about Ash Wednesday being the beginning of Lent. Mrs Roberts and Mrs Cotgreave led an assembly about how we do not sing or say Alleluia during the whole season of Lent.
To remind ourselves of this, we have put Alleluia in a box for the 40 days of Lent and on Easter Sunday, Mrs Cotgreave will take it to church and bring it out of the box so that we can once more sing our glorious Alleluia's.
At our first assembly after half term, we will sing "Praise to you O Christ, King of Eternal Glory" and we will sing this in Mass and at Monday assemblies until we break up for Easter.
1st February 2024
Year 5 Mass
This morning Year 5 attended Mass at church.
Fr Manny talked about how sometimes we get weighed down by our problems, but that we should give our worries to God to deal with and not let them weigh us down.
We should trust that God will always be there to help us
January 2024
Year 6 RE
Year 6 have been exploring the different parts of the Mass this term, and they invited Fr Manny and Fr Nithin in to talk to them about it.
They helped them to understand the beginning of Mass, the Offertory, the Consecration and the Holy Communion and the meaning behind the Mass as the Eucharist.
The children loved having their two visitors and learned a lot from them.
18th January 2024
Year 6 Mass
This morning Year 6 went to Mass at school. We heard a reading from St Mark's Gospel about Jesus preaching to the people from a boat on a lake. Fr Nithin told us that sometimes God doesn't give us things that we pray for, because He knows we don't really need them - like speed boats or high performance cars! He told us that Jesus talked to the people from the boat so that they couldn't continue to ask for things, but instead, would have to listen to what He had to say to them.
Listening for God speaking to us is sometimes more important that asking Him for things all the time.
05th January 2024
Epiphany Assembly
Mr McGoldrick led an assembly this morning about the Feast of the Epiphany which we will celebrate in Mass on Sunday
He brought some presents he and his family had received for Christmas and asked us to think about who the presents might have been for. Some were for children, and some were for adults,
We thought about the gifts that the three kings had brought to Jesus - gold. frankincense and myrrh - and wondered if they were the sort of presents we would normally think to bring to a newborn baby.
Mr McGoldrick told us that the gold represented the baby Jesus as a King, frankincense reminds us that he is priest and myrrh was to foretell his death on the cross.
Happy Christmas!
25 December 2023
At the Vigil Mass on 24th December, we lit the final candle on the Advent Wreath. The white candle, also known as the Christ candle, represents purity and the life of the sinless Christ.
This morning, one of our Posadas which have been travelling around the school arrived at church and was placed in front of the stable.
We wish our staff, families and wider school community a very happy and peaceful Christmas.
End of term Mass
15 December 2023
After a hectic few weeks with Nativity rehearsals, pantomimes and our wonderful Nativity performances, it was lovely to all come together for Mass - an oasis of calm.
From Reception to Year 6 our children sang and prayed beautifully and our servers from Year 6 and Year 5 were perfect.
It was a lovely way to bring the term to a close.
14 December 2023
KS2 Nativity
Our traditional Nativity was performed by KS2 with great joy. With singing and readings, tney told us all about the Christmas story, from the Angel Gabriel visiting Mary to the three kings arriving with their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.
This was followed by some enthusiastic Christmas songs - Year 3 treated us to Jingle Bells, Year 4 sang Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Year 5 did a rousing version of The 12 Days of Christmas (always a crowd pleaser!) and Year 6 finished off with a beautiful rendition of Winter Wonderland.
Our choir sang 3 beautiful hymns and we finished with the whole of KS2 lifting the roof with "The Virgin Mary had a baby boy" and "Rejoice with us this Christmas" Our Facebook page has a short clip of this last one and it's definitely worth the search!
Well done KS 2 - another amazing Nativity.
12 December 2023
EYFS and KS1 Nativity
We were treated to an amazing performance of "Away in a Manger", a Nativity play about Maurice the Mule who REALLY didn't like things in his manger which shouldn't be there - a spiders web, a mouse playing hide and seek, a hen laying an egg and a bird building her nest. Then one day, some very special people arrived in his stable, and although he didn't understand it at first, Maurice soon learned just how special they were.
Well done to all our performers who read, acted and sang so beautifully.
11 December 2023
Family Advent craft
We had a lovely turn out for our Advent craft night. Our families made Advent wreaths and then we had a short prayer service led by Mr McGoldrick We listened to a reading from the Gospels and lit our school Advent wreath while we sang our Advent song and we finished with a prayer. It felt like a very special evening.
04 December 2023
Year 3 Advent Art
As part of our Advent preparations, Year 3 have made some wonderful digital artwork wreaths.
30 November 2023
Year 6 Mass - Feast of St Andrew's
This morning, Year 6 went to church for Mass. As it was the feast of St Andrew, one of the disciples of Jesus, we sang "Follow me, Follow me" and listened to the story of how Jesus had called the fishermen Simon Peter and his brother Andrew to follow Him.
"Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 41:19)
Father Manny talked about how special Jesus must have seemed to them for them to follow Him, even though they didn't know who He was and encouraged us to have the same faith in Jesus.
Our key words were Trust and Respond - Trust in Jesus and Respond to His call.
17 November 2023
Year 3 Mass.
This morning Year 3 celebrated Mass in church for the first time as a class. Father Nithin talked to them about some of the things in the church and answered some of their questions.
We're looking forward to some of them making their First Holy Communion in May next year when they will be able to receive Jesus in the form of the Blessed Sacrament at Communion every time they go to Mass.
November - Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory
We are creating a Remembrance Tree in our prayer room. Children and staff are invited to write the names of loved ones who have died and add them to our tree. Some of our Year 6 boys collected some real leaves to write on.
01 November 2023
Feast of All Saints
Thank you to Fr Nithin for coming into school to help us celebrate the Feast of All Saints. He talked to us about some different saints and said that the best way to become a saint is to pray.
19th October
Year 4 Mass
Year 4 attended Mass at church this morning. We are always very proud to take our children to church as they pray and sing beautifully. Lots of parishioners tell us how lovely it is to see the children.
11 October 2023
Year 5 Art Day - Gospel Values
Year 5 have had a visit from artist Sophie Martin, who helped them create some beautiful crossed based on our Gospel Values.
Month of the Holy Rosary
As part of our celebrations of the Rosary during October, we are holding rosary sessions in our prayer room.
Mrs Ward in Rome
Over the Summer, Mrs Ward was lucky enough to have a trip to Rome.
She had a very special time, because she was invited to an audience with the Pope. She took with her a crucifix and a set of Rosary beads for the school, as well as some Rosary beads for Mrs Cotgreave which the Pope blessed.
08 September 2023
Start of term Mass and Rosary
This morning, Father Manny came to celebrate Mass with us, for the Nativity of Mary, mother of Jesus.
Our new Year 6 servers were very excited to serve (if a little nervous!) but they did a wonderful job.
After Mass, we came back together as a school to recite a decade of the Rosary, for Mary's birthday. We prayed for all those we know who are poorly.
04 August 2023
From Miss Wright to Mrs Boylan!
Weddings are always exciting, but when it’s a member of our school it’s even more so!
We have been practising hymns for Miss Wright’s wedding over the last few weeks of school, and safe to say, we definitely did her proud.
The children were so well behaved in church and their singing was beautiful. Many guests spoke to staff later to say how much they had enjoyed it.
It was so lovely to be able to take part in such a special and joyous occasion.
Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Boylan, and thank you for including us in your very special day.
18 July 2023
St Bernard’s Mass
Usually held in the grounds of Furness Abbey, the weather was just too nasty this year and so our Year 6 joined St Bernard and some children from the other Catholic primary schools in the area in St Bernard’s hall instead.
Bishop Paul celebrated the Mass and it was very special to take our Year 6’s who are leaving us soon, some of them to go to St Bernard’s.
12 July 2023
End of term and leaver’s Mass
As always, we celebrated a Mass at the end of the term. We prayed that everyone has a safe summer, and that our Year 6 children who are moving to secondary school have a smooth move to Year 7, and that they will always remember the things St Pius has taught them about the Gospel Values and loving each other, and God.
Good luck in your new schools Year 6 and remember - you will always be part of the St Pius family!
29 June 2023
Confirmation
3 of our Year 6 pupils were confirmed this evening, along with nearly 40 other young people from our parish.
Confirmation is when we get to say ‘Yes’ to God ourselves, rather than our parents and godparents as at Baptism. We renew our baptismal promises and take a Confirmation name.
Afterwards, we had a little get together in the parish centre where Bishop Paul presented them all with a certificate.
09 June 2023
Corpus Christi
Fr Nithin joined us this morning to lead our Eucharistic Adoration and procession for Corpus Christi.
It was a very special moment as Fr Nithin and our altar servers processed around the hall with the Blessed Sacrament in the monstrance. All the children made the sign of the cross as it passed, and they were all very prayerful and reverential.
Thank you for joining us, Fr Nithin.
25 May 2023
Year 6 Mass
As we prepare to say goodbye to our Year 6, it was lovely to be able to celebrate Mass with them in church. This was their final class Mass at St Pius.
They read beautifully and our altar servers, as always, did an amazing job
22 May 2023
May Procession
We held our May procession this afternoon. Each child has made a flower and they have been made into bouquets from each of the classes.
Don’t they look colourful?
Afterwards, Mrs Cotgreave took them into the prayer room, where they made her smile every time she looked at them.
21 May 2023
First Holy Communion
This morning, 5 of our Year 3 boys made their First Holy Communion at St Mary’s.
As always, it is a privilege to be able to help the young people on their sacramental journey, and we hope they continue their journey with Christ for the rest of their lives.
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18 May 2023
Feast of the Ascension
This morning, Fr Ajish came to celebrate Mass with us in the hall as a whole school.
The feast of the Ascension is when we remember Jesus being taken up into heaven 40 days after his death and resurrection.
We love Mass all together, but today was tinged with sadness, as were saying goodbye to Fr Ajish who is moving to Ambleside to be Parish Priest, and chaplain for Castlerigg Manor, part of the Lancaster Diocese Youth Service.
We presented him with some gifts and wished him well as he starts his new adventure.
Don’t be a stranger Fr!
24-28 April 2023
St Pius X School birthday
Our school’s feast day is 21 August, and so we are never in school to celebrate it. This year, instead, we celebrate on our school’s birthday – 22nd April.
Each of the classes learned about St Pius in their RE lessons, and Year 1 led an assembly for their parents all about St Pius, who was Pope from 1903-1914.
As with all the best birthday celebrations, and holding with St Pius school tradition, we had a visit from the ice cream van!
09 April 2023
Easter Sunday
This morning, at Easter Sunday Mass, we brought our Alleluia back out of its box ready to sing and say it again at Mass once more.
Alleluia, Christ is risen!
06 April 2023
Chrism Mass
Today is Maundy Thursday and this evening we will celebrate Mass in remembrance of the Last Supper.
This morning, however, at our Cathedral in Lancaster, the Bishop and all the priest from the Diocese gathered to celebrate Mass. The Bishop blessed the oils which will be used in all the sacraments over the coming year.
After that, all the priests renewed their vows. to God and to the Bishop
Can you spot Fr Manny and Fr Ajish on the photos?
29 March 2023
End of term Mass
Our whole school Masses are always very special, but today we had something else exciting.
Miss Spiers is getting married over the Easter holidays and we surprised her by inviting her soon to be husband and her son in to school so that Fr Manny could bless their forthcoming marriage.
We hope they all have a wonderful day and we look forward to hearing all about it when Miss Spiers returns to school as Mrs Ross.
To add to the special Mass, our Little Lambs joined us at the end so that Father Manny could give them all a blessing. They behaved beautifully and were very prayerful.
24th March 2023
Mater Christi Multi Academy Trust feast day
At the beginning of the year, St Pius joined the Mater Christi MAT, with lots of other Catholic schools in the diocese.
The Feast of the Annunciation (when Mary said ‘Yes’ to the Angel Gabriel) was chosen as the trust’s feast day.
After a lovely day with Margaret Wright, we held our Angelus Day. Every class made a third of a triptych (3 religious pictures put together, often as a backdrop to an altar in church) and the children all coloured in their own as well.
We came together as a school to say the Angelus, a special prayer to Our Lady.
One of our triptychs has gone to the Mater Christ MAT office, one will be displayed in the hall and one will remain in the prayer room.
02 February 2023
Candlemas
Today is officially the last day of Christmas in the calendar of the Catholic Church. Year 4 were lucky enough to be attending Mass at St Mary’s this morning.
They took new candles for the prayer tables in each of the class rooms and the prayer room, and Fr Manny blessed them for us.
The children very carefully processed into church with lighted candles. Christ be our light!
06 January 2023
Epiphany Mass
We celebrated Mass as a whole school today, for the feast of the Epiphany. We love to come together as a school to sing our praises to God and pray for each other.
15 December 2022
Traditional Nativity
KS2 performed a traditional nativity this evening, with Bible readings, carols and poems. They have all been practising for weeks and did such a wonderful and prayerful job.
After the Nativity, each class performed a Christmas song they had chosen – Year 6 were especially excited to be rocking it with Wizzard!! We finished with a rousing rendition of We Wish you a Merry Christmas.
We wish all our pupils, families, staff and governors a very Happy Christmas!
14 December 2022
Whoops!!
Today, our wonderful EYFS and KS1 performed their Nativity – Whoops-a-Daisy Angel. This is the story of an angel who never gets things quite, but even so, one day is trusted with a very important job.
She has to tell everyone about the birth of Jesus. Whoops-a-Daisy Angel did the job so well that all her friends were very proud of her.
We are also very proud of our children and all the staff who worked so hard to put on this fantastic performance.
12 December 2022
End of term Mass
Today we had our whole school end of term Mass. We prayed that everybody has a safe, happy and holy Christmas.
Fr Ajish blessed our beautiful new nativity scene as we sang Away in a Manger
27 November 2022
Advent
We have a new advent calendar in the prayer room. Every day, a new figure will be added to the Nativity scene.
21 November 2022
Jesse Tree
We were delighted to have Margaret Wright back with us to help us get ready for Advent by telling us the story of Jesse
12 November 2022
Some of our choir sang at Pam and Chris's wedding today. We were very proud of them!
Congratulations to Pam and Chris on your wedding day and thank you for asking us to be part of your special day.
10 November 2022
Year 6 Mass
Today, Year 6 attended Mass at St Mary's with the parish. Our altar servers were very excited to be able to serve in church and they did a wonderful and prayerful job.
31 October 2022
All Saints
November 01 is All Saints day when we remember all those who have died and gone to live in heaven.
We celebrated Mass as a whole school the day before, so that we could learn a little about it.
October
Month of the Holy Rosary
October is dedicated to Mary and the Holy Rosary, so in the prayer room at break time, we have had the opportunity to pray a decade of the Rosary.
05 October 2022
Harvest Festival
Today we had our Harvest Festival – each class had prepared a song or a poem, and Year 6 led us in our prayers.
We collected food for the food bank and Year 6 will be taking it there soon.
22 September 2022
Tour of the Relics of St Bernadette
Mr McGoldrick and Mrs Cotgreave took some children from Years 5 and 6 to Lancaster Cathedral for a very special reason.
The relics of St Bernadette have been brought from Lourdes and are being toured round the whole country.
We were so excited to learn that they were coming to our own Diocese Cathedral at Lancaster, and organised a trip to see them.
St Bernadette was born in 1844 and when she was a young girl, Our Lady appeared to her 18 times. At first nobody believed that Our Lady was appearing to her, but eventually they learned that she a was telling the truth and Lourdes has become a place of pilgrimage for Catholics, particularly those who are sick, or those who are praying for those who are ill.
The children in school had made a book of prayers and we placed this at the foot of a statue of Our Lady. We also took a candle with our school logo on it and put it with the candles of other schools.
13 September 2022
Whole school Mass
What better way to begin our new school year than with a whole school Mass? Our children are always so well behaved during Mass, and pray and sing beautifully. We continue to be very proud of them.
18 July 2022
St Bernard’s Abbey Mass
Every year St Bernard’s hold a Mass at Furness Abbey and our Year 6 were excited to be able to attend this.
It was very hot, but staff were on hand with umbrellas for shade and plant demisters to mist the children with!
It was wonderful to be in such a beautiful setting with the other Catholic schools in the area, and to attend Mass celebrated by Bishop Paul.
26 June 2022
First Holy Communion
We always feel so privileged to be able to help our children on their journey towards a closer friendship with God and today at Mass, we were able to celebrate a very special milestone as 5 of them made their First Holy Communion.
They were all very prayerful and it was a beautiful occasion.
14 June 2022
Corpus Christi
Today, Fr Manny came into school to lead our Eucharistic Procession and Adoration for Corpus Christi.
He brought the consecrated Host from church and placed it in a monstrance before processing it round the hall past all our children and staff.
It was a very prayerful moment.
06 June 2002
Rosary on the Coast
This morning we took part in Rosary on the Coast (but from the hall!) to pray for peace in the world
27 May 2022
May Procession
Today we held our May Procession.
We gathered in the hall to pray the rosary, and the processed outside to where our statue of Our Lady is.
Outside Mr McGoldrick read us the passage from St Luke’s Gospel where the angel Gabriel visited Mary and told her she was going to have a child who would be the Son of God. Though afraid Mary replied
"I am the Lord’s servant…may it happen to me as you have said (St Luke 1 38)
Each class had made flowers and after we had crowned the statue with a floral crown, everybody brought their flowers up to present to Our Lady.
It was a beautiful occasion and the handmade flowers made it feel very special. After the service, Mrs Cotgreave displayed all the flowers in the prayer room. It made it very colourful!
26 May 2022
First Holy Communion – Round 2
Our second round of First Holy Communion preparation began this term, and our 5 children today made their First Confession.
Fr Ajish came into school and we lit some candles in the prayer room to make it feel special. Each of the children lit a candle in the hall and said a quiet prayer.
17 April 2022
Happy Easter!
At the beginning of Lent, we took our Alleluia and put it in a box to remind us that as Lent is a solemn time, we do not sing or say Alleluia within the Mass. This morning at Easter Sunday Mass, two of our children helped to bring it out again.
Alleluia, Alleluia!
16 April 2022
Some of our Polish families took part in a special Polish Easter tradition in church this morning.
They decorated baskets and filed them with such as eggs, ham, salt and pepper and bread. They are brought to church and the children present them on the altar and the priest blesses them.
20 and 27 March 2022
First Holy Communion
Over the past 2 weeks, our children have made their First Holy Communion and we were so excited to be able to join them at Mass for their very special moment. We hope they will continue to receive Christ in the Eucharist at every opportunity.
02 March 2022
Ash Wednesday
Our Lent began by joining the parish Mass for Ash Wednesday on the live-stream. Mr Marshall was at church ready to receive his ashes, and then to bring some back for us all to receive too.
Mr Marshall, Mrs Roberts and Mrs Cotgreave placed a small cross of ashes on the forehead of everyone in school to remind us all that God made us from dust. They said “Repent and believe in the Gospel” and we responded “Amen”
07 February 2022
First Confession
Our 5 children who are preparing for First Holy Communion went to church today to make their First Confession.
Fr Manny spoke to them and made them feel welcome (and less nervous!) before hearing their Confessions on the Sanctuary. They all lit candles afterwards and then Fr showed them the Confessional box where Confessions are usually heard.
24 January 2022
First Holy Communion
Our First Holy Communion sessions have started, and we have 5 children who are preparing to receive the Holy Eucharist later in the year. Please keep them in your prayers.
06 January 2022
Epiphany
We joined the parish on the live-stream Mass for the Epiphany. It was strange for the children, but they rose to the occasion.
14 and 15 December 2021
Nativities
We were delighted to be able to perform live for our parents this year. KS2 performed a traditional Nativity before each class sang a Christmas song they had been practicing.
KS1 have been working very hard to learn all the songs from their Nativity Hump! They acted, read and sang their little hearts out!!
08 December 2021
Feast of the Immaculate Conception
Some of choir joined with the other Catholic school in Barrow to take part in Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. After Mass we went into the church garden to sing carols by candlelight. The children were all beautifully behaved – if a little cold
07 December 2021
Jesse Tree Day
Today we were visited by Margaret Wright, who talked to the whole school about the Jesse Tree. We learned the story of Jesse, who was the father of David, Israel’s greatest King. Jesus came from the family of David.
“The royal line of David is the tree that has been cut down, but just as new branches sprout from a stump, so a new king will arrive from among David’s descendants” (Isaiah 11 1)
Each class then made their own Jesse tree, decorated with symbols and pictures all about Jesus family.
08 September 2021
Hymn Practice
We’ve been having our usual Wednesday morning hymn practices, but having only one class in a week. It’s been lovely, but we really enjoyed this morning when we all came back to the hall to sing some hymns together.
One of our favourite is Sing it in the Valleys!!
24 June 2021
Mass in person
It’s been a long time since we were able to come together in church to celebrate Mass and our Year 4 were the first class to be able to do so.
It was lovely to be able to go back into church with them, and we look forward to being able to celebrate Mass as a whole school before long.
December 2020
Nativity
We should be posting pictures of our school Nativities, but due to our Year Bubbles in school, we are still unable to be all together.
The children have worked hard to learn some Christmas carols and although we were not able to have parents and friends in to watch our Nativity, we did video each class and put them all together into a video for you to enjoy, which we will share on ClassDojo
First Holy Communion
It felt very strange to be holding our First Holy Communion Mass on a Wednesday evening in November rather than a Sunday morning in May, but what a lovely evening it was!!
It was very special to be in the church tonight as we witnessed our children receiving Christ for the first time in the sacrament of the Eucharist.
There were only a few of us there, but the church felt full of prayer.
01 October 2020
First Confession
It’s been such a long time coming, but wonderful to celebrate the children’s First Confession today. They were all so prayerful (if a little nervous!) and we are very proud of them,
26th June 2020
Hearts at Home
During the month of June, our RE challenge for the Feast of the Sacred Heart was for the children was to make a heart out of something at home. We were thrilled with all the hearts that came through, and the number of different types of things they used to make them – from lego to sand, from bird seed to toy cars!!
We gave Dojo points to the person who Mrs Cotgreave thought best showed what our hearts stand for – love. He made a heart out of bird seed, showing he cared for God’s creatures. Well done!!
24th June 2020
Rosary
This morning, Mrs Cotgreave led the Rosary with a small group of children. We prayed for a swift end to the Covid pandemic and lockdown so that we would all soon be back in school together.
07th February 2020
Our Lady of Walsingham
The statue of Our Lady from the shrine in Walsingham is touring the country and Mrs Roberts, Mr Marshall and Mrs Cotgreave took some of our children to Lancaster Cathedral to see it.
We were welcomed by one of the nuns from Walsingham, who told us the story of Our Lady of Walsingham, and then Bishop Paul came into the Cathedral and spoke to us as well.
As he was talking to us, Benediction started, so we all knelt and took part.
18th October 2019
A parent and two pupils presented Mr McGoldrick with a wonderful gift today. The parent hand finished it herself. It’s beautiful! It’ll be taking pride of place in the entrance.
18th October 2019
Yesterday we had a lovely day learning about the Rights of a Child. Thank you Desiree from CAFOD/CAFOD Lancaster. We learned so much. The day started with a whole school assembly followed by workshops throughout our Key Stage 2 classes.
17th October 2019
Two of our students were spotted looking at our Catholic Life display during their lunch time. They were discussing the sporting event one of them had taken part in and a trip to church with the choir that the other had taken part in. They were very proud to be on the board.
15th October 2019
Our pupils did us proud once again! Tonight, St Pius X helped lead an evening of the Parish Novena. What a spiritual and prayerful evening
14th October 2019
Meet our new Year 6 Prayer Leaders.
14th October 2019
Prayer Club
Our pupils have enjoyed making rosary beads at break time in the Prayer Room.
11th October 2019
Year 4 had a wonderful Mass at church today.
In preparation for the parish Novena, the children lit a candle, prayed and reflected on the icon of ‘Our Lady of Furness’.
The Novena is nine nights of prayer dedicated to Our Lady where we offer prayers for the needs of the Church and our community. They're beautifully prayerful and spiritual. There will be readings, hymns, prayers and of course candle lighting. Lasting about 30-45 mins.
Five nights will be led by our parish schools. Children from St. Pius will be leading on Tuesday evening starting at 6.30 pm.
All are welcome and it would be fantastic to see as many families there as possible.
10th October 2019
Year 2 have started the process of making a 'Wonder Tree'. Any wondering thoughts or questions they have during RE can be written onto a leaf and hung onto branches in our classroom and these will be referred to throughout the year. We had lots of wondering questions about the religious stories we have been learning recently. We were very lucky that Father Manny was in school to help us with these!
9th October 2019
What a wonderful job Reception did in their R.E lesson.
7th October 2019
Some of choir did an amazing job singing at the Confirmation Mass tonight. They did themselves and the school proud.
5th October 2019
What a busy day Friday was!
Year 3 and 4 started the day with a beautiful Mass to celebrate the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, which included a blessing of our food bank donations.
The whole school celebrated National Poetry Day by writing and performing poems inspired by Pope Francis’ letter, Laudato Si’, a call for us to look after our environment, ‘our common home’.
In the afternoon, we all learnt about the life of St. Francis of Assasi.
And to top it all up we brightened up our clothing to raise money for CAFOD!
Year 6 were fantastic, supporting younger children throughout the school.
5th October 2019
We love it when parents and parishioners stay for a brew ☕️ and biscuit
5th October 2019
Four of our teachers were commissioned this evening at the Education Mass by Bishop Paul.
3rd October 2019
Our new writing in the entrance.
30th September 2019
MacMillan Coffee Morning ☕️
The final total was £156.34 (updated total). Thank you for supporting the event.
29th September 2019
Family Mass
What an amazing turnout! It was a lovely Mass and all the children were extremely well behaved and polite.
25th September 2019
Nursery are very excited about their first Mass on Sunday 29th September. They are very enthusiastic to bring their personalised invitations home! Mrs Steele really enjoyed helping out! We are looking forward to welcoming all of our families joining us this Sunday at St Mary’s Church (Duke street) at 11 o’clock
2nd September 2019
Today the staff had a lovely INSET, led by Sr Margaret at Boarbank Hall, thinking about Christian Ethos. It was a lovely way to begin a new academic
21st August 2019
Today is the feast of St Pius X. This photo was taken at the underground Basilica in Lourdes a few weeks ago. It depicts the Pope celebrating Holy Communion with children.
16th July 2019
Kinamba Community Project
Here are some photos of the children in Rwanda wearing our uniform. Old uniform can still be donated to this project. Please drop old uniform at the School Office.
21st June 2019
Our Year 6 pupils were fortunate enough to be invited to attend and take part in this today. Thank you for the invitation.
20th June 2019
On Monday Fr Manny led a Eucharistic Adoration service, which incorporated a Corpus Christi Procession.
20th June 2019
Fr Manny delivered some altar server training for some of our junior pupils this week.
19th June 2019
On Friday we held a retirement mass for Mrs Lynn Pinkney, who worked at St Pius X for 15 years. Enjoy your retirement!
22nd May 2019
The bag2school collection is after half-term. Are you having a sort out?
21st May 2019
A new addition to the St Pius X family. Congratulations
19th May 2019
Don’t forget your cake donations for tomorrow. The School Council have organised a charity cake sale in aid of Mary’s Meals and St Mary's Hospice.
Cakes will be on sale for the whole school tomorrow break time. Cakes will be 50p each.
18th May 2019
We were presented with a Tree of Friendship
16th May 2019
Year 3 had a lovely morning at Mass at St Mary’s followed by a crowing of Mary
14th May 2019
Craft club have made their own Decade of the Rosary to celebrate Mary's Month of May
10th May 2019
Earlier this week Mrs Gill led a lovely assembly about Mary, Our Mother. The month of May is dedicated to her.
What can the children remember from the assembly?
24th April 2019
The final load for the Adlent Calendar Foodbank collection took place today. We collected the most food from across the Primary Schools.
18th April 2019
Reception and nursery had a lovely time today making yummy chocolate nests for Easter
18th April 2019
The winners of our Easter Garden competition. There were some amazing entries. Well done to everyone who entered.
18th April 2019
Year One had a lovely afternoon Easter egg hunting
18th April 2019
What a lovely assembly this morning, Happy Easter everyone
18th April 2019
Happy Easter from Little Lambs
18th April 2019
Our nursery class looking after God's animals. This is Gordy a duckling saved by one of our nursery children.
17th April 2019
Easter Fayre
16th April 2019
Great fun at toddlers this morning having fun making chicks
2nd April 2019
Spring is in the air.
23rd March 2019
Our second Foodbank collection weighed in at an amazing 85kg. Keep your donations coming.
22nd March 2019
Our choir did an excellent job singing at Barrow Market Hall - thank you for having us. We received lovely feedback from the market manager.
In addition, our tombola stall raised over £120
20th March 2019
We hung our homemade bird feeders out today for the birds
22nd March 2019
Year 4 had a fabulous morning at the Trinity Church Centre. Thank you to everyone there for making us feel so welcome.
12th March 2019
The food bank have been and made their first collection. Wow! What an amazing amount - so many people from the local community will benefit from this. This is impressive... keep it coming.
12th March 2019
Reception and Year 2 siblings with their food bank contribution for Adlent. They also got Easter eggs but they brought those in yesterday.
6th March 2019
Today Fr Manny led a lovely Ash Wednesday service to begin the season of Lent. #CatholicSchool
What are you and your child giving up for Lent?
25th February 2019
Wear pink for Miss Carter day.
14th February 2019
We really enjoyed Ostley house today
12th February 2019
Yesterday was the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. Mr McGoldrick shared the story of Sister Bernadette Moriau - the 70th official miracle to take place at Lourdes. He had the pleasure of meeting her at the British Lourdes Medical Conference a few weeks ago.
Can your child remember anything about the story?
19th December 2018
Our children looked festive in their Christmas jumpers on Friday. We raised just over £116 for Bay Hospitals Charity, our local children’s ward.
7th December 2018
A selection of our choir are sing at Barrow Market today.
5th December 2018
It was lovely to see Church full for our Christmas performance. The children were fabulous
24th November 2018
Earlier this week Fr Manny came to school to carry out Altar Server training.
16th November 2018
Congratulations Miss Light & Family.
Elijah Godfrey was born yesterday weighing 6lb 10oz, at 12:54. They came home today and will hopefully make a visit to see the children and staff next week
16th November 2018
Today Fr Manny spoke to the children about the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament ahead of our Holy Hour next week. The children were astonished seeing the Monstrance for the first time.
Can your child tell you what the Monstrance is used for?
11th November 2018
It was lovely to see so many children and their families today at our first Family Mass. Unfortunately, we didn’t get many photographs but the children did a great job and it was lovely coming together. #WeAreTheChurch Lancaster Diocese
9th November 2018
Thank you to all the parents and family members that joined us on our trip to the cenotaph. We have been learning all about Remembrance Day and why we wear poppies. We took our hand made poppies and crosses to lay and pay our respects. Then sang our special song and said a prayer for the soldiers who lost their lives.
6th November 2019
We raised an amazing £155 total from our Bag2School collection.
2nd November 2018
Work has started on our Gospel Values tree. We can’t wait to see the finished product
19th October 2018
Our Assembly looked nice and bright this afternoon for Brighten Up Day. We raised £131 for CAFOD
18thOctober 2018
Our choir look smart. They were testing out the choir ties ahead of the Confirmation Mass tomorrow night.
5th October 2018
Little Lambs would like to remind all nursery and reception families about their welcome mass this Sunday. It will take place at 11am at St Mary’s Church. We hope to see you all there.
27th September 2018
We had a lovely assembly led by Desiree for CAFOD Lancaster today.
13th July 2018
These three wonderful children did a great job at the Novena last night.
6th July 2018
Denim 4 Dementia
29th June 2018
These five special children made their First Holy Communion this morning during Mass. What a wonderful celebration.
21st June 2018
Look what turned up at school this week! #FindAPebble
10th June 2018
Some of our children made their First Holy Communion this morning. Congratulations. ⛪
26th May 2018
Year 3 enjoyed taking part in the May procession at St Mary’s church yesterday morning.
13th May 2018
It was a pleasure witnessing these two young men being Baptised today.
11th May 2018
Yesterday, Fr Manny celebrated Mass at school for the Ascension of the
9th April 2018
Mr McGoldrick has the pleasure of attending the Episcopal Ordination of Mgr. Paul Swarbrick this morning.
1st April 2018
A great walk and Mass
30th March 2018
Reception
Mrs Hurley, Mrs Woodend and all the children would like to wish everyone a very happy Easter.
29th March 2018
Our finished posters from RE day.
29th March 2018
St Pius X Corporal Acts of Mercy Volunteers did a great job of sorting donations for Barrow Food Bank. They have fulfilled their first act - Feed the Hungry
29th March 2018
Mrs Steele’s and Mrs Keen’s Easter egg raffle raised £106 for CAFOD
28th March 2018
We had a lovely RE themed morning on Holy Week today. Each class took a different day and carried out activities to create a poster for display.
27th March 2018
Some of our First Holy Communicants made their First Confession today.
26th March 2018
Some of our First Holy Communicants made their First Confession today.
23rd March 2018
Thanks to everyone at the Trinity Church Centre. Year 5 had a fabulous time. We wish we could have stayed longer!
As a bonus we also added two miles to our Hundred Mile Challenge by walking there and back.
22nd March 2018
What a fabulous Easter Fair
18th March 2018
This wonderful lady organised a fantastic race night for the Parish. She has agreed to do a race night for the school.
17th March 2018
Happy St Patrick’s Day from St Pius X.
16th March 2018
Year 3 and 4 enjoyed Mass this morning.
11th March 2018
Happy Mother’s Day to our wonderful parents and carers...
1st March 2018
Little Lambs celebrating St David’s Day.
16th January 2018
We have had a very exciting morning. Our classroom had been frozen over night! Some of today’s activities included unfreezing toys that had been trapped in blocks of ice, fishing in our icy water tray, painting with frozen paint and making igloos from sugar cubes.
We had lots of fun and talked about how we need to look after old people during the winter months and what we can do to help them.
Below is a link to Age UK. It offers advice on how to help your elderly family members and neighbours.
https://www.ageuk.org.uk/our…/campaigning/spread-the-warmth/
16th December 2017
Our choir did a great job this morning singing with the other Catholic schools.
15th December 2017
The school choir sang at Ostley House today. They were amazing!
14th December 2017
Today was St Pius X's first RE Day. We had great fun learning about Advent and about Mission Together - the Bishop's chosen charity.
14th December 2017
Christmas Jumper Day #ActionForChildren
6th December 2017
One of our Year 6 girls brought this advent wreath in that she made at home following our Advent assembly. Can the children remember what the first candle represents?
2nd December 2017
Year 5 were so very well behaved when they attended St Mary’s for Mass on Friday. They also had a lovely time enjoying juice and biscuits afterwards ⛪
1st December 2017
The finished tree. Do you like it?
28th November 2017
Two members of our school (Y3 & 6) volunteered to help the elderly do their Christmas shopping.
21st November 2017
Getting prepared for the Christmas Fayre in Year 6!
20th November 2017
Well Done to all our parents who donated to this worthy cause
17th November 2017
Today Mr McGoldrick and Mrs Roberts were commissioned as Eucharistic Ministers for our Parish.
17th November 2017
It was lovely having Mass at church today. The children were a credit to the school. They had time to pop to the parish rooms for a juice and biscuit.
12th November 2017
It was lovely to see some of our Nursery and Reception children and families at the welcome Mass this morning.
10th November 2017
Our new piano backing made by Keaton's Grandma