Let the little children come unto me…A faith formation day for pupils in Primary Schools

The Archdiocese of Southwark ran two Pupil Formation Days for Primary Schools to attend exploring the Word of God used in Collective Worship. Our main theme was the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The pupils experienced a carousel of activities, which included Sr. Lucy and Sr. Carino, the Dominican Sisters of St Joseph providing a workshop on the Four Senses of Scripture, a way to read and interpret the bible found with the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The pupils and staff found this a very rich and yet simple tool to support the engagement and understanding of scripture for children.  Jo Dyer from the Animate Arts Company created a practical workshop on the Virtues and Values, culminating in a display for the Headteachers Conference. The boxes were distributed to each Headteacher during the final session. 

David Brinn, from CAFOD led an interactive workshop to discover that Scripture is the foundation and inspiration of Catholic Social Teaching. They learnt how Pope Francis put the story of The Good Samaritan at the heart of Fratelli Tutti, his latest letter to everyone. The children met the animal mascots which feature in CAFOD’s popular volunteer led Catholic Social Teaching (CST) workshops and our brand new CST teaching pack.

The animals introduced them to different key principles of CST and how these are reflected in different Bible passages. This was an enriching day for both Staff and pupils and an opportunity for deepen their understanding of God’s word in their lives.

The session with the Sisters was fantastic, what a great way to explore scripture.

Teacher 1 – Archdiocese of Southwark

We loved the sessions with the Sisters, we learned a lot and we are looking forward to using this approach in our school

Teacher 2 – Archdiocese of Southwark)