To mark Catholic School's Week 2020, Year 8 focused on this year's theme — Living in Harmony with God's Creation. Pupils became involved in class discussions about what the word ‘harmony' means to them and what it means to live in harmony with each other and with creation. To celebrate this theme Year 8 pupils made their own individual pledges, outlining how they are going to strive to 'live in harmony' this year.

The Religious Education club, 'inspiRE' celebrated Catholic Schools Week by creating a group pledge which they marked with their hand prints to create a colourful banner.

Jack McShane, BEd4 student on school placement at St Dympna's Primary School, Dromore, shares how his Primary 7 class marked Catholic Schools Week.

This year in St Dympna’s Primary School, Dromore, we explored the theme ‘Catholic Schools: Living in Harmony with God’s Creation’ in every classroom throughout the school and celebrated mass on Friday, 31 January as part of Catholic Schools Week.

The pupils in Primary 1 talked about the people who help them in school and how they show thanks to them everyday.

Primary 1 Children’s art work on the theme “Thank you for the people who help us in school”.

In Primary 2 we explored how God’s love has no limits; “God’s love is unbounded. It has no limits.” (Pope Francis, Twitter, 26 August 2014). The children chatted about the people they care about, and the people that care about them. They created a poster entitled ‘I Share God’s Love’ and included ways that they can share God’s love with everyone around them.

In Year 3 the pupils learned about how St Brigid spread the Good News of Christ to the people of Ireland. We celebrate her special feast day on 1st February. The pupils created a fact file of her life and work.

The pupils in Primary 4 looked at the many different ways they can live like Jesus and care for each other. They talked about how in St Dympna’s Primary School, God’s love is something we show to others; in our words and through our actions.

In Primary 5 we explored how we can make the world a better place to live. The pupils created posters to show all of the different ways we can make a positive impact on our world.

The pupils in Primary 6 explored how they can give thanks and show appreciation for everything that God has given us in life. They have written their own personal prayers of thanks to God.

The Primary 7 pupils took time to think and talk about how our world is a gift from God. They know that to appreciate and see God’s handiwork, we need to stop and look around us following the example of St Francis of Assisi, the Patron Saint of animals and ecology. They recorded how they could show their love for God’s Creation on a leaf and placed these on the branches of a tree in their class prayer space.