In the Bible Jesus says,

"Let the children come to me, and do not prevent them; for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these"

(Matthew 19:14).

As part of the children’s Catholic Social Teaching, they understand that Patariki represents ‘Participation’ and that the core principles are:

• The Right and Duty: Patariki teaches that everyone has both the right and the responsibility to fully participate in society and their local community. St Edward’s pupils joined a community that previously excluded children.

• Inclusion: The mascot reminds children to make sure no one is left out, enabling all people to share their unique voices and gifts. Our pupils used their singing voices as an instrument of peace.

• Valuing All Work: It highlights that every individual's contribution and work is a vital piece of building up a supportive community.

Our pupils understand that Daisy the Dove represents ‘Being Peacemakers’ and that the core principles are:

• Active Peace-making: Peace is not just the absence of war, but a daily action rooted in love, understanding, and justice. Our Commonwealth choir and our St Edward’s Pupil Parliament team are both united as part of a bigger Newham Pupil Parliament honouring Sir David Amess who died as a result of terrorism.

• Daily Kindness: Our Commonwealth Choir sing beautiful songs/hymns and speak kind words to build up the self-esteem of those around them.

• Conflict Resolution: Teaches children how to handle arguments through a spirit of love, forgiveness, and welcoming others.

• Perseverance: Reminds children that working for a peaceful world can be challenging, but they must never give up, hence their on-going involvement in this project.

Themes focused on courage, sacrifice and remembrance. As the children learnt the lyrics and understood the words they connected with heroes of past generations and learnt about their courage and sacrifice. During the workshop the children talked about what it means to be brave and how to be a local hero in their own community. The children spoke about recycling and protecting the environment and helping others as modern day heroes.

A huge thank you to everyone in our school community who helped raise the phenomenal amount of £1332.43 in support of Endemetriosis UK. An amazing achievement and we are sure that the money will provide support to those women suffering from this debilitating condition.

During Anti- Bullying Week the children took part in a number of different activities. One of them was workshops delivered by our West Ham partners where children learnt about building resilience and what they can do to stop bullying as well as helping those who are victims. The children looked at famous figures such as Harry Kane who have overcome challenging situations and learned about how to seek support and advice. The children related to this to their Catholic Social Teaching of following in Christ's footsteps and leading by example to build a better world.

Human dignity is the foundational principle of Catholic Social Teaching. It asserts that every person is created in the image of God. Odd Socks Day is designed to be fun! It’s an opportunity to encourage people to express themselves and celebrate their individuality and what makes us all unique! Staff and children joined in the fun and came to school wearing different coloured socks. Some of our children went one step further and made their own socks using pieces of different coloured fabrics. Take a look at our fantastic photos.

In collaboration with other schools, 82 children form part of the Commonwealth choir. Over the past few weeks the children have been practising at St Edward’s for a song that will be recorded. The song was written by NHS nurses to teach children all over the Commonwealth how to brush their teeth and the importance of oral hygiene. Our pupils explored that some children do not have the same opportunities as others and how we need to make the world a fairer and just place to live.

“The principle of the universal destination of goods is an invitation... to bring about a world of fairness and solidarity...” Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 174

Children in our Pupil Parliament made cards for each department at St Barts Hospital to spread some Christmas cheer amongst the patients and staff there. Our choir also performed at Newham General Hospital. The doctors, nurses and patients were delighted to meet the children and hear them sing. We even made it to the Newham Recorder who published this story along with some photos.

As part of the OLOG Trust, St Edward's pupils joined all the other pupils from our trustee schools to take part in the 'Rudolph Run'. Children and staff had a lot of fun and raised money that went to the Brentwood Catholic Children’s Society. Our Yr 6 pupils also learnt about all the good work the Catholic Children's Society do.

Our Well-Being Pupil Ambassadors organised our 'Mental Health Day'. The whole school celebrated by wearing something yellow. Yellow because, ‘We Stand Brighter Together.’ Children chose to wear an item of yellow and took part in some short activities focusing on better mental health and well being.

We encourage all children to become prayer leaders in collective worship. The KS2 children wrote their own spontaneous prayers thinking about what is needed in the world to make it a kinder more just place to live in harmony. The younger children in KS1 wrote prayers about being a good follower of Christ. Themes such as being kind, loving and showing forgiveness were explored in their spontaneous prayers. The children enjoyed taking part in our collective worship, whereby they led the sign of the cross, turned the lights off, and turned on the candle. They were very respectful as the said their personal prayers. They each received certificates for being prayer leaders.

On Friday the 19^th of January we held a coffee morning focusing on mental health.  This was an opportunity for parents, the PTA and staff to come together and discuss any worries or concerns they have and talk about an issue that is often not discussed due to the stigma attached to it. There were plenty of leaflets and information about helplines available. We hope to have more coffee mornings in the future focusing on key important topics to help our school and parish community.

Children are placed into four house teams which are:

Red - St Josephine Bakhita

Blue - St John Bosco

Yellow - St Lorenzo Ruiz

Green - St Anne Line

Children aware awarded house points throughout the week for displaying the great effort in class, good work and the Gospel values.

“Now the LORD had prepared a great fish to swallow up Jonah. And Jonah

was in the belly of the fish three days and three nights.” — Jonah 1:17

How can we show loyalty to Jesus through our actions at school?

How can we show others that they are appreciated?

When do we stop to say thank you?

The Aims and Objectives : Values, Academic, Service and Aspirations

* Aims/Objectives

* Creation of Edwardian Rules

* Self esteem and reflection

* Introduction to the Acts of Kindness Booklet

The Edwardian children were so happy to be part of this group and wore their badges with pride.

The Edwardians did a wonderful job of taking care of Seedlings (Nursery pupils) when they attended school Mass for the Feast of Corpus Christi. The boys came down to Nursery and were briefed about their group of children. They introduced themselves to Seedlings and asked the students' names. They were very attentive of the younger students and took very good care of them walking down to church, holding hands and walking 'roadside' to ensure their safety. The Edwardians sat in rows with Seedlings, encouraging respect and reverence at all times. Seedlings staff were so grateful for their help and it was a pleasure to see the great example they set to the younger students. The children in Seedlings really enjoyed going to Mass with the Edwardians- they are fine role models and these young gentlemen should be proud of themselves.

The Edwardians focused on understanding the British Values in line with our School Principles/Gospel Values (Book marks).

The Edwardians sessional prayer is based around these principles

Mr Underwood received an email regarding the positive impact the Edwardian programme has had on our student who had transformed into a role model!

''This picture was taken on the Feast of the Sacred Heart. On this day we remembered how much Jesus loves and cares about us. The children used different colours to make their picture of the Sacred Heart special and full of love.''

Penance...

  'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself," using the Parable of the Good Samaritan Luke 10:25-37. The children also sung 'My Dedication' by Dan Callow, 'Sub Tuum Praesidium' (Beneath Thy Protection and Bishop Allen's favourite Marian  hymn) and Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen) from the Roman Breviary.

"There is a great ethos in the school. Faith is at the heart of everything the school does. My child loves talking about the Catholic social teaching mascots, Shristi the bear. They did a great class assembly on this. The school also does a lot of charity work, being good followers of Christ. I am very happy with the RE education." (Parent)

"My child is in reception and repeats her school prayers, which is beautiful. And repeats the school mission- In Christ we reach our goals. We want our child raised in the moral teachings of the catholic church and we enjoy hearing her talk freely saying her prayers and start to discuss God, Jesus and bible stories." (Parent)

"My daughter is happy with RE and the fact that she gets to go to mass regularly." (Parent)

Year 6 led the Mass at Our lady of Compassion Church with Father Britto on St John the Baptist

Iris class hosted a brilliant assembly on Jesus’ miracles. The children used five Bible scriptures to guide their performance, combining readings, mini-scripts, freeze frames and hymns. They covered the turning of water into wine, feeding the 5,000, calming the storm, healing the blind and raising the dead, highlighted by the reading of Mark 4:39: "Quiet! Be still!" The audience was amazed by the joyful dancing and beautiful singing of seven hymns, with some even calling it a musical!

Presentation on Toxic Masculinity

Encourage Positive Behaviour in men and boys

Understanding and expressing feelings is OK.

Respect for females

Dealing with bullies.

and one of the people with him

said, ‘Jesus, remember me,’

and Jesus promised paradise

Seedlings have been learning that God is always available to listen to us- He hears all our prayers, hopes and dreams. We have our very own phone line straight to God's ear and the children have been encouraged to 'Talk to God and tell Him how they are feeling'. This helps our children to understand that talking to God is as easy as talking to anyone else, that it is okay to talk about our feelings, and also builds communication and language skills.

In Thistle Class assembly, the children shared their Religious Education learning by exploring what it means to live like Jesus in our everyday lives. Through drama and reflection, they showed that Jesus' true strength was found not in power or control, but in love, kindness and service to others. The children demonstrated how they can follow His example by noticing those who feel lonely, helping those who are struggling, and welcoming everyone into their community. Their message reminded us that we can all make a positive difference through compassion, inclusion and acts of kindness.  

Two very kind pupils (brother and sister) bought 2 new fans and donated them to school to help pupils and staff during the heatwave. What a lovely thing to do - caring, considerate and thinking about the common good. In the photo you can see them with Chikondi who also represents the 'Common Good'.

Our children have created their own religious art reflecting the theme 'Forgiveness'. Some have included Bible scripture into their design. An example shown above

Pupils at St Edward's were among the 500 entrants across the UK who entered the Catholic Young Artist Award. Using the theme of 'Forgiveness' our children created a range of religious art. The winning design was from a child who used the phrase 'healing begins when the heart forgives'.

Pupils in Year 4 wrote about their knowledge and understanding of being 'Peacemakers'. This reflected on their learning this year.

Kristina wrote:

Daisy the Dove promotes peace. She believes one day we can all be together in peace. One quote that links with her message is:

" Those who promote peace have joy"

(Proverbs 12:20)

We can be God's instruments through seeking justice. Then those who have peace will be happy.

(scroll through the photos to see this)

Children have had the opportunity to think about what they have learnt this year with regards to following in Jesus' footsteps to help our brother and sisters who are less fortunate than ourselves. Above is an example of a Year 5 child's response.

Info

We came together as a community to celebrate our wonderful Year 6 pupils as they leave the security of St Edward's Catholic Primary school but go on to be good Christians in their secondary schools and the wider community.

(Please see our graduation booklet)

The Gospel of John

John 4:21:

 “Whoever loves God must also love their neighbour.” Genuine faith is expressed through acts of love toward others

Luke 10:27:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, love your neighbour as yourself.” This links love for God directly with love for others

Lily Class said they solidarity prayer:

Loving God,

We believe we are one big human family.

Help us to reach out to people, who are suffering or sad showing them the love you have shown to us. 

Lord in you Mercy

Hear our prayer

Lily Class finished their assembly by singing the CST song. It was an amazing assembly enjoyed by everyone.

Promoting Gospel Values at St Edward's is very important and at the heart of everything we strive to do. We have Gospel Value bookmarks that children aim to collect - these are given out by class teachers only when a child continuously demonstrates a Gospel Value. Trying to collect all 8 is very challenging but so rewarding to children.

Beech Class (Year 5) have been reflecting on the Bible Scripture lsaiah 1:17:

'Learn to do good: seek justice, rescue the oppressed, defend the orphan, plead for the widow."

They have thought about ways in which they can help the poor and created spider diagrams of their ideas. One of their idea was donating their uniform. This is something they have been working with the PTA with.

creating spider diagrams to

Ash Class have been

"Those who have a voice must speak for those who are voiceless"

The children have been reflecting on this and thinking of ways they can help others have a voice.

Our Chaplaincy Team have been busy with their fundraiser for Mary's Meals.

They raised an amazing £??? 602 by selling Christmas hats. This amount of money will feed 32 children every day for a year in schools supported by Mary's Meals! Amazing effort!

St Edward’s celebrated International Week in the summer term where children completed a range of different activities throughout the week focused on different countries. To end the week they had a dress up day where children and staff dressed up in clothes from their countries of origin or cultural background. It was wonderful to see so much colour and a celebration of people from around the world

This term our Trust participated in the Catholic Multi Academy Trust Immersion Day where Trust leaders from across the southeast gathered at to share and collaborate as we continue to fulfil the mission given to us by our bishops, to establish and grow Catholic Trusts.

One of the suggestions by the Year 5 pupils was that the school should be more active with donating their clothes. The PTA were asked to help them do a whole week of school donations of no longer needed school uniform at the end of the school year - a time when old uniform often it is thrown away! Instead the uniform was collected to help our brothers and sisters in need. One Year 5 pupil stated "It's also recycling which helps the environment too!"

Our Year 6 pupils assisted Fr Britto. They were confident readers during Mass and led the bidding prayers.

Our Yr 6 prefects, in their new red ties were fantastic readers in Church today - A great start to the new academic year.

Elm Class (Yr 6) acted as 'buddies' to the younger Yr 1 pupils by holding their hands and walking them to Our Lady of Compassion Church. The older pupils also led the readings and bidding prayers. Well done Elm Class for being good role models.

This morning we listened to the story of two disciples who walked with Jesus. At the time, they didn't recognise who it was. Jesus had dinner with them, broke bread, and they saw it was him.

As a Trust we came together to be inspired by Father Armitage, reminding us of our special vocation to teaching and how our faith is at the heart of everything we do.

The Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary invites us as faithful Catholics to celebrate the birth of the woman whom God chose to become the Mother of Jesus Christ. It is a joyful feast, but it also points beyond Mary herself toward the great mystery of salvation that God was preparing through her. Our pupils brought in flowers to place around our Mother Mary statue on the playground and engaged in their own pupil led-prayers.

Our St Edward's prayer room which was blessed by Bishop Alan many years ago is a fundamental part of our school. It is used for staff liturgy, pupils liturgy and praying the rosary at lunchtime. It can also be used as part of RE lessons.

"I just wanted to extend a heartfelt thank you for organising and accompanying the children to Rome on their pilgrimage. My children had an absolutely wonderful time and even now, more than a month after the trip, they still haven’t stopped talking about how brilliant the trip was, how much they learned, and how they already can’t wait to go back!
The experience clearly made a lasting impact. One of the children even said that the trip strengthened their faith and that after visiting Rome they feel that “Jesus will always be with them wherever they go.”
Thank you for all the time, care, and effort you put into making the trip so memorable and meaningful. It truly made a difference." (Yr 5 Parent from Beech Class, 2026)

Dear Lord,

Forgive us for all our sins. Help us to understand Sunday’s Gospel reading on forgiveness, so that we can truly forgive. By forgiving we shall have less problems in life.

Amen

Dear God,

Please help the world become a better place and help countries to stop fighting and find peace. Let their be social justice.

Amen

St Edward serves as a profound cornerstone for our Catholic teaching and school leadership by embodying a living model of Christ-centred stewardship, humility, and active faith. 

In Catholic education, leadership is a spiritual vocation rooted in Gospel values, and St Edward provides our school leaders with an enduring blueprint for servant leadership. This inspiration is brought to life daily through our extensive charity work and community outreach, which mirror our patron saint's deep devotion to serving the vulnerable and poorest in society.

Above shows our stained glass window design of St Edward which is part of our school hall.

On Friday 11th September 2026, pupils from Year 1 to Year 6 came together to share their understanding of our school mission statement 'Following Christ we reach our goals'.

Some of the aspects explored were:

Year 1 - Explored careers they would like when they are older and how following the good example set by Jesus they could reach their goal.

Year 3 - Focused on the importance of forgiving and being accepting of others, just like Jesus was in the Bible. By following his example they could help create not only a better school community but a just world.

Year 4 - Shared the characteristics of Jesus and how they are going to be agents of change in displaying these. Characteristics included: brave, generous, kind, forgiving and humble.