Friday 11th June 2021

The Churches approved and recommended devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is dedicated especially during the month of June.  In our age of religious indifference, when fervour and charity have grown cold, Jesus exhibits to the world His Sacred Heart as a symbol of God's infinite love - the symbol of His own generous self-sacrificing love for all. Jesus shows His Divine Heart as a furnace whose burning rays of love are able to reanimate faith and rekindle love in hearts grown cold and ungrateful. General devotion to the Sacred Heart, the birthplace of the Church abd the font of love, were popular in Benedictine and Cistercian monasteries, especially in response to the devotion of St. Gertrude the Great, but specific devotions became even more popularised when St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a Visitation nun, had a personal revelation involving a series of visions of Christ as she prayed before the Blessed Sacrament. Christ emphasised to her His love and His woundedness caused by Man's indifference to this love. The practices to devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus are: 1. Receiving Communion frequently, 2. First Fridays: going to Confession and receiving the Eucharist on the first Friday of each month for nine consecutive months, 3. Holy Hour: Eucharistic Adoration on Thursdays and 4. Celebrating the Feast of the Sacred Heart (14th June 2021).

This year's theme for National School Sports Week is 'Together Again'. It is an appropriate message as we continue to journey through the road map to recovery and the easing of restrictions enabling us all to meet and socialise with others, especially in the context of sport. The children will have a fun-filled week of physical activity, PE and School Sport which will be delivered through a thematic approach with a designated theme each day, as follows:  Monday - Joyful Day, Tuesday - Team Building Day, Wednesday - Creative Day, Thursday - New Game Day and on Friday - Captain Sir Tom Moore Challenge Day. This approach is being followed by schools across the Black Country which was created by the local School Games Organisers. Based upon the current restrictions and 'systems of controls', the children will take part in a Covid-safe Sports Day in their own class bubble. This will take place during the course of the week during one of their designated PE days. The children will still compete in their 'houses' and an overall winner will be announced at the end of the week. Hagley Catholic High School are also planning to hold a sports festival for Year 5 children across the MAC to take part in a carousel of activities on the Wednesday afternoon. Mr Bennett, our multi-skills coach, will be leading some activites based on one of our theme days on the Friday morning. Further details of the arrangements will be outlined in next week's newsletter.  

Congratulations to the following children who have been chosen for good work and showing the Catholic virtues (Faith-filled and Hopeful) this week.  They will have 'Time with Ted' to celebrate their continued effort and hard work. Well done also to St. John's house for gaining the highest number of house points this week.

The weekly Wednesday Word is available via the following link:  The Wednesday Word Primary School Resource | Catholic Church

Parents and carers can also visit www.dudley.gov.uk/coronavirusparents for more information on both symptom and symptom-free testing and the other symptoms residents are now being encouraged to take a precautionary test if they display.

Accessing symptom-free tests

Parents and carers and anyone else living with a school age child or young person are among the priority groups being given access to free home lateral flow testing kits to test themselves.

Information on how to access these can be found at www.gov.uk/guidance/rapid-lateral-flow-testing-for-households-and-bubbles-of-school-pupils-and-staff

All are strongly encouraged to have a lateral flow test at a local testing site prior to starting home testing, to know how a test is undertaken. 

Twice weekly testing will help detect hidden asymptomatic cases and help keep pupils and staff safer in school.

Anyone unable to do home testing can go to one of the Dudley lateral flow testing centres. These are at Dudley Leisure Centre, Saltwells Education Centre, with pop-up sessions at Holy Trinity Church Community Centre in Wordsley, Lifecentral Church in Halesowen, St Andrews Church in Sedgley, St James Church in Wollaston and the Salvation Army Church in Lye.There is also testing at more than 30 pharmacies across the borough. For details on where you can get a lateral flow test and to book visit www.dudley.gov.uk/symptom-free-testing

Information and support for parents and carers of children who are learning at home. Supporting your children's remote education during coronavirus (COVID-19) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Click on the following link to the NHS website for information on what to do if you or your child/ren show the main symptoms of Coronavirus. https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/symptoms

We have all experienced challenges and difficulties during this pandemic, but sometimes we may need support from someone else or know of someone who may need additional help.  Dudley MBC have created a 'Support for Families' leaflet which signposts local services to parents. We have also included an updated list of support for parents via a range of local and national agencies.  These documents can be found within the Covid 19 tab on the school website landing page.

Dear Sacred Heart of Jesus,
I love You so much
and I give You my heart.
Help me to love God.
Help me to love my neighbour
as a child of God.
Help me to love myself
as a child of God.
Amen

Children at St. Joseph's are growing to be: Faith-filled in their beliefs and
hopeful for the future.

The beauty of marriage
Let us pray for young people who are preparin for marriage with the support of a Christian community: may they grow in love, with generosity, faithfulness and patience.