Shared by Lauren Jackson, Vice Principal

On Monday 23 June, St Joseph's Catholic Primary School held our annual pilgrimage to our beautiful church, the Sacred Heart and St Catherine of Alexandria. 

Every year we have a different theme and this year, being a Jubilee Year, we decided on the Hope Mosaic Pilgrimage. 

Our church has received some Heritage Lottery funding to restore the breath-taking mosaics which adorn our church

The funding has allowed the church to put on children’s tours and mosaic workshops, once a month.  

However, Janine Rusby (Heritage Consultant) was keen to trial some school workshops. Catherine Clubley, Headteacher of St Peter’s in Bromsgrove, had taken a class or two to the church, but we trailed having a whole school event across one day.  

Every child, from Pre-School to Y6, walked to the church in a prayerful manner to observe the restoration team working on the mosaics and they then took part in a mosaic workshop, where they created a tile to be used within three mosaics (two to be displayed in school and one in the parish hall – creating a link between the school and parish). 
 
It took a lot of organisation, support from parishioners and parent, and in-depth planning, but we were pleased with the results.  

We found that this event had a real impact on the spiritual formation of the pupils and many of them said it was their favourite school event of the year.

The evaluation also shows the impact on the pupils' understanding of pilgrimage. It also really supported our Hope Pledge Day, which happened two weeks later.

Their experiences on the pilgrimage really informed the pupil’s responses, which contributed to a very discerning Hope Pledge for St Joseph’s.

Discover the parish mosaics

Book a free tour