Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical Laudato Si’ remains a profound invitation to everyone on the planet to care for our common home. Love and care for creation are an essential dimension of our faith.
At St. Joseph’s, we take our responsibility as stewards of creation very seriously. Led by our committed Eco Team, we take action to make positive changes.
Weekly Litter Picks
We conduct weekly litter picks of our school grounds. All members of KS2 pick up litter to make our playground and field a better and safer place to play.
Recycling Bins
Our school Eco Warriors recently wrote to our school governing body to ask if we can purchase recycling bins for our playground.
We now have food, paper and plastic recycling bins!
Local MP Visit
Our Year 6 children have written to our local MP – Mark Logan – asking to make better use of the wasteland adjacent to our school. We welcomed Mark into school to discuss potential suggestions and actions.
Laudato Si Week
Alongside our ongoing work, we also dedicate a week each year entirely to Laudato si. We explore and conduct bee, tree, bird and insect surveys in both our school grounds and at Smithill’s Hall.
We take action to encourage greater numbers of insects, bees and birds into our school environment by creating bug hotels, hedgehog houses, bird feeders, planting seeds and much more.
To complete our Laudato Si Week, all classes came together for a special assembly to celebrate all our learning and action.
The Laudato Si Centre is an exciting and new initiative to be based at Wardley Hall. The Centre seeks to respond to the challenge of Pope Francis’s encyclical on the environment and human ecology, by creating a space for practical action to care for our common home, which will help to leave a sustainable world for future generations.
In the Summer Term, our Eco Warriors and Caritas Team visited the Laudato Si Centre at Wardley Hall. We spent a wonderful afternoon exploring the beautiful grounds, learning about how to reduce our plastic use and making seed bombs.
Click on the image below to visit the Laudato Si’ Centre website
A Prayer for our Earth
All powerful God,
you are present in the universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with your peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned
and forgotten of this earth,
so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty,
not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts
of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature
as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle,
for justice, love and peace.