SMC Spring Retreat 2025

We are Pilgrims of Hope

“By our actions, our words, the decisions we make each day, our patient efforts to sow seeds of beauty and kindness wherever we find ourselves, we want to sing of hope…and reawaken in every heart the joy and the courage to embrace life to the full”.

 

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. – 1 Corinthians 13:13

In Nursery we talked about the words faith, hope and love. The children came up with some ideas about things we might hope for, for example, a poorly person to get better, someone sad to be happy, for us to be kind in Nursery. We took all of our ideas and made a prayer. We then talked about the idea of how a rainbow makes us smile and gives us hope, (we had been learning the story of Noah’s Ark so we knew a rainbow is something very special).  We used the idea of a rainbow and took the four colours that represent the Pilgrim’s of Hope symbol and created our own rainbow door, complete with ribbons, streamers, balloons and garland using the four colours. We also created our own Nursery mascot, who we called Hope. She was given coloured hair using the same four colours and some symbols that we felt represented hope; a cross (to follow the work of Jesus), a rainbow (to remind us there is always hope), a heart (to share in Jesus’ love for us) and a candle (as Jesus is the light of the world and is always with us). 

We also decorated a candle using the same four colours and wrote the word ‘Hope’ across it. This is to remind us that Jesus is always with us and we are reminded of our special Jubilee Year every time we light our candle.

Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. – Psalm 31:24

In Reception we began by thinking about what the word hope means and how it can mean more than just wanting something for yourself. We talked about things that we might hope for other people and who might need to have hope. Through discussion the children came up with some fantastic suggestions, for example, for the sick, the poor and those who are sad. We then looked a little closer at our scripture and talked about why we would need to be strong? Did it mean that we needed to have muscles? We talked further about how being strong sometimes meant that we had to keep on trying our best when we might want to make other choices and the God would help us.

We talked about how a chain is strong and that we were going to make a chain made out of paper hearts to go on our door. We talked about how it would help to remind us to take God’s hope in and out of the classroom, every time we passed through the door. 

We put the scripture on the door and said it many times throughout the day, thinking of the people who might need to have hope in God. 

The children decorated paper strips (using the colours from the Jubilee logo) with the symbols of who they wanted to have hope e.g. the sick etc, and then we made the strips of paper into a heart chain.

Our mascot used the colours from the Jubilee logo and again we represented on the mascot who we were to going to prayer for to have hope in God. The mascot has a first aid box for the sick, a purse of money for the poor and a heart for the people who are sad. We put the mascot on the cupboard door in between the 2 classrooms so all the children could see it every single day.

I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. – Micah 7:7

Year 1 very much enjoyed our Retreat Day and had some great ideas during our discussions. We talked about our chosen piece of scripture and thought about how God brings hope to all, including the poor, the sick and the lonely, to help them feel more positive and give them strength. To decorate our door, the children drew beautiful pictures of themselves to surround an image of Jesus that they worked together to make.

The children designed and made their own badges using the logo for the Jubilee Year of Hope, to wear with pride and to act as a reminder that we are all pilgrims of hope. They also created designs for our class candle based on the theme of hope, and created a class prayer of hope.

 I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope. – Psalm 130:5

In Year 2 we did lots of activities on our Jubilee retreat day. The children designed a mascot inspired by a Pilgrim of Hope using Christians symbols and ones that were meaningful to them. They designed a banner for the class candle inspired by the theme Hope. The children also wrote a class prayer and an individual prayer on a dove which was then put on to our door. The door was inspired by the scripture ‘ I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His Word, I put my hope’. The door has a light blue background to represent the sky, the  scripture is written on a Bible to represent His Word and the children’s prayers are written on doves as the doves are a symbol of hope and these are hanging from the door frame and are scattered around the door.

Be joyful in hope – Romans 12:12

In Year 2, we took the line from Romans 12:12, ‘Be joyful in hope!’ After considering what hope is, we thought about whether hope can be joyful – especially when we often think about it as something needed in times of difficulty. We decided that, when we spread joy, it is a way of bringing the hope of Jesus to others – especially when they are living through a hard time.

Throughout the day, we did lots of activities such as: making badges based on the Pilgrims of Hope logo; designing a class candle of hope; and creating our own mascot based on the jubilee mascot, Luce.

Later, we worked together to create decoration for our classroom door, after learning about the five Holy Doors across Rome for the jubilee. Our door needed to show joy and hope so we used bright colours to create stained glass windows and streamers to show our joy is like a party popper exploding! We really enjoyed working together in pairs and groups to design the letters of our scripture. Each letter of ‘JOYFUL’ shows something that makes us think of joy and celebration, like rainbows, sunshine, streamers and balloons, whilst each letter of ‘HOPE’ shows symbols of hope, like the cross and anchors.

Now, every time we enter our classroom, we are reminded to be joyful in our hope and that our mission is to share that joy with others to bring them hope too.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. – Jeremiah 29:11

In Year 3 we did lots of activities on our Jubilee retreat day. We designed a class anime mascot and his name/clothing all represent hope, light and being a pilgrim. We wrote a prayer of hope together and will pray this throughout the year. We all designed candle banners for the candle that we carry to the hall for collective worship and it sits on our prayer table for the rest of the week.

Our classroom door design is based on ‘welfare’ and ‘evil’. These are words we picked out of our scripture – Jeremiah 29:11. As a class, we thought about the plans God has for us. We then decorated related welfare and evil words ready to be displayed on our door. We chose a bright colour palette to represent welfare and a dark colour palette to represent evil. We felt very privileged to have Bishop Terry visit our classroom. He blessed our door and once we told him our design, he reminded us that every time we open the door, we are letting the good in and every time we close the door, we will block out the bad.

But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. – Isaiah 40:31 

In Year 3 our jubilee focus we thought about what hope means for ourselves but also what we need for others to have hope. We started by playing a memory game of things which we all should have (education, medicine, water, right to vote etc). We then asked ourselves what was necessary to give others hope – these being the things which we looked at in the game.

We then explored our scripture where those with hope would soar on wings like an eagle. We agreed that to soar on wings like an eagle we would need all of the things we looked for in the game we played. For our display we all had a feather to decorate an eagle, which had on it something we needed for hope for others.

Bishop Terry came and blessed our classroom door to make it holy, reminding us that each time we came through it we would be being holy, giving others hope and we needed to close our doors to close out evil in our lives.

You are my refuge and my shield; I have put my hope in your word. – Psalm 119:114

Both Year 4 classes worked between the two classrooms to participate in a carousel of activities throughout the day. The children were firstly shown a presentation to explain what our retreat day focus was and why we are celebrating the Jubilee. We discussed the theme this year and the children had the opportunity to discuss what hope is and we made links to our classroom learning in RE (virtues of hope, love and faith). The children then created their own symbols of hope and we made a mind map of what our hopes are for our class, our school and our community. 

We then discussed what a pilgrimage is and what symbols pilgrims would carry with them on their journey. From this, the children created their own pilgrim character that would represent our class (mascot). On each mascot, the children explained what each symbol represented and what the colours they had used represented.

Another activity the children completed was a class prayer of hope. The children were encouraged to think about what hopes they have for a successful and healthy year. These prayers were then used to create a display in the shape of a shield on one of the classroom doors. This idea was taken from the scripture reference ‘You are my shield’. The third activity the children completed was a candle prayer. We have selected two of them and they have been placed around our class candles. The final activities were creating a lighthouse using cardboard and tissue paper for our classroom door. The children created the lighthouse in the colours that represented hope (they made reference to the candle of hope and joy in our advent wreath). The water and lighthouse represent ‘You are my refuge’ from the scripture. The children thought of things that guide us to safety. 

We also had a visit from Bishop Terry Drainey who very kindly blessed our classroom doors.

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. – Romans 12:12

In Year 5 we had a great day for our Retreat day on the Year of Hope. We have been reflecting upon the words from the book of Romans: Rejoice in hope; be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer” – Romans 12:12

We created a design for our candle, linking ideas such as the Pilgrim of Hope logo, the mascot and the words: “Rejoice in hope”

As part of our classroom door display, the children have written a word/action highlighting how we have: “hope for the poor”. We listened to the hymn: God of the Poor by Graham Hendrick which has helped us to locate words which formed part of our display: ‘justice’, ‘joy’ and ‘compassion’. Other words such as ‘donate’ ‘fundraise’ came from the actions we can take as ‘Pilgrims of Hope’ to bring about ‘hope’ ‘peace’ and ‘joy’.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the pow of the Holy Spirit. – Romans 15:13

In Year 5E, we began looking more closely at what the Jubilee was and how it would be celebrated. We then talked about a pilgrim of hope and what a pilgrim might take with them on their spiritual journey. The children came up with various symbols we could use on our mascot, each with meaningful reasons for choosing them. It was really difficult choosing one winner from lots of fantastic creations.  We were then visited by the Bishop who chatted to us about what we were doing and blessed our door, classroom and us.

After that, taking inspiration from the entrance of Saint Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican, we each designed our own symbol of hope from woollen thread and secured it on a golden plaque which we painted with a grey border to decorate our ‘blessed’ door just like the Vatican.

Next, we designed a new wrap for our class candle with the words ‘Where there is darkness, there is light.’ The wrap chosen was decorated with dark footsteps leading to white footsteps alongside different forms of prayer including a bible and musical notes for praising through singing. Finally, we looked at our class scripture and wrote a class prayer together focusing on hope.

Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? 

Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God. – Psalm 42:11

In year 6, we began The Jubilee Year of Hope, focussing on putting our hope in God during the hard times. We worked around a range of stations to reflect on our scripture, Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and my God. using the worship song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SuvddPLM-Jc 

We used this Psalm, and other psalms, to think about how we could praise God through prayer. We used lots of our own ideas to create a class litany prayer for ourselves, to ask for strength and hope during the times when we are weak or ‘downcast’. We represented the times of sorrow or sadness by creating strips of cloth which drape over our door. We know that although God is always there, we will still experience some hardships in life. However, our door represents the hope which God offers. We used bright colours to show our praise for God and created words of praise using wire, words such as: hope, Saviour, peace, Alleluia and love. Our door represents both the needing and receiving of hope and strength, through God. 

Finally, we used our knowledge of our key scripture and Year of Jubilee: Pilgrims of Hope to design our own candle strip and class mascot. On these, we included a wide-range of symbols to show our understanding including: rainbows, candles (light), fire (Holy Spirit), cross, both dark and bright colours, anchors, hearts, staff and prayer beads. 

A huge highlight of the day was sharing the work we had done with Bishop Terry, who blessed our classroom door and us to mark the beginning of this year, as Pilgrims of Hope.