Faith Formation
Faith Formation
- St Magdalene of Canossa
In line with our Foundress’ vision of educating children to “make Jesus Christ known and loved”, the school’s Values Education-Catechism lessons are the cornerstone of Canossian education at CCPS. Values Education-Catechism lessons are held once a week and taught by Catholic teachers and Canossian Sisters.
Student Faith Formation
Planned in parallel with the liturgical year, the Values Education-Catechism programme includes special activities that allow the students to experience Christ’s love more deeply. These include Lenten activities, penitential services, rosary devotions in the months of May and October, Easter celebrations and so on. School Mass celebrations are also organised for Opening of the School Year, Canossian Saints’ Day, Ash Wednesday and other days of obligation. These celebrations bring the students together in praise and worship, and shared faith tradition.
The weeklong Canossian Saints’ week celebration culminated in a Eucharistic Celebration on Monday 28 February where the school came together to thank God for the gift of our Canossian Saints – St Magdalene of Canossa and St Josephine Bakhita from whom we learn the values of Charity, Humility, Forgiveness and Faith. Teachers also led the students in a class activity to recall what they had learnt during Canossian Saints Week. This was followed by a class discussion where they deepened their understanding of the ten Canossian leadership principles and how they can uphold these principles.
Family and Faith
Recognising that the family plays a central role in a child’s faith formation, the school structures activities and events that draw together and involve the whole family. A Family Lenten retreat was held to make our students aware of the Love of Jesus as their Good Shepherd and believe and trust in Him through His teachings in the Word. We also aim to reach out and support our Canossian families through the parent and parent-child bonding session, and to promote community growth and development in faith.
During the season of Lent, students also participated actively in the Gift of Love project where they saved part of their daily allowances in intricately designed money boxes which they had created out of recycled materials.
Staff Faith Formation
In addition to termly Faith Formation and weekly prayer sessions, Catholic staff came together for a retreat to reflect on the true meaning of Lent. New Canossian educators also attended two induction sessions where they met fellow Canossian Educators from the other sectors and learnt about the Canossian values, Canossian educators’ span of work and impact in Singapore and around the world.
Catholic Students' Club
In 2019, the Catholic Students’ Club was formed as part of the Catholic faith formation of the school. The objectives of the Catholic Students’ Club are to:
1. Deepen our students’ love for God and the Catholic faith
2. Nurture our students in their faith formation and service for others
3. Build a community among the students for support in their faith journey
The sessions are conducted once a month on a Wednesday and it is optional for P3 to P6 students in the VE Catechism Programme to participate in the club.
The topics of these sessions include learning about the life of Jesus and His Gospel values and virtues, the lives of saints, faith sharing, prayers and other faith formation activities. Students also experience praise and worship singing as a form of prayer and perform skits to help them understand the scriptures better.
Students in the Catholic Club are given opportunities to live their faith and service by leading prayers during the session and thanksgiving recess prayers after recess, and facilitate Canossian Saints’ week and Catholic faith-related activities during recess.
In the October month of the Rosary, the students led the Catholic community of Canossian Sisters, teachers and peers in the rosary prayers via zoom since we started in 2020.
We strongly encourage the P3 to P6 VE Catechism students to participate and to be enriched so that they will grow in their faith and continue to be a living witness of their love for God and others through their thoughts, words and deeds.
Disclaimer: All photos and videos were taken either pre-Covid, or with adherence and compliance to prevailing government regulations and COVID-19 safe management measures.