St Mary's Lent
Lent is the season of the Church's year between Ash Wednesday and Maundy Thursday. The forty days remind us of the forty days Jesus spent in the desert. It is a time when we ready our minds and hearts to remember the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
During Lent, Catholics focus on three things: giving, acting and praying.
Give: Each year, we choose a charity for all of our school community to raise money for.
Act: Some people give something up during Lent; others commit to performing acts of service and kindness for others. Groups of children go out into our community to share love.
Pray: In school, we spend time talking to God during our celebrations of the Word; Canon Adrian comes in to hear confessions and we revisit the Stations of the Cross regularly. Each class has a Lent prayer bag which goes home to a different home each day.
During Lent, we make promises about what we intend to give up, how we intend to act and what we will pray.
Click here for the 2026 Lenten Calendar
Lent Prayer Bags
Every Lent, our Lent prayer bags go home with a different member of each class each night. They provide an opportunity for families to pray together and reflect on the true meaning of Lent and Easter.
Children have the opportunity to record their thoughts and prayers in a notebook in the bag.
Lent Prayer Trail
2026
To help us prepare for Holy Week 2026, all children had the opportunity to follow our Lent prayer trail. On Mission Day 2026, which took place on the first day of Lent that we celebrated in school, each class created their own station for our Lent Prayer Trail on a different prayer theme. The stations were placed around school and children went on a reflective journey around school, praying as they reached each station. At each station, children had the opportunity to interact with the display so it was a truly immersive and personal prayer experience.
Class 1 - Gratitude
At Class 1's station, the children focussed on gratitude, for our families, our friends and God's beautiful world. The children in Nursery had drawn their own pictures of what they are thankful for and the children in the rest of the school were invited to reflect on what they are grateful for too.
Class 2 - Compassion
The children of Class 2 invited us to think about how we could show compassion. As the children said, compassion means noticing when someone needs help and choosing to care.
Visitors to the station were invited to be compassionate and prayer for those in need, especially those we are raising money for this Lent.
Class 3 - Patience
The Class 3 station was based on patience and waiting, which is hard to do sometimes. We know there are times that we have to be patient when we're looking forward to something. Sometimes, when we pray, God does not answer straight away. Just like waiting for seeds to grow, like Class 3 have, prayer often takes time.
Class 4 - Forgiveness
Class 4's station was in the prayer garden and invited us to read the parable of the Prodigal Son. After reflecting on the story, children were encouraged to prayer for forgiveness and to help them forgive others, like the father in the Bible story did.
Class 5 - The Lost Sheep
At the Lost Sheep station, created by children in Class 5, children read the parable of the Lost Sheep. We were reminded that God loves each of us so much that He will always find us. Children were invited to add their own sheep and a prayer to the Lost Sheep display.
Class 6 - The Five Finger Prayer
We use the Examen as a form of prayer regularly in school and Class 6 invited us to use the five-finger method to remind us of who we can pray for during Lent - our friends and family, our teachers, our leaders, the weak and needy, and ourselves.
Class 7 - Self-control
Class 7 had written prayers about self-control and restraint during Lent. During His forty days in the desert, Jesus had to resist temptation and we ask for God's help in helping us resist temptation at this station.
During Lent, we are encouraged to give something up so that we can focus more fully on God and prayer.
Class 8 - Hope
Class 8 created videos that we accessed via QR codes. On the videos, the children had explained their hopes and some had written short prayers of hope. All visitors to the station were invited to put their hopes in a jar and say a little prayer.
Class 9 - Our Father
Class 9 asked us to focus on the words our saviour gave us at their station. On Mission Day, they had done a lectio divina on the Our Father and different children focussed on different lines within the prayer. At this station, all visitors were invited to say the Our Father.
Class 10 - Peace
The Year 6 station of Class 10 had reflected on peace on Mission Day and their station invited us to read their reflections and make our own reflections on peace. Their "peace"-themed art work can be seen on display and the start of the peace dove is seen in the middle. Visitors were invited to add a feather to the dove, offering a prayer of peace as they did so.
Charity Fundraising
CAFOD Big Lent Walk 2026
The 2026 walk saw the children from Reception to Year 6 walk down to church on a walk of witness through Flint. We were lucky again to have a sunny day and we were pleased to be able to raise more money for CAFOD. Following a CAFOD assembly, in which we learnt about people from around the world who are struggling because of issues with water - whether that be drought or flooding - and we pledged to walk in their service. The money we raised will go to a floating garden project in Bangladesh. The children in Years 4 and 5 were involved in the planning of the Mass that took place at the Church of the Immaculate Conception.
CAFOD Big Lent Walk 2025
In 2025, each class walked to one of the other schools or nursing homes around Flint to deliver Easter messages before walking to church to celebrate Mass together. We were joined by parents, grandparents, carers, representatives from St Richard Gwyn and other parishioners on our walk on a very sunny day. It was glorious!
We bore witness to our faith proudly and carried banners demonstrating why we were walking. As Pilgrims of Hope, we aimed to raise money to fight global poverty. The banners we carried stayed outside church for all of our Flint community to see.
Class 9 went to Ysgol Cornist Park; Class 8 went to Ysgol Maes Hyfryd and Flint High School; Class 7 went to Bod Hyfryd and Rhiwlas Nursing Homes; Class 6 went to Ysgol Croes Atti; Class 5 went to Ysgol Gwynedd; Class 4 went to Ysgol Pen Coch; Class 3 went to Croes Atti Nursing Home and Class 2 went to St Richard Gwyn. Here are some pictures from the walk:
Big Lent Walk
CAFOD Big Lent Walk 2024
Throughout Lent, children walked around our Daily Mile Track every morning and when all of the children's distances walked were added together, it was over 2000km in total!
The whole school walked down to church in the rain to celebrate Mass together.
CAFOD Big Lent Walk 2023
What a tremendous effort the children put in to complete their Big Lent Walks. On the day, the children and staff walked a total of over 800 km all over Flint! We celebrated our end-of-term Mass at Immaculate Conception Church on Thursday 30th March after children in all classes had walked to church via one of the other primary schools or nursing homes around Flint. The children dropped off Easter cards, palm crosses and messages at each of their stopping points and they were warmly received everywhere. The walks formed part of our efforts towards the CAFOD Big Lent Walk.
Some pictures from the day:
Class 10 visited Cornist Park School and were given amazing heroes’ welcomes! The children of Cornist also handed over a very generous donation for CAFOD too.
Class 9 trekked through the mud and mud and mud and rain up to Bryn Edwin Hall. It was a fantastic effort. Each of the children walked 7km on the day!
Class 8 visited Bod Hyfryd and Rhiwlas Nursing Homes where they chatted with residents and sheltered from the downpour!
Class 5 visited Ysgol Gwynedd and Ysgol Pen Coch where they met the school councils of each school and communicated using Makaton.
Class 4 visited St Richard Gwyn and Classes 3 and 2 walked all the way to church for their first class visit there.
Classes 6 and 7 went to Croes Atti Nursing Home and Ysgol Croes Atti respectively. All in all, a great day!
CAFOD DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal 2022
In 2022, we raised money for the CAFOD DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal.
Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross 2026
Every day during the last week of the spring term, we gathered in the neuadd to follow the Stations of the Cross. Children created freeze frames to represent each of the stations after we had reflected on them together. The children considered the emotions each of the people involved might have shown. Done in conjunction with classroom based learning on the stations, the immersive experience allowed children to really consider God's love for us as demonstrated by His sacrifice.
Stations of the Cross 2025
In 2025, our Mission Team went on a pilgrimage to the Church of the Immaculate Conception to lead the stations of the cross remotely. They held a live Teams meeting with all of the children at school, who were able to take part by saying prayers between each station. Leading the service at church was particularly useful as the rest of the children were able to see each station and recognise it when they visited again for the Big Lent Walk Mass later in the week. The Mission Team members and friends described each station, explained each station and reflected on each station before saying a prayer. All of children in school said prayers between each station.
Stations of the Cross 2024
In 2024, we recreated the Stations of the Cross in immersive assemblies every day of the final week of the Spring term. After discussion about the events and meaning of each station, children in all year groups were invited to suggest how they might freeze-frame the scene. The result was a series of thoughtfully child-led, poignant images to which all children contributed. By recreating the stations "within" the children in the hall, even those who weren't in the scene were able to play their part as members of the crowds on Calvary.
Stations of the Cross 2023
In 2023, we held an art competition in which children presented an image depicting one of the stations of the cross. The winners were then framed and placed in one of the mounds around our Daily Mile Track. Each class was then able to walk from station to station with their classmates, making an authentic journey of faith. Stations were also open to all family members so that all of our community could join us on our Lenten journey.
Stations of the Cross 2022
In 2022, we took inspiration from the work of Patti Rokus by creating the scenes of the Stations of the Cross in stone. Each class studied Patti's "Rock Art" before designing their own version of each of the stations. They were then recreated in the mounds around school so that each class could visit the stations in their own time. The creativity and simplicity shown was inspiring and allowed us to share the journey together.