At St. Paul's CE Primary School, our Mustard Seed group meet with Miss Jordan every two weeks.

The Mustard Seeds are responsible for:

• Promoting our school vision and Christian Values across school and in the local community
• Spreading happiness in the local community
• Working with outside clergy to create opportunities for interactive worship across school

We are very proud to be the elected Mustard Seeds this year and have lots of brilliant ideas. We have created an action plan for the academic year, please see below:

Mustard Seed Prayer for the Govering Board

We are so proud of our Mustard Seeds who have worked as a group together to create our Governor Prayer.  This prayer is read by the Chair at the start of every meeting of the Governing Board:

Dear God,

We thank you for our school, our friends and our community. We thank you that the children in our school are so kind and are good at building friendships. We look back at all the decisions we have made and we thank you that you have helped us and guided us along the way. We pray that during our meeting you will help us to be respectful of each other’s opinions and to listen to what is being said. We ask that you would guide us in making the right decisions to help our school move forward.

Just as the mustard seed grows and the branches of the tree spread out to others, so we pray that you would help us to spread and share your love in our community. Help each of us to be filled with our Christian values of; courage, forgiveness, love and respect when discussing school matters.

In Jesus name

Amen

Updates 2024-2025

September 2024

We had an inspiring meeting where we explored the powerful role of the mustard seeds in our school community. It was a fantastic opportunity to come together, share ideas, and envision how these tiny seeds can grow into something truly meaningful throughout the year. We collaborated to craft an exciting action plan, pinpointing our key priorities to make a real difference. It’s incredible to see how our collective passion and teamwork are planting the seeds for a vibrant, impactful year ahead!

October 2024

We gathered together for a meaningful meeting to honour Remembrance Day, a time to reflect on the sacrifices made for our freedom. During our time together, we thoughtfully prepared heartfelt prayers for the upcoming Remembrance Day service at church. It was a powerful moment of remembrance and gratitude, as we came together to pay tribute and ensure that the spirit of remembrance resonates deeply in our hearts and community!

November 2024

We teamed up with Wearside Youth for Christ, working together to gather creative ideas for our upcoming Christmas Prayer Spaces. It’s exciting to see how our collaboration is shaping a festive and inspiring environment for everyone to reflect, pray, and celebrate the season of giving. It’s been a wonderful time of community, creativity, and heartfelt service!

December 2024

This season has been truly special for us! We had the joy of leading Christmas Prayer Spaces in collaboration with Wearside Youth for Christ, creating a warm and festive atmosphere for everyone to reflect and celebrate.

In addition, we spread Christmas cheer by visiting local care homes, delivering heartfelt Christmas cards, and singing joyful carols that brought smiles and holiday spirit to residents.

To keep the festive spirit going, we also made our own Christmas cards and sent them to our school governors, sharing our gratitude and good wishes. It’s been a wonderful time of giving, community, and spreading joy!

January 2025

We’ve had a fantastic time engaging with children across the school to discover their favourite Bible stories! Their ideas and insights have been inspiring, and we’re now in the exciting process of creating a special “Favourite Bible Stories” book just for all the children to enjoy. It’s wonderful to see their voices come to life in this project, making it a truly special collection that celebrates their favourite stories and lessons.

February 2025

We had an inspiring meeting to brainstorm fun and creative ways to spread happiness throughout our school! One exciting idea we came up with is making colourful positivity rocks—small, cheerful stones filled with uplifting messages and bright designs. These rocks will be placed around the school to bring smiles, encouragement, and a little bit of joy to everyone who finds them. It’s a wonderful way for us all to share kindness and brighten each other's day!

March 2025

The Mustard Seeds have been having an amazing time connecting with children across the school, chatting about their favourite Bible stories, and starting a special school-wide book to celebrate these stories! During our shared worship sessions, the Year 6 Mustard Seeds have been gathering heartfelt prayers from the children that beautifully tie into our worship themes—these prayers are truly inspiring and will be wonderful to look back on.

Some of our Mustard Seeds even had the special opportunity to help Father David lead the Mother’s Day service at church, making it a truly memorable experience.

Right now, we’re busy preparing Easter Prayer Spaces for Key Stage 2, in collaboration with the Wearside Youth for Christ team. It’s an exciting project that will help everyone reflect, pray, and celebrate the season of hope and renewal!

May 2025

The Mustard Seeds are thrilled to announce that we are still on a mission to create an incredible, school-wide book filled with our favourite Bible stories! This is our chance to share our faith, creativity, and voices in one inspiring collection. Stay tuned for something truly special!

The Mustard Seeds are spreading joy one positivity rock at a time! We’re creating uplifting messages to place around our local area and even taking them on holiday to share kindness and positivity worldwide. Let’s make the world a brighter place, one rock at a time! We might even get the whole school community to do this before the end of the academic year!

June 2025

The Mustard Seeds have been spreading sunshine by painting bright and beautiful positivity rocks, each one carefully decorated with uplifting quotes and kind messages. With love, laughter, and a splash of creativity, the children have poured their hearts into creating little tokens of joy for others to discover. These colourful rocks are going to be placed around the local area, ready to surprise and delight anyone who comes across them. It’s all part of their mission to share happiness, encourage kindness, and remind everyone that a small act of positivity can make a big difference. Keep an eye out - you might just find one and feel your day instantly brighten!

July 2025

The Mustard Seeds have been out and about in the local community, carefully placing their hand-painted positivity rocks in special hiding spots for others to find and enjoy. Each rock carries a cheerful message or uplifting quote, designed to brighten someone’s day. On the back, we’ve added our school name so that anyone who finds one can let us know where it’s travelled! We hope our rocks continue to spread smiles far and wide and if you find one, feel free to replace it with your own message of kindness and keep the positivity going!

We also had a wonderful visit from Wearside Youth for Christ, who shared the powerful story of the Good Samaritan with our children. Through drama, discussion, and hands-on activities, the children explored the importance of kindness, compassion, and forgiveness in our everyday lives. The interactive sessions helped bring the message to life, giving pupils the chance to reflect on how we treat others and how we can choose to forgive. A big thank you to the team for such an inspiring and meaningful experience!

What a brilliant year for our Mustard Seeds, well done!

2023-2024

Our Mustard Seeds team had an exciting and meaningful journey this year! We took the lead in whole-school worships, inspiring both our Early Years and KS1 children with messages of faith and hope. For Christmas, we designed heartfelt cards to spread joy to our school governors and the wider Ryhope community—bringing smiles all around! We also had the incredible privilege of meeting our SIAMS inspector, where we shared our thoughts on spirituality, our school vision, and values at St. Paul’s.

In addition, we partnered with Wearside Youth for Christ to develop and lead uplifting Easter Prayer Spaces, creating a space for reflection and connection. We also helped organise our Multifaith Week, welcoming friends of various faiths into our school community—an event we hope to make a cherished annual tradition. What a fantastic way to grow in faith, understanding, and community spirit!