York: Day of Many Colours celebrations

Sea of flags at St Aelred's

Missio in England and Wales were thrilled this week to hear from St Aelred's Catholic Primary school in York, in the Middlesbrough Diocese, who shared news of their wonderful Day of Many Colours celebrations.

The Day of Many Colours is organised by Mission Together, Missio for children. It's based on the five colours of the Mission Rosary and encourages children to unite in prayer with their sisters and brothers in Africa, the Americas, Europe, Oceania and Asia. Its aim is to encourage children to value and be thankful for God's diverse and beloved global family, and to develop in pupils a missionary spirit of attention towards others, through prayer, charity and action.

Schools can choose any day to host their Day of Many Colours, but many schools celebrate on or around the feast of St Peter and St Paul on 29 June.

We always love to hear what schools did to mark this special day and this year St Aelred's got in touch to share what they got up to. Deputy Headteacher, Mr Deakin, told us: "We were delighted to celebrate Day of Many Colours - a special occasion recognising and giving thanks for the many countries, cultures and nationalities that make up our school family. Children wore bright, colourful clothing, including outfits representing their nationality and culture, reminding us that we are all wonderfully made in God's image."

"It was so fun. I got to teach my friends about the Philippines where my family is from." - Year 2 pupil

Mr Deakin continued: "Throughout the day, pupils visited different classrooms to learn about cultures, traditions and communities from around the world. Together, we celebrated the richness of God's family while growing in understanding, respect and love for one another. It was a wonderful celebration of unity, diversity and community spirit!'

We're so inspired by the effort that teachers, staff and children put into this amazing celebration. One pupil in Year 1 shared: "It was the best day ever. We had Chinese food and learned all about China and we also learned about India and did an Indian dance."

"We learned about people in Brazil and did Samba drumming. It was a really fun day learning about lots of different countries." - Year 4 pupil

What a lot of different activities you organised, and what a fantastic day to explore our global human family! It's clear that everyone had a wonderful time, and we are so happy that St Aelred's joined Mission Together to celebrate and pray. Thank you for nurturing a missionary spirit of love and understanding, St Aelred's! We're sure the joyful experience will stay with the children for a long time.

Get involved

Mission Together exists to show that nobody is too little or too young to be a missionary. In fact, we're constantly inspired and filled with joy by the many efforts children here in England and Wales make to support our global family! The Day of Many Colours is just one of the many ways to support mission through your school or community. You can find all our fundraising ideas alongside liturgical prayers, lesson plans, worksheets, videos, music and more at: https://missiontogether.org.uk/