In times past, parents often believed that it was the job of the parish to "teach their child about religion." But today we know that if a child has any chance at all of growing up with faith, it's because of the parents. Growing up Catholic is a preparation course that many Catholic Churches are now using and we were one of the first parishes to adopt it. It involves the help and support of parents in a new way. First Holy Communion is a very special time in the life of every family and our parish aims to provide a first-class preparation course as well as a celebration that is both happy and memorable. The programme starts in early January and ends with Holy Communion Mass in May. The expectation is that First Holy Communion families will be at Mass every week. Since the celebration of First Holy Communion each year is primarily a parish community celebration, there is naturally some expectation that the family are practising members of the community. On this understanding, the parish will give every help to parents and children, particularly those children not attending Catholic schools. The support of parents for this and other elements of the course cannot be emphasised enough. h t t p s : / / w w w . g r o w i n g u p c a t h o l i c . c o m / g e n e r a l-resources.html