September 2011
At the start of September we welcomed our new Year 7s to the school community. On their first day they visited the chapel for a short meditation.  It was wonderful to witness the students’ enthusiasm for spirituality and prayer. We held a Mass of Welcome for Year 7; family members were invited to join us for the occasion on September 16th. 

On the 20th and 21st September Year 7 enjoyed a day of retreat here in school. The purpose of the day was to enable them to get to know the different members of their form and to ask God’s blessing on their time here at St. Catherine’s.  Students from Year 8 led the opening and closing liturgies for the Year 7 retreat day.

Our class prayers for this year are based upon the Olympic themes and Maria Fernandes, a prayer leader from 11N, has written the reflection on the front cover of the prayer book.  Maria chose a photograph of an Olympic torch and wrote the following:
“The flame represents the journey of the fire, as it spreads and ignites faith within people along its path. It unifies us as we gather together as equals in the eyes of God and each other, to celebrate our differences and similarities.”

Over the next few weeks some of Year 10 and the whole of Year 9 will be invited to take part in the residential retreats at St.Cassian ’s Centre Kintbury.  During these weeks the Year 10 and Year 11 prayer leaders will meet together to prepare Holy Spirit Prayer sessions for the new Year 7.  This academic year the chaplaincy is working to develop students’ skills in taking increased leadership in the spiritual life of the school.  This will be further developed during our School Mission in February and we look forward to all the new growth and opportunities of the new school year.
Catherine Williams