We are delighted to be able to announce that our chapel has had a renovation and is back in use as the main focus of regular worship in the school. The chapel has been decorated and certain religious aspects have been added to the decor. We have acquired a beautiful set of Stations of the Cross that have been painted in the style of the Liberation Theology movement and were inspired by St Oscar Romero. Liberation Theology is a religious movement especially among Roman Catholic clergy in Latin America that combines political philosophy usually with a theology of salvation as liberation from injustice. We have chosen this style of Stations as a constant reminder of our mission as Catholics to combat injustice in all its forms and to spread Christ’s message of love in our words and actions. Our altar has been adorned with a tapestry of the Last Supper to remind us of the sacrificial nature of the faith. Christ’s sacrifice on the cross is an example to us all that we will be called to put others first at times in our lives and that this can be a difficult decision for us to make. We have recently been entrusted with a statue of Our Lady of Fatima. The statue stands proudly on our altar as a reminder of the important role Mary plays in the story of our salvation as the Mother of God. In time we hope to take the statue to our feeder primary schools and involve the younger pupils of our community in collaborative acts of worship.

The Chapel has already seen plenty of activity in the last few weeks. All pupils in Year 7, 8 and 9 have taken part in a service. The service focused on the meaning of the Epiphany, the visit of the Magi (or wise men) to the infant Jesus, and the gifts they brought to him. Our focus was on the gifts that we have and how we can use them to serve God. This term we will focus on the Stations of the Cross and what Jesus’ journey to Calvary means for us in the modern day. Staff have taken advantage of the Chapel by having a weekly prayer reflection on a Friday morning. The focus of these reflections varies from week to week and can be personal to the member of staff leading it or on a wider religious aspect.