Welcome to Chaplaincy at St Peter’s RC High School and Sixth Form Centre!
Pope Francis in Evangelii Gaudium invited ‘All Christians, everywhere, at this very moment, to a renewed personal encounter with Jesus Christ, or at least an openness to letting him encounter them... No one should think that this invitation is not meant for him or her, since “no one is excluded from the joy brought by the Lord”.
In St Peter’s Chaplaincy we take this invitation and make it our vision and mission! The Chaplaincy offers opportunities to grow in our friendship with Jesus through prayer, worship, pastoral support, retreats, spiritual care and leadership with compassionate outreach to those in need in our human family.
The Chaplaincy offers an ‘open door’ providing a welcome for all people in all situations. The Chaplain, Mandy Baker, works with teams of students, staff and our local clergy.
“As Chaplain I work with classes of students in school to explore aspects of their RE curriculum and give opportunity for reflection and shared prayer experiences. I offer a ‘listening ear’ to provide help, support, encouragement and care so that St Peter's will be a happy faith filled place in which all can learn, grow and be valued as a unique child of God. I am enthusiastic to offer the school community the opportunity to experience and express faith through both prayer and action. St Peter’s and the Chaplaincy are linked to the mission of our Catholic Diocese of Clifton. As a Diocesan family we seek to always ‘Deepen prayer, Enable Communion and Strengthen Mission.”
Charity Outreach
As part of our Catholic Ethos, founded on Gospel values, we seek to educate and inform our young people on issues of social justice and our duty of care to reach out beyond ourselves to our sisters and brothers who are in need. We seek to inform our young people in the issues of:
- Human Dignity
- Care for Creation
- The Dignity of Work
- Peace and Reconciliation
- Solidarity
- An Option for the Poor
- Rights and Responsibilities
The Chaplaincy has a strong tradition of outreach to local and international charities Students across the school get involved with charity fund raising. We also work to raise awareness of social justice issues and the work of the different charities. Our outreach and reflects our love of God in practical ways. Through the year we support CAFOD, HCPT, Breast Cancer and Prostate Cancer charities. Children in Need, the Help Madina charity in Sierra Leone, Christmas Shoebox campaign, Save the Children Christmas Jumpers. Red Wednesday, our local Foodbanks and Gloucester Feed the Hungry Charity.
Year Patron Saints
As well as our school patron St Peter each year group has a patron saint:
- Year 7 St Angela Merici
- Year 8 St John Bosco
- Year 9 St Agnes of Assisi
- Year 10 St Francis Xavier
- Year 11 St Therese of Lisieux
- Year 12 St Josephine Bakhita
- Year 13 St Oscar Romero
Each year group participates in a liturgy on their saint’s feast day. The lives of the saints inspire us through their work for education, living simply with an option for the poor, evangelising the Gospel message the unique vocation of each person, the social justice issues of people trafficking and justice for the voiceless.
Retreat Programmes
Our Chaplain runs retreat days for all of our Year 7, Year 9 and Year 12 students. The day offers of students the change to reflect on our faith, our community at St Peter’s and our place in our world. The days help to build community and give the opportunity to make new friends and enjoy one another’s company too!
Prayer & Worship
There are many opportunities for us to come together for prayer and worship in the school community. We have whole school Masses on holy days of Obligation, the beginning of the academic year and on our patron’s feast day on 29th June. There are year group Liturgies to celebrate their year patron saint. Services on Ash Wednesday, Remembrance Day. At different times of the year students and staff can come together to say the Rosary. During the year our Chaplain meets with RE classes to deliver a reflective lesson, bless our Christmas crib and share in the Stations of the Cross
Peparing for the sacraments
The Emmaus First Communion Programme is run by the Chaplain to prepare students who may have missed out on the opportunity to make the Sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Communion. Reaching out to students and families to reengage with their faith through the sacraments is an important evangelising work of Chaplaincies in education to support our parishes. In response to several requests from students a Confirmation preparation programme called ‘New Horizons’ has also been run in school to prepare students for the Sacrament of Confirmation.
Ministry Training
Altar Server Training is carried out for and by students to train young students to train to serve Mass. In Year 10 and 12, pupils begin to make further connections with their faith life. Students are offered a Eucharistic Ministers training Programme in readiness to be commissioned as Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion for our school community.
