"Act justly; Love tenderly and Walk Humbly with your God" Micah 6:8.
Through the work of chaplaincy at St. Michael’s, we aim to help our school community to give glory, honour, praise and thanks to God. Whilst we understand that all our students and staff are on their own personal faith journeys, we understand that we are all children of God who have a divine origin and destiny. Through our Catholic life and mission, we acknowledge these different starting points and meet students and staff where they are and through a wide range of prayerful and spiritual experiences, bring them to know and love God more in their own lives.
We put Christ at the centre of all we do. This is seen in how the Chapel is at the heart of our building, physically and spiritually. Many initiatives are run through the Chapel that support people locally, nationally and globally. We respond to a wide variety of charitable causes ranging from local food banks, through fundraising for national charities such as Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, to supporting CAFOD and projects relating to world development.
There are opportunities across students’ time at St Michael’s to go to the Emmaus Youth Village for spiritual retreats. The school takes a small group of students to the annual Youth Festival. Students will also be given the opportunity to take part in a pilgrimage to Rome and Holy Island.
There are also opportunities to get involved with our Chaplaincy groups. These include the Chaplaincy choir and the Faith in Action group. Students have also taken the opportunity to attend the CYMFED Flame conference at Wembley, which allows pupils to meet with other young Catholics and experience Church in a fun and vibrant way.
Each day is started in prayer to provide everyone with a moment of reflection, ready for a day of learning and growing together. As a year group, students will gather for the celebration of word once a week led by senior members of staff, their Pastoral Learning Managers or their peers.
During the academic year, students are given the chance to take part in at least one Mass which they will help prepare and deliver along with the priests from our partner parishes. Mass is held weekly on a Friday at 12:30pm. In addition to weekly Mass, particular feast days such as the patronal feast of St. Michael are marked through acts of worship.
We are proud to have been invited by the Diocese to host a number of Holocaust Memorial Events. On these occasions, we have welcomed representatives from many faiths in a demonstration of unity and remembrance.
