Chaplaincy – Spiritual and Moral development

Mission Statement

To develop the potential of every individual by providing the best education through experience of our Catholic, Christian Community within which all members can grow in faith.

• To develop the faith of every member of the School Community by making prayer, worship, and liturgy meaningful educational experiences.
• To be open and welcoming, and to build close working relationships with parents, parishes, primary schools and other partners in the education of our pupils.
• To ensure that our curriculum provides a Catholic Christian framework within which every individual is encouraged to realise her or his full potential in preparation for adult life.
• To ensure that all relationships in the school provide each individual with experience of his or her dignity, value and uniqueness.
• To provide pastoral care within a safe environment for all members of the School Community, based on Christ’s example.
• To raise standards of individual pupil, and whole-school, achievement.

College Prayer & Hymn

St Thomas a Becket Catholic College strives to enable all the members of the community – students, teachers, staff and parents – to deepen their relationship with God in Christ within the Catholic Church. Part of this commitment is the provision of a wide range of events and activities organised by the College Chaplaincy team and supported by the College staff and students.

Diary

Below are important dates in the college calendar and a list of the assemblies taking place in college.

Events
Every Thursday morning Mass at 8.05am in the College Chapel.
2nd & 4th September 2008	Start of Academic Year Masses
Wed, 10th September 2008	7pm “All That I Am” Parents’ Meeting
Sat, 20th September 2008	Diocesan Pilgrimage to Walsingham
Tue, 30th September 2008	Mass for Governors and Staff
Thu, 23rd October 2008	Deanery Vocations Evening
Thu, 13th November 2008	Mass for the Dead
Thu, 4th December 2008	Beginning of Advent Services and Blessing of the College Advent Wreath
Wed, 17th December 2008	Sacrament of Reconciliation
Thu, 18th December 2008	Advent Service 7pm
Fri, 19th December 2008	End of Term Advent Services

Assemblies
The themes and dates of the Assemblies will be posted in the very near future. Every Thursday morning Mass at 8.05am in the College Chapel.

All That I Am

Every human life has an intrinsic and absolute value through being created by God and made in the image and likeness of God. Self respect and respect for each other underlies all human relationships. To deepen the awareness among our students this sex and relationships programme which we begin to offer this year for all academic year groups is born from the experience of practitioners in both the primary and secondary sectors of education. The aim of the programme is over the five years within the college to provide a curriculum in sex and relationship education that is authentic to the Church’s teaching and acknowledges pupils’ physical and sexual development.

Proposed Dates for the “All That I Am” Programme in 2008/2009:

26th September - Year 7
10th October - Year 11
21st November - Year 10
12th December - Year 9
6th February - Year 8
20th March - Year 11 (Day 2)
1st May - Year 10 (Day 2)
5th June - Year 9 (Day 2)

More information can be found at: www.all-that-I-am.co.uk

News & Events

	At the end of July 2008 Pope Benedict XVI gathered together 1/2 million young Catholics from all over the world for catechesis, prayer and the sacraments. On the evening before the final Mass he spoke to the young people about their journey of faith. Here are some of the Holy Father’s words for you here at Beckets: “Let your faith mature through your studies, work, sport, music and art. Let it be sustained by prayer and nurtured by the sacraments, and thus be a source of inspiration and help to those around you. In the end, life is not about accumulation. It is much more than success. To be truly alive is to be transformed from within, open to the energy of God’s love. In accepting the power of the Holy Spirit you too can transform your families, communities and nations. Set free the gifts! Let wisdom, courage, awe and reverence be the marks of greatness.”
	Year of Saint Paul - 28th June 2008 – 29th June 2009 Pope Benedict XVI has announced that there will be a special jubilee year marking to the 2000th anniversary of the birth of Saint Paul. The Pope said: “I am pleased to announce officially that we shall be dedicating a special Jubilee Year to the Apostle Paul from 28 June 2008 to 29 June 2009, on the occasion of the bimillennium of his birth, which historians have placed between the years 7 and 10 A.D. Lastly, there is one particular aspect to which special attention must be paid during the celebration of the various moments of the 2,000th Pauline anniversary: I am referring to the ecumenical dimension. The Apostle to the Gentiles, who was especially committed to taking the Good News to all peoples, left no stones unturned for unity and harmony among all Christians.”. This year will be celebrated within the College as part of the 4th Year of “Come & See”.
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The Religious Life of the School

St. Thomas à Becket Catholic Comprehensive is a Roman Catholic College, deliberately based on the values of the Gospel and the living traditions of the Church. We recognise the unique value and dignity of each pupil and seek by every means to enable them to become the person that God has called them to be. In R.E. lessons, we look at religious responses to basic question about life, meaning and value, and aim to inform and support the children in their encounters with such questions. We are fortunate to have the services of a College Chaplain; this gives us the opportunity to celebrate Mass and other religious services in our own College Chapel. Special workshops are arranged to celebrate Easter and Advent, and all pupils are offered the opportunity to go on retreat in each year group. Service to others through charitable work and involvement in the local community is a central feature of College life.

This page on the College website is designed to keep students, staff and parents informed as to what is going on to aid the moral and spiritual development of the young people in the care of the College.

Links

	Diocese of Leeds Youth Service site Diocese of Leeds Vocations Promotion site Diocesan Website – for parish links of feeder parishes and schools
	Sacred Space Sacred Space is a work of the Irish Province of the Society of Jesus. It is maintained from the offices of the Jesuit Communication Centre in Ireland. Being a ministry of the Irish Jesuits, it is inspired by the spirituality of Saint Ignatius of Loyola (Ignatian spirituality).
	The Wednesday Word A new weekly custom for 21st Century families. Our mission is to spread the Gospel to bring families together through the Word of God. Home, School and Parish praying together for the best for our children.

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