June 22^nd was the Feast day of our patron St Thomas More.  As a school community we had our traditional St Thomas More Day celebrations on Thursday, June 16^th. 

This year we were delighted to be together on the school site, however COVID precautions limited us a little in how we could celebrate.  Sadly we could not gather at the Church of St Philip and St James but instead in our Form rooms with our Form Teachers we shared a service of reflection and prayer with a special message from Bishop David to our school community and from Mr Bonner.

Both of these messages are available below for you to listen to.  We reflected on our school moto ‘Primus Servus Dei’ Gods Servant First the words of St Thomas More, whilst embracing the Diocesan theme of ‘Missionary Disciples’ walking in the footsteps of Jesus people of faith and action today.

As preparation for St Thomas More day in Form time we were encouraged by the Prayer of St Teresa of Avila ‘Christ has nobody but yours no hands and feet but yours’.  We created a foot template and each Form signed the foot as a sign of their commitment and service.  A positive aspect of the Form liturgies was that we all played a greater part in the shared service. The service was followed by a range of activities enjoyed by each year group in their bubbles, out on the school playing fields and in the sports hall, blue gym and performance hall. It was a special time of celebration after such a difficult year.  

We look forward to a time when we can gather as a school community hopefully in the non to distant future. A ray of Hope for us came on June 22^nd when Canon Seamus visited school and a small group of staff gathered in the Prayer room and celebrated our first Mass since the beginning of the pandemic.

It was a cautious step forward and a moment of great joy for us on the Feast day of St Thomas More.