Sacred Spaces at the Heart of Our Schools

The Diocese of East Anglia is marking its 50th anniversary with a Jubilee of celebrations encouraging everyone to understand and perhaps explore the places, history and growth that have shaped Catholic life across the area covered by the Diocese. The places have been chosen to represent the breadth of historic and contemporary places of worship or pilgrimage across our geography.

In this sixth article in the series, Kate Pereira (Diocesan Director of Schools), Dr Fred Corbett and our secondary school chaplains explore how the challenge of engaging our fantastic young people is enhanced in our secondary schools through the development of places of worship within their schools, and supports the commitment of each school to Catholic teaching.

We want to illustrate the important role of school chaplaincy by explaining to everyone in the Diocese why each high school ensures there is a special place within the school which is quite often a spiritual centre, but that most of us know little about. Since we have had to be much more aware of effective safeguarding practice in all schools, a sad consequence is that school chapels are no longer as open to the public as they were at times in the past.

As parishes reflected during the Jubilee of Hope, and now in the Diocesan Jubilee, on the changes in our parishes in recent years, one theme seems to be common across most parishes. We have become more concerned about how we engage our young people in the life of the Church, encourage their active engagement in the Church’s mission, and harvest the creativity and drive of our young people in making the whole of parish life richer.

Pope St John Paul II taught us that Catholic schools exist to support the full human development of each person, placing children and adults at the centre of Jesus’ teaching. Within school communities, chaplains play a vital role in the spiritual and pastoral mission. Many priests work closely with schools and, where this is possible, their presence is integral to school life. However, our secondary schools also benefit from lay chaplains or chaplaincy co-ordinators, whose ministry greatly enriches the community, especially for the young people they accompany. Chaplaincy should act as a living image of what the whole school strives to become.

Chaplains describe, with real love, that their work is about building a community through presence, friendship and support on the faith journey, emphasising the importance of listening and humour. Another description is that it is “guiding each student in their spiritual life and reminding them daily of God’s love”.

Chaplains often face challenges, such as the feeling that they are expected to have all the answers. The Diocese supports chaplains and co-ordinators in their ministry through the Diocesan Schools Service, recognising the profound impact they have on young people and their vital role in underpinning the Catholicity of our schools.

We hope that this short tour around our six high schools, building on the excellent work of our primary schools, helps all in the Diocese to appreciate the important work being done by our school chaplains, who have written these short cameos of the places of worship in their schools. We hope you find the descriptions as moving and inspiring as we did.

Notre Dame High School Chapel by Alex Savage

Our Chapel is at the heart of our school. It provides our community with a beautiful, spiritual space for prayer and peace throughout the day. It was originally established by the Sisters of Notre Dame, whose daily prayers became the foundation of prayer life in our school. One hundred and sixty-two years later, our Chapel is now filled with the prayer cards of our young people, written on retreats and during Chapel services. Alongside our traditional marble altar and statues, we have an ever-changing display of student artwork to help inspire our worship. We are blessed to have Mass once a week before school for students and staff. We often have special intentions for members of our community in need of prayer.

Our Chapel helps us to reflect on the different stages of the liturgical year. In November, the Chapel becomes a focal point for our prayers for the dead. It is then transformed for our Advent candlelit prayer services. During Lent we offer the Sacrament of Reconciliation. In the summer we have a steady stream of students who visit the Chapel to light a candle and say a prayer before an important exam. We end our year with a day of continual prayer for peace. Whatever our spiritual needs, the Chapel is there for us, not just at the heart of our school, but at the heart of our lives.

St Alban’s Catholic High School, Ipswich by Paul Gilbert

The chapel at St Alban’s Catholic High School plays a significant role in both the spiritual and educational life of the school. Every Wednesday, Mass is celebrated, allowing students and staff to participate in formal liturgy. It also serves as the venue for staff briefing, which begins with prayer.

RE classes from across the school regularly visit the chapel to learn about the liturgy, the sacraments, vocations and Catholic imagery, engaging with the core elements of their faith linked to the curriculum. During in-house reflection days, year groups assemble for Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, using the chapel as a place for contemplation, spiritual growth and prayer.

The Worship Group benefits from the chapel for its spiritual activities, and on Mondays a student-led Bible group meets during lunchtime, promoting student engagement and peer-led exploration of Sacred Scripture. At the beginning of each term, the chapel hosts services and welcome Masses, marking key moments in the school calendar and fostering a powerful sense of community. Open throughout the school day, the chapel provides a peaceful environment for students and staff to pray or light candles. This accessibility ensures everyone has a quiet sanctuary for personal reflection and spiritual practice, reinforcing the chapel’s significance as a cornerstone of school life at St Alban’s Catholic High School. Recently, the school received a new altar as part of its 60th anniversary celebrations, which is now used for Mass and takes pride of place in the chapel.

St John Fisher High School, Peterborough by Rowena Goodfellow

Placing the chapel at the very heart of the school site symbolises the centrality of the Catholic faith at St John Fisher. Within the chapel, we have four stained glass windows, designed and created by staff to represent the Houses: Beverley, Cambridge, Rochester and Westminster, all areas associated with St John Fisher. When we are blessed with sunshine, the light shines through the windows and also through the cross-shaped window in the ceiling.

Our chapel is a shared and well-used space. We are incredibly fortunate to be able to celebrate Mass every Tuesday, attended by staff, students and pupils from our neighbours, St Thomas More Primary School. The chapel is also used for our prayer group, led by the Sixth Form Leadership Team, Chaplaincy Ambassadors, the weekly Angelus and praying the Rosary. It is also used weekly by each tutor group during the year for reflection and collective worship. In addition, it is a place of peace and solace in times of need, and a place of deep joy when giving thanks to the God who loves us. Our chapel is open to everyone within our community and is inclusive of all faiths and religions. It anchors our faith and supports all within our community to flourish and live out our mission statement to “live life to the full”.

St Benedict’s Catholic School, Bury St Edmunds by Matt Spiller

The new school chapel has quickly become one of the most cherished places in St Benedict’s. Created from what was once the Sixth Form Common Room, the space has been transformed into a welcoming home for prayer, moments of quiet and worship. As I write this, one of my colleagues is in the pews recomposing herself at the end of a long day of teaching.

The chapel itself is full of character. Being part of the original structure of the building, once a staffroom and then the home of our sixth form, it has always been a prettier room than the rest of the classrooms. Its unusual octagonal shape creates a sense of intimacy and community, and even the squeaky floorboards are becoming part of its unique charm. The beautiful wooden benches, generously donated by the Sisters of Mercy, were designed for prayer and are now carrying on that purpose.

The chapel is already well used and students regularly “pop in” for a few moments of quiet, to light a candle, to pray before an exam, or simply to enjoy a few minutes of peace away from the busy life of the school. Every week we celebrate Mass in the chapel, with a regular congregation of around 25 to 35 staff and students, making it a vibrant centre of our Catholic community. We will be dedicating the chapel to St Francis of Assisi, whose joyful faith, love of creation and commitment to peace continue to inspire Christians around the world. We take our annual sixth form pilgrimage to Assisi, walking in the saint’s footsteps and praying in the places he visited.

One of the chapel’s newest and most striking features is its beautiful hand-painted reproduction of a Giotto masterpiece, painted by the very conservator responsible for repairing and restoring the original fresco. This extraordinary connection allows our students and staff to encounter one of the treasures of Christian art through the hands of someone who knows the original better than almost anyone else. We hope such icons create a fitting space where our community can encounter God’s presence, find moments of stillness, and discover that prayer continues to have a vital place in the life of our school.

Main Image is the Chapel at St Benedict’s.

St Bede’s Inter-Church School Chapel, Cambridge by Alexandra Clarke

After 64 years of waiting, St Bede’s finally opened a chapel with a service of dedication and blessing at the start of this academic year. Our school community can now worship in a chapel reserved for private prayer and collective worship in the heart of our school. Each week, services of Morning Prayer are held in our school chapel as a very special part of our collective worship together. In addition, voluntary Mass is celebrated each half-term by Father Bienn or Father Philip within the chapel, which is large enough to accommodate one of our six Houses or a year group.

Adjacent to the chapel, we have four small meeting rooms where clergy can hear the confessions of students and where pastoral counselling can take place. There is also a larger informal chaplaincy space where students’ Christian clubs meet at lunchtimes. The chapel has been carefully decorated with stained glass transfers on the windows, the school prayer inscribed along the curved wall, and artefacts donated by members of our community. Outside, a small contemplative garden has been planted with fruit trees and flowering shrubs within raised beds designed in the shape of a cross. This area is available for staff and students to use for private prayer and reflection. Please pray for our staff and students as we gather each morning at 9.05am for worship.

St Mary’s Independent Catholic School, Cambridge by Daniel Bennett

Our Chapel is on the ground floor of a large Victorian townhouse which was once a convent. Over the last century it was incorporated into the school site. The altar was commissioned and crafted from local oak during its restoration in 2013, with a large reproduction of the San Damiano crucifix above it, standing in a large bay window looking out to the old Chapel Lawn and garden, providing creation’s own stained glass. The chapel can seat about 100 people, so whole-school liturgies are celebrated in the school halls or the local church, but there is enough space to accommodate year group celebrations such as the Year 11 Final Mass, Sixth Form Leavers’ Mass and the Year 7 Welcome Service.

The chapel is a space where we can gather to mark the changing seasons. For example, in November, leaves are hung on the tree of remembrance and candles are lit in commemoration and prayer for those who have died, with a brief service of remembrance held each week during the month. There is an Advent reflection and prayer each week, and daily prayer and carols around the Advent wreath in the main reception area. In Lent, some students and staff follow the Stations of the Cross in the Chapel, including reflections and prayers prepared by students on a previous day of reflection. Some students and staff also join a daily Lent “micro-retreat” in the Chapel.

A group of colleagues meet in the Chapel for staff prayer every Monday lunchtime, sharing a psalm and a period of silent prayer for members of the school community. The Chapel is the place for times of prayer, reflection, liturgy and music. It is always open as a quiet space for students or staff to pray or to find a moment of peace or contemplation. As well as a selection of prayers and books for those who might find them helpful, we have a book and a box into which prayer requests and intercessions can be posted. These are shared with a group of “prayer sponsors”, anonymous volunteers from both students and staff.

There is a pleasing historical coincidence between the Chapel building and the mission of the school’s founding order, the Congregation of Jesus, in the education of women. In the second half of the nineteenth century, until five years before the order acquired the house, The Elms, as their convent, it was owned by Professor Kennedy, Professor of Greek and Latin at the University of Cambridge. He was one of a group of university fellows who campaigned for women to be admitted, but he allowed female students to sit the university Tripos examination papers as an academic exercise. It is said these unofficial examinations took place in the drawing room of The Elms, the room that is now dedicated as the school’s Chapel.

Comments