Our faith

Heart of the School

At the heart of our college stands our chapel, offering a silent oasis in the midst of our learning environment, a place of sanctuary and encounter with the living God. Here, we can spend time with Christ, present to us in the bread of life, the Eucharist, inside the Tabernacle. Here, is Jesus Christ waiting to be found, willing to enlighten and encourage us on our journey of faith, encouraging us to be signs and witnesses to his gospel of salvation.

Sacraments

We are very fortunate to have a priest, Fr Antony, as our full-time chaplain in the college. Holy Mass is celebrated in our chapel each day at 8:05 am. This celebration is open to any who would like to attend and offers a calm reflective start to our day. Throughout the academic year, various groups and year teams are encouraged to attend this Mass and to participate as readers and servers. Parents are also invited and welcome to join us. Each week students and staff can request their various personal intentions to be offered at Mass. We also remember at the Altar all those who are sick in our college community and those who mourn loved ones as we pray for the repose of their souls.

All Holy days of obligation are observed with the whole college community. For these celebrations, we move next door into St Mary's, Church in Cadogan Street. Our students play an active part in the planning and delivery of these celebrations as servers, readers, singers, musicians and welcomers. The Holy Seasons of Advent and Lent see many different events running in the chapel from Eucharistic Adoration to guided meditation and silence. Having a priest on staff means the Sacrament of Reconciliation is available whenever a student or member of staff asks.

Spirituality

Our task at the college is to help your child achieve holiness and to grow in wisdom and faith – we do this by seeking God and striving for excellence in everything we do as a learning community. This can be seen in the work completed in the classroom and the way we approach our studies at home or our journey to school. Everything we do and say matters and has an impact on those around us.

We are a living community of believers drawn from across this global city of London and representing the Catholic Church across the world. Our traditions and customs help to mould us as children of God and encourage us to be the best versions of ourselves. Each day we seek to respond to the challenge of serving each other and seeking to discover the will of God in our lives. Sometimes we fail and we learn from our mistakes. Other times we triumph and we learn from our successes.

Collective worship

In tutor groups each morning there is a daily act of worship composed around a whole school theme drawn from the upcoming Sunday readings. This theme for reflection is picked up in our weekly year group collective worship celebrated in the main school hall and delivered in turn by staff and students in their tutor groups.

Utopia

We have a thriving Christian group in the college called ‘Utopia’ which meets each week in the chapel. ‘Utopia’ offers a space for our students to question and debate as well as the chance to be still and to pray together. Among the usual round of Mass, rosary, meditation, Lectio Divina, debate and prayer we also meet to discuss key ideas that touch our faith and morality.

‘Utopia’ members have been on pilgrimage to Rome and attended a Papal audience, celebrated Mass in Westminster Cathedral, prayed at the shrine of the martyrs at Tyburn Convent, visited the Houses of Parliament to meet with Catholic Peers and prayed at the site of St Thomas More’s sentencing in the Hall of the Palace of Westminster. ‘Utopia’ is open to all students of the college and helps to network and build friendships across the year groups.

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