Catholic Education Week

Learning to be Merciful at

Our Lady’s High School

It’s been a very busy year so far in the life of Our Lady’s High

School but once again our pupils have responded generously

to the opportunities afforded to them to grow in faith.

In October 2015, S1 pupils visited Carfin Grotto in order to

pray and reflect together. The theme of the day retreat was

‘Recognising God Today’. Pupils in S2 will visit Carfin again

in May to deepen their understanding of Jesus Christ and

Mary, His Blessed Mother, and arrangements are being made

to welcome Nicola Lynas (Retreat Team Leader of the Office

of Ministry and Evangelisation) in June to deliver a day of

reflection for pupils in S3.

Our S6 pupils who have undertaken The Pope Benedict XVI

CARITAS AWARD have been journeying together in faith

together since August. By undertaking the Caritas Award our

young people have been encouraged to respond to God’s call

of love and mercy through serving others. This provides the

pupils of Our Lady’s High School the opportunity to bear

witness to their faith within their homes, schools, parishes and

local communities.

We are putting

into practice

what Pope

Francis teaches

us about:

Mercy Lived

Mercy

Prayed

Mercy

Professed

Mercy

Celebrated

We are blessed by the spiritual leadership of

our new school Chaplain, Father Martin

Delaney. Fr Martin joined our school

community in August. Since then all pupils in

S1 have had the opportunity to meet with Fr

Martin during their class Mass, an opportunity

we hope to offer to pupils in other years. Fr

Martin is a visible face in the school and we

thank him for his contributions.

As is always the case our pupils have

responded generously to charity appeals and

this year has been no exception, with the

Christmas Food Parcel Campaign, Aid to the

Church in Need and St Andrew’s Hospice

being a small selection of appeals we have

contributed to.

We have also said a sad farewell to Miss

McGinness from the Religious Education

Department during this school year and we

have recently welcomed Miss McMahon to her

new post in within RE Department.

We, as a community, look forward to

welcoming Bishop Joseph Toal to celebrate our

Patronal Feast Day with us in March. It would

be our hope that Bishop Toal would, once

again, meet with pupils in both the Junior and

Senior Phase before celebrating Mass. This is

an experience that our pupils have always

enjoyed and benefitted from.

LENT is busy time of year in the life of the Our

Lady’s High School. Mass will be celebrated

every day and all pupils are encouraged to

attend. As this is also the Jubilee of Mercy we,

as a school, will be asking our pupils to

undertake our Acts of Mercy Challenge. As

always all of our pupils will also be afforded

the opportunity for confession during Lent.

Mass Wednesday and Friday Mornings @

8.40am

Follow us @OLHSRE

Our Young people are encouraged to

become actively involved in the life of their

own parish. As a result, students from Our

Lady’s High School have become involved

in the liturgical life of their parish. This

includes :

joining/forming music groups to lead

the music in the celebration of Sunday

Mass,

undertaking the duties of Pass-keepers,

volunteering as Readers in the

celebration of the Liturgy of the Word

to assist with the Children’s Liturgy

programme.

Additionally our pupils who have

undertaken the Pope Benedict XVI Caritas

Award have all been trained to assist in the

Diocesan Retreats for Sacramental

Preparation.

Our young people have also supported and

assisted in a number of charitable and

social events organised in their parish

community. Some of our senior phase

pupils volunteer at the local ALMA clubs

on a weekly basis.

Prayer is an integral part of life within the

community of Our Lady’s High School.

Students and staff are afforded

opportunities on a daily basis through Tutor

Time and Religious Education to build

meaningful prayer into their daily routine.

Our students have undertaken lead roles in

a variety of prayer services within the school. Our S6 pupils have formed and organised

the Our Lady’s High School Rosary Group which meets in the Centenary Chapel every

Thursday lunchtime to recite the Holy Rosary for the special intentions of the whole

Parish Life

“The Lord tells

us: 'the first task

in life is this:

prayer.' But not

the prayer of

words, like a

parrot; but the

prayer, the heart

gazing on the

Lord, hearing the

Lord, asking the

Lord.”

“This is what

praying is,

opening the door

to the Lord, so

that he can do

something.

If we close the

door, God can do

nothing!”

Mercy Prayed

school community. During Advent pupils of every tutor class led their peers in the daily

Advent Prayer Stop.

Throughout Ordinary Time within the Church Year Mass is celebrated every Wednesday

and Friday at 8:30 am in the school. However during Advent and Lent Mass is celebrated

every day. This provides every member of the whole school community the opportunity to

attend Mass on a daily basis as we prepare for the feasts of Christmas and Easter

respectively.

Our school retreats programme ensures pupils also have the opportunity to develop their

own personal relationship with God. Students are encouraged to reflect on the love and

mercy God displays towards us all and the significance of prayer in their own lives.

We endeavor to inspire others to “find their way to the Father” by developing

relationships, within our school community, that display the compassion, mercy and the

love that Christ showed throughout his life. Some examples of the initiatives our students

are involved in are as follows:

S6 Buddy Programme

Through our S6 Buddy Scheme our S6 pupils provide

essential peer support to our S1 pupils with their

transition from Primary to Secondary Education.

S1

Retreats

Our S6

students helped design, prepare and deliver

the material for our S1 Recognising God

Retreat in October.

St Andrew’s Hospice Ambassadors

Our St Andrew’s Hospice Ambassadors have volunteered to lead activities that raise

awareness of the work of the hospice amongst pupils and staff of Our Lady’s High School.

Additionally our ambassadors also help raise money to support the hospice to continue to

deliver the high level of care it currently offers its patients and their families.

Mercy Lived

Charity Life of Our Lady’s High

School

As always, the school community of

Our Lady’s High School has

responded generously as we have

endeavoured to support a wide

variety of charities through the

course of the school year. These

include supporting local charities

and good causes such as our

Christmas Food Parcel Campaign

and the Caritas Choir visiting Park Springs Care Home to deliver

gifts to perform a concert for the residents.

Our school has also supported a significant number of national and international charities.

Pupils have had the opportunity to find out about the work of charities such as Aid to the

Church in Need, SCIAF and Save the Children. Much to their credit, our young people,

have responded with generosity when asked to support the work these charities and others

undertake.

Additionally our students

have responded with

kindness when asked to

support our campaign to

provide support with the

recent refugee crisis

providing essential items

of clothing for those in

desperate need.

The Catholic Education Commission has

developed a Religious Education syllabus

for the Senior Phase, building on the

syllabus provided in This Is Our Faith for

the Broad General Education phase of the

curriculum in Catholic schools.

The draft document proposes a number of Experiences and Outcomes, organised under the

8 Strands of Faith described in This Is Our Faith. This draft document is intended to

provide for progression from the learning which pupils will experience in the Primary

school stages and in S1-S3. The proposed experiences and outcomes are intended to be

achievable across S4/5/6 within the provision of 2 hours of formal R.E. per week which all

Catholic secondary schools are obliged to provide.

The Holy See is considering this document with a view to granting a Decree of Recognitio,

as it did for the original document. In the meantime, those responsible for teaching religious

education should find the draft document to be a useful in helping them to review their

current provision and to plan for future development.

This Is Our Faith, the syllabus for Catholic Religious Education in Scotland, governs the

teaching of Religious Education in Scotland's Catholic schools. This is the first Religious

Education syllabus to be originated wholly in Scotland and designed to meet the needs of

young people in Scotland. It was published in November 2011 by the Scottish Catholic

Education Service on behalf of the Catholic Bishops of Scotland; a Senior Phase version was

published in October 2015.

This is Our Faith is designed to inform teachers'

understanding of the nature of the Catholic school,

the purpose of religious education, the role of the

teacher, the 'Strands of Faith' under which

is organised the 'core learning' in faith which

young people are expected to experience

through their broad General Education (P1

through to S3) and at the Senior Phase (S4 to S6).

Our Religious Education programme is designed

to explore the eight strands of This of Our Faith.

“This is Our Faith is intended to… ensure that young people can: develop their knowledge and

understanding of Catholic faith, nurture respect for other Christian traditions and world

faiths, experience opportunities for spiritual growth, acquire the skills of reflection, discernment

and moral decision-making and commit to beliefs, values and actions in a positive response to

God’s invitation to faith.” www.sces.org.uk

Mercy Professed

Mercy Celebrated dProfessed

Providing opportunities for all members of the

school community to experience the love and

mercy of Christ through the Sacraments of the

Church, is an important aspect of life in Our Lady’s

High School.

All members of the school community can participate in the Sacrament of the Eucharist each week

as Father Martin celebrates Mass every Wednesday and Friday at 8:30 am in the school. During

Advent and Lent Father Martin, with the assistance of the local clergy, celebrates Mass every day

in Our Lady’s High School.

Our students have also been given the chance to experience the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

through our S1 Retreat programme and the work of Office of Ministry and Evangelisation in

providing our S6 pupils with the opportunity to attend the Preparation for Christmas talks in

December.

If a member of the school community wished to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation Father

Martin would be available on a Wednesday and Friday. In addition to this, the Sacrament of

Penance is offered to all in the school during, both, Advent and Lent.

I have really enjoyed coming to Our Lady’s. I really enjoyed the RE retreat as it was lots of fun. I

loved having to go into all of the different caves during the treasure hunt and also I learned a lot of

new things about the saints and Jesus. I enjoyed attending the Mass and I think the trip was worth

it. S1 Pupil

I have enjoyed my time at Our Lady’s High School. In October 2015 I went to Auschwitz

Concentration Camp in Poland which was a life changing and unforgettable experience. Since I

returned I have been working with younger pupils – making them aware of the holocaust. S6 Pupil

It had been ages since I had been to confession. But after I went in school I felt really good about

myself. S3 Pupil

I have loved my time at Our Lady’s, throughout my time here I have been given loads of great

opportunities. I have gone on trips to York, Italy France and Belgium. Each trip offering a

completely different experience. S6 Pupil

During Advent I went to Mass every lunch time. I really appreciated this opportunity because I

felt like if I couldn’t give someone something I could pray and hope everything gets better.

S2 Pupil

What our pupils are saying about their school

Photographs in order:

Caritas Students

Meet Father Martin (3)

S6 Buddy Programme

Praying Hands-Retreats

Christmas Food Parcels

Park Springs Home (2)

Caritas Students

Advent Performance – Diocesan

Event

Aid to the Church in Need Rally

Leadership Award Programme

S6 Buddy Programme

Aid to the Church in Need

War Memorial Chapel

‘Learning to be Merciful’ has been chosen as this year’s theme

to link to the Jubilee Year of Mercy opened by Pope Francis on

8th December 2015.

Pope Francis reminds us God’s mercy can make even the driest

land become a garden and can restore life to dry bones. He asks

us to become agents of mercy channels through which God can water

the earth, protect all creation and make justice and peace flourish.

Therefore in this year of mercy we are reminded

that mercy is not only shown by God. It should be

shown by us. We who have experienced mercy

must in turn grant it to others.

In St Brendan’s we are always eager to help others

and show mercy.

At Christmas our Enterprise Committee organised

hampers which were donated to local parishioners

and our local Care Home. Primary 5/4 raised £70

for a SCIAF real gift. They bought some chickens,

a toilet and they hope to send a child to school with

books.

Primary 3 with the help of the whole school community

filled a number of shoe boxes for those less fortunate. In undertaking these activities our

children became agents of a mercy.

Most recently our children continue to

show mercy by donating to the local food

bank and collecting plastic bottles to

support the work of the Soup Kitchens in

Glasgow.

Our Lenten charity appeal which helps

our children show mercy to others less

fortunate continues to grow from

strength to strength and last year it was

decided by our children this money

should be donated in total to SCIAF and

with the government matching promise

the children raised a magnificent total of

£4,000.

Our annual St Andrew’s Hospice event this year coincided with one of our Jubilee

celebrations. This event was sold out with not only parents but members of the local

community and former members of staff joining together to share memories of their time at

St Brendan’s, while enjoying some traditional Scottish hospitality and being entertained by

our talented children. This event raised £400 for St Andrew’s Hospice.

In our every day practices at St Brendan’s we try to live our vision “Voyage Together as a

Community of Faith, Love and learning”. In showing love we must also show forgiveness

and through our positive behaviour programmes of restorative practices and peer mediation

we learn to respect others and show forgiveness when we have been wrong.

We look forward to Catholic

Education Week when we will

reflect on this year’s theme with the

support of our families and

community.

‘Truly Christian families can do much for today’s society, and also the

Church’. Last session, Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral Primary School community sought

to act out these words from Pope Francis as we work together to build a stronger community

of Faith, in our homes, our schools and our parishes.

We ended last school session by awarding our first ever cohort of Pope Francis Faith Award

Candidates with their awards at Graduation. Our Primary Seven pupils have worked on the

award over two years, demonstrating commitment to their Faith in their homes and parishes,

many of them gaining the additional ‘Parish Commendation’. This session we have over

90 children involved in the award scheme throughout P6 & P7 and look forward to another

group of children earning their award at

the end of the year.

Known for our generosity of spirit, the

session has seen our school raise funds

for a number of local, national and

worldwide charities. Over £6, 000 has

been donated to a range of charities

throughout the year, but our charitable

works have not been limited to financial

support. Throughout the year, our pupils

and staff have donated to our local food

bank, we have donated food hampers

which have been shared with the elderly

in our local community and we have taken our talents along to spend time with the residents

of Mission Place care home. Our senior pupils also created the ‘Really Useful Cupcake

Company’ selling cupcakes at Christmas to raise funds for Yorkhill Children’s Hospital, as

well as creating numerous charitable donations in the form of the ‘Operation Christmas

Children’ shoebox appeal. We support MISSIO in our weekly collections during our

Monday Morning whole school assemblies and in response to our pupils request, we have

hosted ‘one-off’ fundraisers to respond to those in need, e.g. donating £1500 to the people

of Nepal. Our staff also has a keen sense of social justice and has supported SCIAF and a

local Women’s Aid Shelter.

As always, a main focus of

our work in school is

Sacramental preparation,

and this session we have

embarked upon an

ambitious programme to

enhance the experience

for our pupils and

parents. Working

closely with our local

clergy, we have hosted

parental and pupil

evening workshops and we have a

programme of class Masses and visits to the church during the

intense preparations for the Sacraments of First Reconciliation and First Holy Communion.

Enrolment ceremonies and Masses will also take place during the session.

Throughout the session we have also continued to host Masses during Advent and Lent,

which are greatly supported by the wider school community and parish, as are our whole

school celebrations of the Eucharist.

In this small snapshot of the Faith life of our school, we are striving to live by the example

of Pope Francis as we learn to be merciful.

In St Bernadette’s we are looking forward to celebrating

Catholic Education Week. As a community of faith and

learning we are confident that the week of reflection and

focus on being merciful will be an enriching experience.

The theme of Catholic Education Week is “Learning to be Merciful”, based on

the teachings of Pope Francis who recognises our humanity and call to Christ.

We know that it isn’t easy at times to show our faith in the world.

Sometimes it can be really challenging and it can take a lot of effort. But

Pope Francis has reminded us that “God forgives all and God forgives always.”

He encourages us to consider particular ways in which we can realise this vision

of a merciful, loving God in our own lives.

So, our mission during this Catholic Education Week is to consider this

question:

How do we show Christian mercy in St Bernadette’s?

In St Bernadette’s the children are encouraged to live their Faith

every day and to be proud of their Faith in all they do. Our day to

day living should reflect our values of Love, Faith, Forgiveness,

Self-Discipline and Integrity. Our classes have been reflecting on

how they can put their faith into action. Our current Primary 6 and

Primary 7 pupils are working towards the Pope Francis Faith award. This has

been a very rewarding experience for them and it is wonderful to see and hear

their discussions and witness to the gospel on a daily basis in school. We are

also working with the children and parents of P3 and P4 who are preparing for

Reconciliation and First Holy Communion. These events are always filled with

joy and we remember that the joy comes from knowing and becoming closer to

Jesus through the sacraments and through God’s Mercy.

We can also reflect on the very positive work which continues our partnership

with Namulenga Girls’ School in Malawi despite difficulties with

communications and VISAS. Our commitment remains to learn with and learn

from our partner school. Our Celebrations of Faith Committee also arranged

and prepared for the whole school to celebrate Mass for St. Andrew’s Day and

for the Holy Year of Mercy with the parish community of St. Bernadette’s.

These were both most enjoyable and spiritual events, where our children were

highly complimented for their beautiful singing and respectful and enthusiastic

participation.

Pope Francis has stated that faith, hope and charity are

the driving force of the Christian life. Our ongoing

commitment to helping others is evident once again in the

very generous donations we have made to charities over

the past year –

SCIAF £1100.00

MISSIO £200.00

Malawi Partnership £559.00

(Namulenga Girls’ School)

Let the Children Live £100.00

British Heart Foundation £165.00

Mary’s Meals £300.00

St. Andrew’s Hospice £400.00

Tickled Pink £200.00

Our thanks go to all families and friends of St Bernadette’s who are so

generous in their support of our charitable work. We are very grateful for the

support we receive from our parents, our Parent Council, Fr Mallya and Our

Lady’s High School. We appreciate their efforts and thank them for their

continuing commitment to us as we grow in faith, love and mercy within our

school community

Produced by O.L.H.S. in Association with our Cluster Primary Schools