Catholic Life at the Ursuline College

URSULINE PRAYER

Gracious God, let us remain in harmony, united together all of one heart and one will. Let us be bound to one another by the bond of love, respecting each other, helping each other, and bearing with each other in Jesus Christ. For if we try to be like this, without any doubt, the Lord God will be in our midst.

St. Angela, pray for us,

St. Ursula, pray for us,

Amen.

The Catholic life of the school is rich in opportunities for children to encounter God and to deepen their relationship with Him as a loving, compassionate Father. Through daily prayer in form time and at the end of the school day, through liturgies, assemblies, and Religious Education lessons, through the relationships and support for each other that children, staff and parents enjoy within the school community, we enable children to come to know and love God. The school value its Ursuline traditions and Saints which guide us in our religious life daily.

‘Do something. Get Moving. Risk new things. Stick with it.’  - Our foundress, St Angela Merici 

Religious icons can be found throughout the school with a crucifix in each classroom.

The Christian values at the heart of our Catholic faith incorporate the British values and we aim in everything we do to further each child's sense of commitment and responsibility to themselves, to others and in the wider world.

All staff, led by the Headteacher, Deputy Headteacher’s, Assistant Headteachers, R.E Leader and Governors are aware that the school's foundations are built on the Catholic faith and beliefs and that it is our shared responsibility to transmit the Catholic faith to the children in our care

Staff can pray and work together to support each other in providing Religious Education for our students and demonstrate Christian values.

Learning in RE is at the core of the curriculum and we ensure that the Religious Education Directory is followed in allocating 10% of curriculum time to RE lessons for Key Stage 3 & Key Stage 4 and 5% for Key Stage 5. The Governing Body, led by the Chair and the Governor responsible for Catholic Ethos, provide support and commitment to the central place of RE in the school.

Youth SVP

https://svp.org.uk/youth-svp

The Youth SVP group was set up by Ms Gaffney in November 2022 and has now grown to 60 students and 6 staff members.  The core motto of the Youth SVP is turning Concern into Action which also compliments the Ursuline College motto of Serviam whilst also being inspired by St. Angela Merici ‘Do something. Get Moving. Risk new things. Stick with it.’ 

In the weeks towards Christmas the students got busy straight away. They organised a visit from the Salvation Army with Major Richard Oliver who educated the students on the levels of homeless and sofa surfing within their local area. As a result, the students donated 8 sleeping bags to the Salvation Army. The Youth SVP worked with the local adult conference of the SVP to arrange the delivery of a big school food drive over Christmas. The students also created 70 handmade Christmas Cards with personalised messages for the residences of St Michaels Care home in Westgate-on-Sea (just 6min walk from the school). In January, the students were then invited back to make regular visits to the residents who do not usually get a visitation.

Also in January, the local adult conference of the SVP held a celebration mass, welcoming all the student members of the Youth SVP which they thoroughly enjoyed.

Other projects they have completed include creating affirmations for students who may be having a bad day for each of the house offices of St Augustine, St Bernadette, St Francis and St Teresa. The students painted each box in the house colours. They then created affirmations for teachers having who made need to hear kind words from a student which are in the staff room. More ideas from our Youth SVP are creating Reading Spaces for lunchtimes in the school community and organising fundraising events such as ‘Pay £1 to miss a lesson and watch a movie’ to help raise funds for the other projects.

The Easter drive was working with Community Kindness – Thanet to gather as many Easter Eggs as possible from our school community for children who live on or under the poverty line in Thanet. There are currently 9000 children who fall under this line in our local area, some of which attend our school. With the countdown to Easter Sunday, it is a great way to focus on giving and supporting those in need. A total of 350 eggs were donated by the school.

The students have begun to work with Thanet Earth https://thanetearth.com/

towards the end of the academic year where Thanet Earth will donate fruit and vegetables for the Youth SVP to sell at a market to raise funds for the Youth SVP.

They have launched a TikTok account to encourage our school community to join the youth SVP and support any of the fundraising or good causes around the school. Some videos have reached over 7000 views even in its early stages. If you want to keep tabs on what we are up to, follow us @ursulinecollegeyouthsvp.

SCHOOL CATHOLIC LIFE AND LITURGICAL CALENDAR 2023/24 DRAFT