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Catholic Life

At St Brendan's, our Chaplaincy is a warm and inclusive space for all students and staff, regardless of their faith, beliefs, or background.

We're here to listen and support you, offering an additional layer of care alongside our other fantastic support services.

Our Chaplaincy provides various opportunities for worship, prayer, and spiritual guidance, both in groups and individually. We're here to help you through life's challenges and to celebrate your joys and successes!

The Chapel is located at the heart of our college, right next to the Chaplaincy. It's a peaceful place where students and staff can visit throughout the day for quiet prayer/reflection, to light a candle, or simply find a moment of stillness. Our College chapel is also a space for well-being.

We have a multi-faith prayer room, known as the Quiet Room, located in B211e. This room is open to any student or staff member who wishes to pray during lunchtimes.

St Brendan's Chapel

St Brendan's Chapel

Chaplaincy Mission

The mission of our Chaplaincy reflects the rich diversity of our community, engaging with students and staff of different faiths and none. It is also diverse in that different areas of our College community work collaboratively and take lead roles in aspects of the work of our Chaplaincy making it a real whole community mission. Our Chaplaincy develops because of the inspiration, leadership and support of staff and students across our College community.

RPE (Religion, Philosophy and Ethics)

Welcome to Religion, Philosophy, and Ethics (RPE). We’re excited to have you join us once a week for a 45 minute class. In this course, you will explore some fascinating topics together. The best part? There will not be any homework or exams to stress you out!

RPE is all about developing your critical thinking skills and broadening your perspectives. You will engage in lively debates and discussions on philosophical and moral issues, as well as explore faith-based topics and current affairs. It is an opportunity for you to open your mind to different views and ideas.

By participating in these discussions, you will learn to think deeply about important questions and form your own opinions. These skills can be incredibly valuable in many aspects of life, including university applications, apprenticeships, and future employment. Employers and institutions often look for individuals who can think critically and consider different perspectives, and RPE will help you hone these abilities.

So get ready to embark on an exciting intellectual journey with us! We can't wait to see your ideas flourish and watch you grow as a critical thinker and open-minded individual. Let us dive into the world of religion, philosophy, and ethics together!

Students taking part in RPE activities during Refugee Week

Students taking part in RPE activities during Refugee Week

Chaplaincy Enrichment

CHAPLAINCY STUDENT LEADERS: Are you interested in taking on a leadership role in the College? Get involved in the Chaplaincy Enrichment program!

CAFOD YOUNG LEADERS PROGRAM: Join our CAFOD Young Leaders group if you're passionate about social action and want to make a positive change in your community. CAFOD is the official Catholic aid agency for England and Wales, working globally.

YOUTH SVP (SOCIETY OF ST VINCENT DE PAUL): Help tackle poverty by providing practical assistance to those in need. Activities include visiting the elderly, writing letters to sick children, cooking meals for the hungry, and more.

COMMUNITY (CHOIR): Take the lead in sharing and developing musical celebration in College. You can form groups and choirs, share you musical gifts and contribute to our Mass on Fridays.

GROWING IN FAITH TOGETHER (GIFT) (PRAYER & LITURGY, INTERFAITH): Celebrate diversity and faith through planning, leading, and sharing in prayer, reflecting on scripture, and engaging in creative meditation.

LAUDATO SI ANIMATORS (ECO): Become an advocate for social change and engage in sustainable lifestyles. As animators, you'll work to bring Pope Francis's encyclical Laudato Si' to life and care for our common home.

CAFOD Young Leaders

CAFOD Young Leaders

Liturgical Life of the College

We offer a variety of opportunities for prayer and collective worship, suitable for both students and staff to participate in:

  • Daily thought for the day at 8:55 AM in classrooms and tutorials.
  • Weekly thought for week in the staff, students, and parents' bulletin.
  • Weekly voluntary Mass every Friday at 12:10 PM, which is live broadcasted on the Chaplaincy Facebook Page.
  • Prayer/Reflection services during break times.
  • Holy Communion Service led by the Chaplain in the absence of Mass.
  • Once yearly student Prayer Space themed week.
  • Weekly thought for reflection displayed on café screens.
  • Twice yearly whole college assemblies for Advent and Lent, with prayer led by Fr. Richard.
  • Leavers celebration begins with a reflection led by Fr. Richard/Chaplain.
  • Student-led Christian prayer group.
  • Prayer and reflection at the start of every INSET.
  • First day of the autumn term starts with a reflection led by Fr. Richard/Chaplain.
  • Christian guided meditation sessions for staff and students.
  • Carol services and blessing of hampers.
Hampers donated to local families in need

Hampers donated to local families in need

Involvement in the Diocese

We are closely involved with the mission of our Catholic Diocese. At the heart of our mission is the call of Bishop Declan, Bishop of Clifton Diocese, for us to work to ‘Deepen prayer, Enable Communion and Strengthen Mission’.

Aquinas Group Logo

Aquinas Group Logo

Our Aquinas community

Our Chaplaincy is active in Supporting the faith journey of young people in our Catholic Primary and Secondary schools through to joining us at St Brendan’s Sixth Form College.

We support Chaplaincy leadership and training across our seven Aquinas Catholic primary schools with a training and activity day for young Chaplaincy leaders involving fun teamwork activities, talks and workshops on the work of Cafod and relevant Diocesan themes which our young Chaplaincy leaders can take back into their school communities to engage and share with their peers in assemblies and chaplaincy prayer and activities. We invite these leaders back in the summer, on St. Brendan’s Day, for a celebration of their leadership in Chaplaincy and encourage them to continue the journey of service and witness into their secondary schools. We hope they will one day be the leaders of Chaplaincy in St. Brendan’s; supporting young chaplaincy leaders in their old primary schools.  We partner with St Bernadette’s R.C. Secondary school Chaplaincy to offer a retreat day at the end of the summer term for our Aquinas year 6; celebrating our Aquinas Community and encouraging our young people to aspire to journey forward in their education and faith communities. The year 6 are very familiar with our College community as they have as year 5 pupils a fantastic Aquinas sports day organised through our St. Brendan’s Sports Union in partnership with sports students in St. Bernadette’s. It is great that they are already beginning to feel they belong in our College community.

Our community is:

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