Chaplaincy and the Catholic Life of the College

“God doesn’t require us to succeed, he only requires that we try.” Mother Teresa

“Education cannot be neutral. It is either positive or negative; either it enriches or it impoverishes; either it enables a person to grow or it lessens, even corrupts him. The mission of schools is to develop a sense of truth, of what is good and beautiful. And this occurs through a rich path made up of many ingredients. This is why there are so many subjects — because development is the results of different elements that act together and stimulate intelligence, knowledge, the emotions, the body, and so on.”
Pope Francis

As one of society’s key institutions, schools are in a strong position to support the wellbeing, values and spirituality of young people.

Chaplaincy supports young people in one of the most complex environments in our society – the school. Our Chaplaincy ethos is to provide a safe, supportive and empowering influence.

The College is a strong community built on Gospel values. The Christian influence is palpable throughout the college.

The work of Chaplaincy intertwines with the College Chaplain who provides a listening ear, a comforting word and prayerful support. Chaplaincy places a high value on spirituality and as such, is an expression of truly holistic Youth Work practice, valuing the place of spirituality in the lives of young people and maximising the benefits of positive spirituality for their overall wellbeing, their development as good citizens their develop as moral members of our community and to take the values given into adult life.

“Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing.” Mother Teresa

“Adveniat Regnum Tuum”
(Motto of Archbishop Beck)

Our College Prayer

Our Father who art in Heaven,
Hallowed be thy name;
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us;
And lead us not into temptation
But deliver us from evil.

Worship

Chaplaincy nurtures the richness of the college as a worshipping community, which is inclusive of all, providing opportunities for prayer, worship and exploration of faith.

Worship gives us an opportunity to be still in God’s presence to reflect, to listen, to pray, to grow and to share in God’s gifts of love and friendship. Each morning the College community begins the day with Morning Prayer / reflections. Mass is celebrated in the Chapel at various times throughout the year.

The College Chapel is a place of silence and arise available for those who wish to step away from the busy nature of the college day. Opportunities for reflection, prayer and spiritual development are also provided throughout the RE programme.

Witness

“The principle element of education is to learn to be generous.”Pope Francis

Chaplaincy promotes the College as a witnessing faith community, enabling staff and students to link their faith with action. It encourages individuals to reflect on their own faith, their values, nurturing them in understanding their own spirituality and recognising this as an important part of personal growth and development. Various groups in the college seek to promote justice and peace such as Amnesty International, CAFOD, HCPT and Fairtrade and other groups.

Welfare

“Freedom means knowing how to reflect on what we do, discerning that which is good from what is less than good, and behaving in a way that leads to growth. It means always choosing well.” Pope Francis

Chaplaincy offers support and pastoral care to all freely given to one and all. It engages with staff and students in their work, supporting and affirming all that is good and creative as well as encouraging a sense of self-worth and pride in all that they do.

College life, although full of opportunities, can also bring problems and difficulties: a confidential listening ear is always available from the Chaplaincy team, student services and our school counsellor. You can come and talk to us about anything, we will be only too happy to offer a non-judgmental ear.

The college also has a wonderful supportive and caring mentoring programme located within Student Services, so there is no need for anyone within our community to feel like they have no one to talk with.

Chaplaincy

“Do not be discouraged by the difficulties that the educational challenge presents. Educating is not a job but an attitude. It is a way of being. To educate well, we need to step out of ourselves and be among young people, to accompany them in the stages of their growth, placing ourselves at their side”. Pope Francis

The Christian Catholic ethos of our college is shown through the endeavours of our chaplaincy team. Chaplaincy provides care, support and inspiration to all members of the college community.

We offer:

- - Moments of Prayer
  - Celebration of the Eucharist and Liturgies
  - Our chapel is a place of prayer, reflection and contemplation

In line with our Mission ‘Only the best will do’ we aim to be for our students and staff:

- - A sympathetic listening ear
  - Practical care in time of need
  - Promoting of respect, justice, peace and charity
  - Committed to provide opportunities and support for a deepening of faith to take place

Students, staff and the wider community are welcome anytime to join us. We aim to promote community, develop responsible caring and sharing students. We are passionate about developing each individual student’s God given talents through our outstanding extended curriculum. There are many academic opportunities through links with external organisations and universities, these include the Headteachers Challenge, the Brilliant Club, University of Liverpool scholar’s programme, our Latin Excellence project plus many more. We also offer many enriching opportunities within the performing arts, sport, music and public speaking to name a few.

“Go as a community with friends and people who care about you very much, because that will help us get to our destination.” Pope Francis

“Thy Kingdom Come”
“Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love.”

Words into Action at Archbishop Beck Catholic College

Collective Worship

An important part of the Chaplaincy is to prepare and lead collective worship. This takes place in the College community every day at Year group Assemblies. Support is also given to Form Tutors for them lead class reflections.

The themes for Collective Worship are based around the Church’s Liturgical Year. The themes include Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter. With various other themes that are specific to certain times of the year.

Welcome to our community
Community – Living together
Friendship in our community
CAFOD (One of main Charities)
Remembrance in Modern day Britain
Caring for others in our society

The Gideon Bible Society is invited into the College annually to distribute the Gideon New Testament to all our Year 7 Students.

Retreats

“We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature – trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence.” Mother Teresa

Retreats are organised for students in Year 7. The retreats help further develop the Christian Ethos within the College Community.

The Year 7 retreats reflect upon the Mission of Archbishop Beck, ‘Only the best will do’. Students and staff have a day offsite at a local retreat centre. The focus of the time with the students is to allow them space to reflect upon how we can establish the Kingdom of God in our College community.

The retreat centre is ideally placed where students enjoy the lovely environment. The format of the day starts with starter activities to encourage the students to mix with those they may not normally mix with. Workshops about the College Mission take place. These days are always enjoyable and have proved to be a memorable part of the students moral and spiritual journey. Students return to the College refreshed and we hope spiritualty revived.

Helping others through charities

“Let us more and more insist on raising funds of love, of kindness, of understanding, of peace. Money will come if we seek first the Kingdom of God – the rest will be given.” Mother Teresa

The Catholic philosophy of service to others is embedded within the college. The College supports many Charities locally, nationally and internationally. Our students respond to the many requests for support for numerous charities with a true sense of giving, sharing and caring.

There is a particular focus on raising awareness of CAFOD as well as a whole college focus on raising money each Lent for Nugent Care Society which is initiated by students. Our sixth form leadership team act as Charity Ambassadors to encourage and gather ideas from students in years 7 to 11.

Extensive fundraising has also taken place for Teenage Cancer Trust. Including our annual Christmas Jumper Day in the sixth form and regular cake sales for Woodlands Hospice and Mary’s Meals. This year we have also raised funds or donations through ‘Give a can for harvest/Christmas’, our Easter egg raffle, our CAFOD Big Lent Walk Y8 fundraiser, Christmas gifts for both Mission Christmas and the Liverpool Advent Service. This year we have a full day of teaching and activities planned for Year 7 in our Enrichment Day on the 9th February based around charity and helping others.

Remembrance Way

“Life is an opportunity, benefit from it.
Life is beauty, admire it.
Life is a dream, realize it.
Life is a challenge, meet it.
Life is a duty, complete it.
Life is a game, play it.
Life is a promise, fulfil it.
Life is sorrow, overcome it.
Life is a song, sing it.
Life is a struggle, accept it.
Life is a tragedy, confront it.
Life is an adventure, dare it.
Life is luck, make it.
Life is too precious, do not destroy it.
Life is life, fight for it.”
Mother Teresa

The College has designed and created, on our new campus, a “Remembrance Walk” which is the main student entrance to the College. This has had a series of trees planted along the route and has special plaques placed at their base commemorating the life of our deceased students, colleagues and friends of our community.

Senior Citizen’s Party

“Love begins at home, and it is not how much we do… but how much love we put in that action.” Mother Teresa

The College hosts an annual Senior Citizens’ Christmas party: an afternoon of entertainment, food, and time to chat with the older members of our local community. Many students are involved and help entertain the visitors with music, dance, comedy, and acting. Many students helped out on the afternoon by waiting on and entertaining our 50 local senior citizens the student community sponsor the event through their generous donations to the cost of the event.

Masses

The celebration of the Eucharist as a community allows the students an opportunity to be part of a liturgical celebration. Our excellent partnership with our Priests allow them to visit providing spiritual enrichment for our student body and staff community. Last year, Father Thomas and Father John from Holy Name visited the college once a week to celebrate a class mass with each individual class group in Year 7 and we are due to start these soon with our current Year 7 led by our new parish priests.

Staff and students at the college also have the privilege of attending and participating in the wider life of the Archdiocese through various school events at the Cathedral of Christ the King; the yearly Advent service, the annual civic mass and the Light up a Life service.

Bishop Tom Williams is also a regular visitor. Indeed, this year he spent a full day with us in October 2023. He worked and reflected with groups of students, saying mass to students from all year groups and blessing our new Remembrance Way. Bishop Tom has also been our Guest Speaker at our annual awards evening on a couple of occasions, including in October 2023.

Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal and Remembrance Service

Every year our student body sell poppies for this most worthy cause, not only through the selling of Poppies we are able to show to our students that the sense of sacrifice, commitment and service are vital in any community.

The head boy and head girl lay a wreath at the cenotaph at St. George’s Hall at the Annual Liverpool Remembrance Sunday event to commemorate all the brave men and women who have given up their lives for our freedom.