Chaplaincy

Chaplaincy is led primarily by senior leaders, driven by the Headteacher and the Governors. The Chaplaincy Collegiate comprises the Deputy Head, Mr Mangan, and the Assistant Head, Ms Tiffany, who take strategic lead on Collective Worship and Catholic Life and Mission. Mrs Davies, our Prayer, Liturgy and Formation co-ordinator has a particular focus on staff and student formation and developing students as leaders of liturgy, alongside our Priest Chaplain, Fr Yemane. Mr Tunnecliff, Associate Assistant Head and Head of RE co-ordinates academic RE to ensure that our students develop the knowledge, understanding and skills required by the Religious Education Directory. Collectively, this team produces the Annual Plan of Provision which details our daily and weekly pattern of prayer, liturgy, Masses and other key events in the school calendar which reflect the centrality of our Catholic identity, alongside carrying out regular quality assurance activities to ensure that the chaplaincy programme is of high quality and that staff and students are able to develop spiritually throughout their time at CHCHS.

All staff who deliver worship assemblies act as leaders of prayer and liturgy and have had formation to equip them to do this. Alongside them, our students work with Mrs Davies to develop the skills to lead worship and articulate the message of scripture to their peers in a variety of liturgical events.

Form tutors lead their forms in collective worship on a daily basis and, by developing the skills of our students as they move through the school, enable them to participate and lead this morning prayer with increasing independence as they progress through the school.   

Miss Goode co-ordinates our fantastic Common Good Leaders programme which allows our students to flourish as they lead activities and initiatives inspired by Catholic Social Teaching.

We celebrate parents as being the primary educators of our children and warmly invite them to take part in all areas of school life. Parents join us at Masses at various points of both the liturgical and school calendar, alongside other liturgies such as our Advent Service.

Every member of staff in our school is committed to educating the whole person and strives to encourage each individual to be the person that God calls them to be. Staff have extremely high standards and hold our students to account, both academically and morally. Everything we undertake in terms of Teaching and Learning CPD is rooted in Catholic Social Teaching as we keep the most vulnerable students, especially those who have SEND needs and/or are in receipt of Pupil Premium funding, at the core of what we work on. The number of extra-curricular opportunities available, all run in staff’s own time, is testament to our commitment to human flourishing.

Pastoral care is at the forefront of our ethos and is rooted in the belief in the uniqueness and dignity of every individual. Our pastoral structure is very well planned and comprises senior members of staff in key roles, ably supported by an experienced team which is on call to attend to the needs of our school community at all times. Building positive relationships and trust is central to all staff. This enables us to celebrate the highs alongside supporting students and parents during more difficult life events as we know our students and their families well. Our Priest Chaplain, Fr Yemane, is a key part of our pastoral team and a very regular visitor to school to provide pastoral care.  

The majority of our teaching staff take on roles as Form Tutors and this is a responsibility that is incredibly important to us. A Form Tutor’s role is central in both caring for students and, crucially, monitoring their progress academically, socially and spiritually; encouraging involvement, commitment, and high standards of work, behaviour and participation in the school community. Our Form Tutors are active in looking after the development of the ‘whole person’ and help to form students in their understanding and embracing the distinctive Catholic identity, charism and mission of our school. 

Our Prayer and Liturgy co-ordinator, Mrs Davies, runs our annual Plan of Provision on a day-to-day basis and liaises closely with Fr Yemane surrounding the celebration of Mass and the sacrament of reconciliation regularly, as per the liturgical calendar, alongside other events that are key to school i.e. Ash Wednesday Services, and end of term celebratory liturgies. She is also our link to the diocese and attends Chaplaincy meetings, other events and undertakes regular diocesan CPD. Our Head of RE, Mr Tunnicliffe, who arranges our Lourdes Pilgrimage, liaises frequently with parishes in the diocese. The Chaplaincy Collegiate, which drives the Catholic life and mission of the school has put a plan for self-evaluation in place and ensure that this feeds into the School Development Plan.

Our whole staff body bears witness to our Chaplaincy provision being a central and celebrated tenet of our school community and identity and are inspiring models of exemplary practice in engaging in and leading prayer and liturgy. Our provision is led by a senior team of practising Catholics who guide the school community by:

• being a person who prays and makes prayer an important feature of decision making and who intercedes on behalf of the community they serve i.e. by designing the annual plan of provision and setting the daily and weekly prayer and liturgy practice in the school;
• speaking of their own faith and relationship with Christ i.e. by delivering formation to all staff members;
• living a life which exemplifies Gospel values i.e. by being role models who exemplify the Christian Virtues which run through the centre of our school;
• treating all members of the community with dignity, building relationships rooted in mutual respect, and at all times observing proper boundaries appropriate to the chaplain’s professional position i.e. by working closely with pastoral staff;
• showing tolerance of and respect for the rights of others i.e. by treating every individual with dignity;
• demonstrating a commitment to Catholic Moral and Social Teaching i.e. by promoting partnerships with Catholic charities and encouraging the work of the Common Good Leaders.