S5 Class Masses will be celebrated w/b 26 October.
S5 Class Masses
RE & Chaplaincy News October 2020
Things continue to run at a pace in the Religious Education department and in the wider faith life of our school. In order to maintain our spiritual growth under the current restrictions, our chaplaincy programme looks a little different this year. Weekly ‘Pray as you go’ meditations are posted on Show My Homework each week, Thursday Mass is running each week for BGE pupils and ‘Monday Meditation’ sessions aim to give senior phase pupils an opportunity to unwind while finding peace and reflection through praying with the scriptures.
It has been a delight to reinstate our Aid to the Church in Need group on Tuesday lunchtimes- the only group of its kind in Scotland. This group, currently aimed at S1 and 2, raises money and awareness for the plight of persecuted Christians around the world while having lots of fun! I have been very impressed by those who have joined or returned and warmly invite any interested S1/2 pupils to come along.
Our chaplaincy programme is integrated with our RE curriculum which follows the Liturgical Year. A highlight for all of us is the S1 Welcome Mass which is unable to take place this year. S1 study the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass each September and join together for a Class Mass with our chaplains so we decided to combine the two and have Class-Welcome-Masses! Under the guiding hand of Fr Monaghan and I, our new pupils put into practice all of the signs of reverence that they had learned about in class and participated very well in the liturgy. 
They received a prayer card bearing the school prayer which they can keep as a reminder that once you become part of the Turnbull family, you are always a part of the community. S3 have been studying the sacraments of healing and we are grateful to Canon Hill for making the sacrament of penance available to them.
As we continue to follow the liturgical and devotional year, pupils will have the opportunity to take time in RE to revisit the great gift of the Holy Rosary and participate in October devotions. It would be wonderful if this were a point of unity between school and home and as part of our Family Learning initiative, I invite you to pray the rosary together at home- a devotion which carries plenary indulgence!
Our Caritas class for 2020-21 have made an excellent start with their faith learning and have been exploring Pope Benedict’s encyclical ‘Deus Caritas Est’ or ‘God is Love.’ As their understanding matures through studying the sacred scriptures and the writings of the Fathers of the Church, pupils are finding ways of sharing their learning and putting the virtue of Charity into practise. A significant project that is underway for them is the organisation of Catholic Education Week celebrations, which culminate in our Patronal Feast Day.
Finally, I would like to pay tribute to Mr Hughes who retired as Principal Teacher of Religious Education after 16 years of faithful service. Mr Hughes brought a great passion for the faith to the classroom and the wider life of the school that has influenced countless souls. We will miss Mr Hughes greatly and thank him for his fidelity to Christ and the teaching of the Gospel in a culture that is increasingly hostile to The Faith. Mr Hughes’ last day concluded with a class Mass at which he presented the school with two stunning antique holy water stoups before he received a solemn blessing from Fr Monaghan.
For my part, I am delighted to be leading the Religious Education department and whole school chaplaincy at Turnbull and look forward to sharing the joy of the Gospel with you and your families. Please know that all the past, present and future pupils, families and staff of Turnbull High School are in my daily prayer intentions.
Yours in the Lord
Mr Pearce
PT RE
A beautiful drawing by Christopher in S1
Vocations Awareness Week
This year we began with an assembly on the theme of Vocation and young people learned and prayed about this in class.
Our Caritas pupils produced the following video on which our staff talk about their vocations and how God speaks to them in their lives.
S3 Confessions 2020
S1 Welcome Masses 2020
RE & Chaplaincy Update
Term is off to a great start and despite the challenges that we face, it is great to have our young people back in RE and participating in the faith life of the school!
We are seeing excellent things from our new S1 who have been learning about various forms of prayer and praying in class. Their maturity during Lectio Divina (Christian Meditation) was impressive and now they turn to studying the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass in greater depth. S2 have been learning about the sacraments of vocation and having studied Holy Orders and completed a family learning task, they have begun to learn about the sacrament of Holy Matrimony.
S3 have studied philosophical arguments for the exitance of God and are now looking at what it means to be a disciple by learning from scripture and the lives of the saints.
Chaplaincy
It is tricky to maintain a ‘normal’ chaplaincy programme but the following arrangements are being made to allow for covid regulations.
Monday Medidtation- an opportunity for peace and reflection for seniors. S4, 5 and 6 will rotate each week.
Aid to the Church in Need group will recommence on Tuesday Lunchtimes for S1 and 2. S1 in RE room 2 and S2 in RE room 1.
Thursday Mass starts at 8.45 and is open to BGE pupils.
Pray and you go- Each week on Show My Homework, all pupils, staff and parents will have access to a guided meditation with music and prayer that can be accessed at any time.
There will be short inserts at assembly each Monday via Microsoft Teams.
Staff chaplaincy continues to be provided in our Teams group.
Please keep our school community in your prayers and encourage your young people to be involved in our Unique Catholic Identity.
Consecration Renewal 2020
On the second inservice day, our staff in each department joined together via live feed to renew our consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The consecration prayer can be read below.
Start of Term Service 2020
View the start of term service for 2020 here. THS Start of Term Service2020 St Lawrence
End of Year Service 2020
Here is the end of year service that took place online for staff at Turnbull High.
Wishing everyone a well earned rest over the summer.
Keep praying!
Mr P
Caritas Award 2020 & Religion, Beliefs and Values
A huge congratulations to our S6 pupils who achieved the Pope Benedict Caritas Award this year! Through their faith learning, faith reflection and faith witness activities, the young people also gained the SQA Religion, Beliefs and Values Level 6 certificate.
2020 is also the first year that the RE department has entered pupils for the SQA Religion, Beliefs and Values level 4 certificate. This enables pupils to to gain accreditation and an additional qualification with their exam results in S4 by completing our S3 course. We will be developing elements of our RBV programme this year and aim for every pupil at Turnbull achieving the award at Level 4 and all Caritas pupils achieving Level 6- Academic and Spiritual formation enriching one another.
Mr Pearce
