With thanks
Dear Parents and Carers
During the pandemic I am sure you have spent time trying to distinguish between what ultimately matters and what merely seems to matter at this time. These have been days when there are things only we can do, we who are what we are, in this time, in this place, and facing these circumstances. Where what we want to do meets what needs to be done, that is where God wants us to be. My deepest thanks to parents and carers for your outstanding support for our teachers and school staff over the past term.
As we end term, I would like to thank staff for their dedication and support for our young people and colleagues. Few are the days when they have not made a difference to the lives of our young people. They have placed as their highest priority educating our young people within the vision we have for them.
Equally importantly, I would like to thank our students, despite the disruption experienced and endured, for their kindness, patience, perseverance, positivity, and dogged resilience. These last three weeks have been special moments as they re-connected with their fellow students and teachers and re-energised on their return to school, growing to fill our expectations of them. They have proven well capable of what we asked of them and they have responded, achieving heights of which we know they are eminently capable of achieving. We look forward to the day when all are able to return and be energised by the prospect of what is yet to come; “if you plan for a year, plant rice. If you plan for a decade, plant a tree. If you plan for posterity, educate a child” [Confucius].
We continue today the Sacred Triduum marking the climax of Jesus’s mission. He came amongst us in humility as a servant, showing His great unconditional love for us by dying on the cross. As we accompany Jesus through Good Friday, no matter what trials we may be facing, let’s pray for confidence in God’s presence, that we may be strengthened by it and filled with hope as we look forward to Easter. The Passiontide hymn Vexilla Regis once sung on Good Friday when the Blessed Sacrament is taken from the repository to the altar is here and ‘God So loved the world’ by Bob Chilcott here.
In response to the needs, hopes & sorrows of our school community we pray & reflect:
- in sorrow on those who have died, whether family members, friends or those unknown to us personally. Lord in your mercy hear our prayer
- with compassion on those who have suffered whether through illness, stress, financial adversity, or family tensions. Lord in your mercy hear our prayer
- in hope that, as the pandemic is controlled and we open up our lives again, we build our society into a better shape, more compassionate, less marked by inequalities, more responsive to needs and deprivation. Lord in your mercy hear our prayer.
Finally, the post of Head Teacher, Saint Ninian’s High School is currently advertised in the national press. I will retire at summer.
Wishing all families a very joy-filled and happy Easter and restful holiday.
