Today is Ash Wednesday and marks the beginning of Lent. Our whole school community will be attending the 10.00am Mass at St Bartholomew’s Church. All parents and carers are very welcome to join us.

Please remember that the weekly prayer service takes place in the oratory this morning at 8.45am. This would be a great way to begin Lent and, indeed, a positive way of spending every Wednesday morning over the coming weeks.

As from yesterday, our Music Room was given its official new name: The Mark Millar Performing Arts Studio. This is special tribute and a small thank-you to Mark, who is such a good friend and generous benefactor to St Bartholomew’s. I was passing the room yesterday morning and came across a group of trumpeters using our newly refurbished facilities. They even did part of their lesson using the new SMART Board!

Finally, the next instalment of the Head Teacher’s address from last Sunday’s Education Mass:

” ‘It’s Friday…. but Sunday’s coming!’ What do I mean by this? Well, on Good Friday, we experience something of the loss, the heartache, the confusion and the fear of those first disciples. They’d lost everything. If only they had listened more closely to Jesus and realised that Easter Sunday was coming and that it would change everything! That’s what Christian joy is about: it’s Friday, but Sunday’s coming!

As Christians, then, we can offer a very different way of looking at life: the assurance of a God who sticks with us, the hope of better days to come, the promise of an infinite love which went to the cross and will never leave us.”