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Newsletter 3 - December 2024
Chaplaincy
Year 11 Mass
Year 11 had their final mass celebrated by Fr Simon who
reminded them to never forget they are part of a community
long after they leave St Richard’s - the community of
God. It was a great chance for the newly commissioned
Extraordinary Minister of Communion - Year 11 Caritas
Leaders Dan, Michelle and Henry to put into practice the
training they did with Deacon Simon South.
Liturgies
Year 7 Mass of Induction
The wonderful occasion that is our Year 7 Mass of Induction
took place on 19th October. It's always a joy to see how
much effort and commitment the Year 7s put into creating
this Mass of celebration. Once again, our Performing Arts
Department put in many hours of rehearsal to produce
some beautiful music, dance and drama to really reflect our
theme of friendship and community. We were joined by Fr
Kevin, Fr Chris and Fr Eamonn and Deacon Eugene formally
welcoming Year 7 into our community. Fr Kevin offered a
blessing on the pupils and their families for the next five
years here at St Richard’s. Many thanks to the PTFA for
providing refreshments and allowing pupils and parents a
chance to mingle after the Mass.
Form Liturgies
This term, we bade a fond farewell to Fr Simon Dray as
he led his final Mass at St Richard’s with 10F & 10R. It
was wonderful to have a chance to say farewell, and thank
him for all his hard work in our school. Mrs Stanford’s form
used this Mass to present the foodbank with a cheque for
money raised as part of their form charity, which Mr Delaney
accepted on behalf of the Bexhill Foodbank.
We welcomed our new Parish Priest, Fr Stephen O’Brien,
with a form Mass with 10L & 10I who had spent a lot of
time learning about St Martin of Tours whose feast fell on
that day of the Mass. They focused their Mass around our
Catholic Social Teaching of Preferential Options for the
Poor, The Common Good, Dignity and Solidarity, using the
story of Martin of Tours and how he recognised Jesus in
the poor man he gave his cloak to. Special thanks must go
to the musicians of the two forms who came together and
created a worship band, leading the music for the Mass.
Many thanks to Mrs Potter for supporting this wonderful
introduction to St Richard’s for Fr Stephen.
As we enter the season of Advent, we look forward to the arrival of Jesus on Christmas morning. Here in school, we offered
the Sacrament of Reconciliation to all pupils on December 6th. Preparations are under way for our annual Advent Service in
the school hall on Thursday, 19th December, and we look forward to welcoming as many of you as possible to help us finish
the term ready for our Christmas celebrations.
Remembrance
As usual we marked Remembrance Day. The 2 minute
silence was held and outside in the playground and was
respectfully observed by a very packed hall of pupils of
all years. The History department prepared slides to be
shown at the start of each lesson regarding people who
had an impact on the many wars. We ensure that we do
not forget the sacrifice and suffering of those who fought
for our freedom. Most poignant, was the Last Post played
beautifully by Miguel.
Rotary Tea Party - Our Caritas Leaders were involved
with helping at the Rotary Tea Party for the Elderly and
really enjoyed the experience.
Pupils supported the Rotary Club with signing in the
guests and serving refreshments. Caritas Captain Misha
led the group in entertaining the guests by singing and
much enjoyment was had when the musical entertainment
began with our pupils jumping up and jiving with some of
the guests.