Catholic Life of the School

My name is Kirsty, and I am the school chaplain here at St Peter’s Catholic High School. I have been in post since 2015, and my role has grown and developed over the past nine years. I love our work here to promote our school's Catholic life and enable our pupils and staff to grow in their faith.

I am qualified in Christian Youth Work & Community Studies and have worked in Christian and secular youth work settings for over 20 years.

I really enjoy my work at St Peter’s and feel that the skills, knowledge and tools I have gained over the past 20 years have helped me to become a better chaplain and also helped me to develop my own faith journey. I work closely with the Student Director for the Catholic Life of the School and the Student Director for Mental Health & Well-being to ensure a holistic approach to our school's Catholic life and Mission.

As Chaplain, I run the Chaplaincy team, our newly formed SVP Youth Group, and our Student Director for the Catholic Life of the School. Our aim for both groups is to encourage and empower our pupils to live out our School mission statement through their words and actions.

My role is varied as the school chaplain; I am not only responsible for promoting our school's Catholic life and Mission, but I also provide emotional support for staff and pupils and support looking after the Mental health and well-being of our staff and pupils. Within my role, I am responsible for designing and resourcing the collective worship and prayer provision for pupils and staff, and I have created the annual Collective Worship calendar. As part of this, I provide a weekly resource to enable pupils and staff to deliver collective worship and prayer times in form and at the end of the day.

I have been fortunate to be asked to support several trips with our pupils and events both in and out of school to ensure the pupils receive the best education and extra-curricular provision we can offer.

Working at St Peter’s is much more than a job; it’s part of a team that celebrates their achievements and encourages pupils and staff to grow in faith and develop their gifts and talents.

The Chaplaincy Team

The Chaplaincy Team meets every Week 1 Tuesday at lunchtime, either in the Lecture Theatre or the Chapel.

Our Chaplaincy Team is here to encourage pupils to engage in our school community's Catholic life and Mission. It is led by the Student Director for the Catholic Life of the School and our school chaplain, Kirsty.

Working with Kirsty, our school chaplain, and the Student Director for the Catholic Life of the School, we aim to unite our school community and the broader community through our work to encourage and empower us all to live out our School mission statement.

Some of the work and opportunities we have facilitated are;

• Donating to charities such as Joining Jack, PAPYRUS, Wigan & Leigh Hospice, The Brick by putting on cake sales, raffling hampers, running 5k’s and much more.
• Supporting our local community by donating items to our local food bank.
• Hosting and helping to run Year 6 retreat days for the primary school chaplaincy teams.
• Planning and delivering Year 7 retreat days in school.
• Planning and delivering our annual Christmas Celebration.
• Planning our Advent Kindness Calendar and Lenten daily reflections.
• We plan our whole school, St Peter and Paul, and year group masses.

Throughout the year, the chaplain will consult with the chaplaincy team to plan seasonal events and times of prayer and collective worship. The Chaplaincy team will contribute to planning and delivering the weekly “Breakfast with God”, our annual open evening and contributing to the yearly rewards festival.

We welcome new members from all year groups to join our chaplaincy team. For more information, please speak to Kirsty, the School Chaplain.