Chaplaincy

Our Chaplaincy stands at the heart of school life, supporting spiritual growth, pastoral care, and meaningful service. Inspired by Gospel values and rooted in Catholic Social Teaching, it offers opportunities for prayer, worship, community, and reflection, while nurturing compassionate relationships with students, staff, families, and the wider parish community. Through presence, prayer, and example our Chaplaincy Leaders accompany students through joys and struggles, encouraging all to discover their personal faith journey and reach out in love to others .

Pastoral Accompaniment

Our Chaplaincy seeks to express the faith life of our school through our liturgical events and charity work, and to grow a sense of belonging and celebration through activities which give students the opportunity to come together as a community. These include our All Souls Prayer Space in November, and our Christmas Campfire in December.

As part of our Pastoral Team we have a full-time lay School & College Chaplain (Danny), and we are accompanied in our liturgical life by Fr Francis Agada MSP, Fr Carl Mugan, and Fr Kieran O’Grady from our local parishes.

The Chaplaincy Animator Team are students who support both our liturgical and community events; serving as ushers and extra-ordinary ministers of communion at Masses, and leading the planning and delivery of our community building events. They receive formation and training in active listening, peer support and community organising. Those in older year groups who wish to can undertake formation and commissioning from the Archdiocese of Liverpool to serve as Eucharistic Ministers for our school Masses.

Meet our Chaplain

My name is Danny and I am the School & College Chaplain. I joined St Mary’s in June 2024, and it is a privilege to accompany our young people on their journey through school and life.

Before coming to St Mary’s I worked as a youth worker and teacher, and in a range of roles focused on social justice, including international development, HIV/AIDS education, outreach with street children, and work with asylum seekers and migrants. Most recently I served as a lay missionary in South America with the Columban Missionaries.

As Chaplain, my role is to invite students and staff to discover God already present in their lives, and to recognise how faith can inspire us to care for others and help change our world for the better. Chaplaincy is open to students of all faiths and none, wherever they are on their journey.

Outside school I enjoy rugby, martial arts, singing and playing guitar, and I’m inspired by saints such as John Bosco, Maria Skobtsova and Dorothy Day, whose lives remind us that faith is lived through service and compassion.

The Nazareth Room

The centre of Chaplaincy life is the Nazareth Room, a place to come for prayer, for a meeting, to plan for charity activities, or to sit, chat, play chess, or a guitar. The Nazareth Room is named for the town where Mary, Joseph and Jesus made their homelived, and seeks to be a home for everyone at St Mary’s.

It is a place to share time with others and invites every student—whatever their background—to encounter God, grow in discipleship, and serve others with hope and compassion.

In Nazareth, Israel, is the ‘Basilica of the Adolescent Jesus’, believed to be the only church in the world named for Jesus as a teenager; reflecting his life growing up in Nazareth. Our own icon presents Jesus (along with Saint Mary and Saint Joseph) as a teenager, allowing our students to see him as someone their own age.

Activities

St Mary’s offers students at every stage the chance to put faith in to action. Years 7 - 9 are invited to join Salt and Light; our programme which puts faith into practice, and offers national awards for Faith in Action from CYMFED (Catholic Youth Ministry Federation), Million Minutes, and the SVP (Society of Saint Vincent de Paul).

6th Form Students are invited to get involved with CAFOD Young Leaders (y12) and Young Ambassadors (Y13) working across St Mary’s and engaging with the Archdiocese, and national Church learning about leadership, international development, and faith.

Students are invited to join the Archdiocese Lourdes Youth Pilgrimage; a unique expression of faith in action accompanying Assisted Pilgrims on a journey of hope to the world-famous Grotto in Lourdes.

Retreats

St Mary’s has a growing list of opportunities for students to take a step-back from the daily routine, and reflect on their life and faith. These include:

Year 7 Welcome Conference Retreat. Students reflect on our school virtues (Faith, Hope and Love) and the journey they are starting at St Mary’s.
Year 7, 8 and 9 Advent Mini-Retreats. All students in Key Stage 3 take part in a mini-retreat (1 class period) as we prepare for Christmas.
Y7 ‘A Light Shines in the Darkness’ Reflecting on the themes of the Advent candles; Hope, Peace, Joy and Love.
Y8 ‘Exsul Familia Nazarenthana’ (The Exile Family of Nazareth) Inspired by the 1952 Papal Letter of the same name, we reflect on the Holy Family seeking safety, and our call to welcome the stranger.
Y9 ‘My Soul Glorifies the Lord’ Supporting the Y9 RE Scheme of Work we think about Mary, her song of thanksgiving (the Magnificat), and the strength to say ‘yes’ to what we are called to do in our lives.
Year 10 Residential Retreat Year 10 students have the opportunity to go on retreat at Savio House Retreat Centre. Run by the Salesians of Don Bosco students are led by Salesian Priests, Brothers, and lay animators thinking about their life, purpose, and mission.
Year 10 Lent Mini-Retreat All students in Year 10 take part in a mini-retreat (1 class period) during Lent. ‘Baruch Atah Adonai’ (Blessed are you, O Lord) Students reflect on the ideas of the Passover, and the Last Supper. Supporting their GCSE studies on both Judaism, and Eucharistic Theology, this retreat invites students to reflect on their academic studies in a more personal way, moving from ‘head’ to ‘heart’.