Chaplaincy

2013-14 has been another very full year for the School Chaplaincy, with regular Chapel services and a broad range of special events as well as the Chaplain’s day-today pastoral support for students, parents and staff.

One of the year’s greatest encouragements came when a group of parents asked if it would be possible to establish a Parents’ Prayer Meeting with the Chaplain’s support and guidance. This group unites parents from a wide spread of location and church background, and now meets twice each term to pray for the needs of the school community and the wider world. The Staff Prayer Meeting has also continued to run this year under the leadership of David Bowden, with a faithful group of teaching and support staff gathering week by week in the science block.

The annual Service of Commemoration and Thanksgiving in Southwark Cathedral on 1st May was led by the Cathedral Precentor, with guest preacher Bishop Lindsay Urwin of the Woodard Corporation. The service featured student presentations on the theme of Tradition, and an Elgar anthem performed by the Chamber Choir based on Longfellow’s poem King Olaf (the saint after whom the school is named). Special services were also held for Harvest, Remembrance, Christmas and Passiontide (at the end of the spring term), with a Farewell service for leavers in July.

Continuing the school’s tradition of preparing lower school boys for Confirmation in the Church of England, five students – Louis Dowland, Samuel Nunn, Matthew Perry, Sam Richards and Tom Storer – were confirmed in April by the Rt Revd Michael Turnbull, former Bishop of Rochester. The boys also helped to lead different aspects of the service such as Bible readings and prayers. Music was led by the Chapel Choir, conducted by Richard Decker and Ollie Morrell.

Our annual Chapel weekend away at Carroty Wood Activities Centre near Tonbridge was rescheduled this year due to increasingly complex clashes with other school trips. This next event will take place at the end of September 2014, allowing the new Year 7 intake to participate alongside older students.

A group of Sixth Form students has continued to lead the Senior Christian Union, giving opportunities for Y12 and Y13 students to lead prayers and Bible study discussions. Meanwhile the Chaplain’s weekly discussion group Firm Foundations, which is aimed particularly at boys in Y7 to Y11, has covered a wide range of exciting and sometime controversial topics, including If there is a loving God, why do innocent people suffer? Then in the end-of-term special event known as Roast the Reverend, the Chaplain was subjected to a quick-fire barrage of difficult questions put by the students. His knowledge of theology bore up reasonably well, though he was left speechless by the question “When there are so many musically gifted radio presenters around, why does the BBC employ talentless idiots?!”

Le Chavetois

The school’s voluntary service programme known as the Le Chavetois Society has continued to grow, with nearly forty Year 12 students involved this year in community projects ranging from healthcare to charity fundraising. We were also able to maintain our strong links with St Paul’s Cray Church of England Primary School, where our students helped the younger classes with reading and writing, and ran a maths club for older children. Placement supervisors testified to the positive contribution our students made within the community. “They have all formed good relationships with residents and staff,” wrote one care home manager. “They are polite and courteous and a delight to have.”