BISHOP VAUGHAN

Every pupil, parent and teacher will recognise that there is a ‘rhythm’ to the academic year, and in our school, as should be the case for any faith school, this is shaped by the liturgical year, as well as by the seasons themselves. In addition to these, Bishop Vaughan’s year is shaped by its own traditions, events and values, and October for us is a month in which the efforts and achievements of our pupils in the preceding academic year are celebrated in various ways. If Se

What a wonderful start we have had to this new academic year! September is always an especially significant month for any school, bringing with it the excitement of new beginnings: new pupils and colleagues joining our community, pupils moving into new year groups, new opportunities to embrace and, of course, new challenges ahead. This September has felt particularly special as we begin an academic year which also forms part of our Sixtieth Jubilee celebrations, this markin

Roots and Wings "There are only two lasting bequests we can give our children: roots and wings. Roots to give them a foundation and a sense of belonging, but also wings to help free them from constraints and prejudices and give them ways … to fly." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe As August draws to a close and we prepare to welcome our pupils back for a new academic year, I have found myself reflecting on Goethe's powerful words about the two greatest gifts that adults can give t

As we reach the end of another academic year, July has provided a wonderful opportunity to celebrate not only the achievements of the past twelve months but – since this is also a Jubilee year in the school’s history – the opportunity also to celebrate the enduring success of Bishop Vaughan Catholic Comprehensive School over the past sixty years! One of the highlights of the Jubilee Year – which will also include a special Mass celebrated by Archbishop Mark O’Toole in October

June has been another busy and rewarding month here at Bishop Vaughan, as ever reflecting the energy, faith, vibrance and commitment that make our school community so special. There have been several important events for our pupils this month. Poignantly, and following on from the subject of last month’s post on this page, there was the funeral of our dear parish priest, Canon Jason Jones, and this was attended by a large number of our pupils, who paid their respects with dig

As we look back on the month of May, it is impossible to do so without acknowledging the profound loss felt by our entire school and parish community. The sudden and deeply shocking passing of Canon Jason Jones has left us all saddened and reflective, yet united in prayer and gratitude for everything he represents to us. For many of us, it remains difficult to fully comprehend that someone who was such a constant presence within our school life is no longer physically with us

In the February blog post, I mentioned that our staff training and pupil assemblies had had a renewed focus on Catholic Social Teaching. This, often abbreviated to CST, is understood well at BVS as the Church’s guide for living out the Gospel in society. I thought, then, that it may be of interest to readers of these posts to learn a little more about what CST is and why place such emphasis on it on our school. CST is something that, as a Catholic school, should be informing

March has been a particularly rich and reflective month at Bishop Vaughan, since we have of course, and as referenced in last month’s post, been in the Lenten season. During this, our school community always focuses on reflection and renewal, a ‘spiritual spring clean’ as I believe I’ve described it in previous posts and as is often the theme of our assemblies in this period. Through services, prayer and acts of charity, pupils have been encouraged to consider how small actio

February has certainly been a busy and rewarding month at Bishop Vaughan! Our pupils’ engagement in learning, while still miraculously finding the time to be involved in such a wide range of activities from our vibrant extra-curricular programme has been most impressive – numbers participating in these continue to be very high, and of course that sort of commitment is in itself is an expression of our shared values. A perfect example of this – and one of the highlights of Feb

Since a new calendar year is always a moment for reflection and renewal, our assemblies this month have focused on these themes. January offers us a valuable opportunity to look ahead with optimism (making changes and adjustments to embedded practices, habits or routines if we need to!) and to set our minds on who we want to be – what we want to represent and what we hope to achieve. I believe it was Maya Angelou who wrote “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t

As we begin the Christmas break, I’m sure that our pupils are all ready for a very well-deserved rest! What a term! Whether they are our youngest pupils - who settled into the school in September – or the pupils in our Upper Sixth Form, who are about to embark on their last full term in education, or indeed pupils in any of the years in between, they’ve all worked hard and been extremely busy across all areas of school life! The term has been one in which we’ve celebrated f

What a month! A true whirlwind of activity! And where to begin? We’re pleased to share the news that BBC Radio recently approached Bishop Vaughan with a wonderful opportunity to take part in a pre-recorded service to be broadcast in a couple of weeks’ time. This special programme will not only mark the Second Sunday in Advent, but will also celebrate the writing of Dylan Thomas, with a particular focus on the nostalgic Christmas scenes captured in A Child’s Christmas in Wales

As we come to the end of our first half-term of the academic year, I’m delighted to share some of the many moments that have made this October such a hope-filled month at Bishop Vaughan Catholic School – yet again, our pupils have truly been exemplifying what it is to be a ‘Pilgrim of Hope’, in line with the theme of this Jubilee Year. We began the month by gathering for our Welcome Masses – one for each year group – celebrated by our School Chaplain, Father John Browne. Th

Our pupils have made a fantastic start to the new academic year! We are so very proud of the way in which our newest members of the Bishop Vaughan family have settled in, and of the way in which the pupils in the other year groups have acted as role models and sources of support them as they’ve done so. As ever, the year begin with our now well-established induction days and enrichment fair, these enabling all pupils to become acquainted with the important information about

I hope that all of the families in our school community have been enjoying a thoroughly relaxing and enjoyable break! We have, of course,...

As we close the academic year, huge congratulations to every pupil and indeed to every member of our school community for each and every...

This month, we’re excited to share an area of our work that was highlighted by Estyn during our recent inspection: the development of a...

This month I would like to share with you, instead of my own reflections, those of a group of our pupils who had the very special...

Today, our school community stands united in heartfelt remembrance of His Holiness Pope Francis, who passed away on 21 st April, Easter...

The past month has been ‘book-ended’ by the beginning of Lent at the start of the month, and by the publication of our Estyn inspection...