Each one of you has to be God's microphone
- St Oscar Romero
Our school follows the teachings of Jesus Christ, who calls upon us to love one another, care for the marginalised, and work towards a more just and equitable society. Our dedication to living out the Gospel values motivates us to take action and address the needs of the most vulnerable members of our local and global community.
We advocate for the dignity of all, regardless of their background, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status. By fostering an environment of inclusivity and respect, we work towards breaking down barriers and building bridges of understanding.
Through our charity work and engagement in social justice causes, we seek to raise awareness of global issues and encourage our students to stand in solidarity with those who face injustice and hardship.
Bishop Challoner Day
Every year on the 29th September, the day of Richard Challoner's birth our school celebrates Bishop Challoner Day. Those who studied here in the 60s, 70s and 80s will remember this as a school tradition (although we no longer ask students to wear the hats that would mark the day back then!) The whole school enjoys a day of prayer, celebration and thanksgiving with Mass, special lessons, food and gifts.
Sixth Form Students Volunteering at Local Night Shelter
During the Autumn and WInter terms we are proud to volunteer for GrowTH, an organisation working with local churches in Tower Hamlets to arrange homeless shelters in the colder months. Our Year 12 and 13 students volunteer for the morning shifts, cooking breakfast for the guests and tidying the bedding away. This is one simple and effective way that our students respond to Christ's call to provide food and shelter for those in need.
Know Your Onions Programme Helps Students Care for our Common Home
We are delighted to share the success of our Year 8 students, who recently participated in the inspiring "Know your Onions" project. This initiative runs in schools across London and aims kindle a passion for cooking and gardening and environmental stewardship.
Over the course of the sessions, our students learned to plant fruit and vegetables in our school gardens, which they then sold at Whitechapel Market as the end of this term. To prepare for this, our students visited a nearby market garden to see the professionals at work and took part in a cooking masterclass with tasty vegetable dishes.
This project has inspired our Year 8 pupils, to be conscientious stewards of our common home and has given them a deep and practical knowledge about where their food comes from. We thank Ms Sagan and all those involved for their support.
Visit from Local MP Apsana Begum
We were pleased to welcome our local Member of Parliament, Apsana Begum, to our school on the last day of term. The visit was organised by Ms Begum Ali as part of the 'Send my Friend to School' campaign she has been co-ordinating throughout the year with students in Year 10 and Year 7
In October last year, Leila and Jada (Year 10) were successful in their application to become Campaigns Champions for the Send my Friend to School Campaign. Send My Friend to School is a group of international development NGOs, teachers’ unions and charities. It brings together young people, politicians, teachers, civil society and the media in joint campaigning to demand quality education for all children across the globe.
In the school Library, Leila and Jada led our students in presenting their work to Ms Begum. They went into detail about their responses to a range of case studies from around the world in line with the theme of 'Education in Emergencies'. At the end, Ms Begum was presented with an envelope of letters and ideas to take to her colleagues at parliament and she promised to speak to MPs about the concerns of our young people. The visit was the perfect end to the project and we thank Ms Begum for her time.
Lent Appeal - Cahide Nebioglu School
Lent is a time of fasting, prayer and almsgiving, and throughout the season our charity focus was school in Turkey that has been severely damaged in the earthquake. Cahide Nebioglu School in south-west Turkey had so much structural damage that is it not able to open to staff and students. Ms Turan, who has links to the school, led our campaign to raise funds to build a mobile school - this helped students in the area access education as soon as possible. There were many events onsite including assemblies, multiple staff and student bake sales, and a day when staff wore red to work in honour of the Turkish flag. More than £650 was raised overall.
Christmas Gifts for Those in Need
Each December we deliver a minibus of presents to the St Francis Family Centre. The gifts are bought with the money raised from the annual Christmas Appeal co-ordinated by the Sixth Form Charity Committee.
St Francis works in partnership with parents to provide outstanding pre-school education, giving disadvantaged children the best possible start in life in an area that has the highest rate of child poverty in the country. The Centre is run by the Catholic Children’s Society, who also give members of our school community a tremendous amount of practical and financial help.
It is our privilege to support them every year.
Advent Giving Calendar
We collect donations for Bow Foodbank throughout the Advent season – an organisation that has been doing vital work in Tower Hamlets since 2014.
Black History Month
We are incredibly proud of the diversity of our staff and students, and Black History Month is always a highlight of our school calendar. Each October our community enjoys a special programme of events and celebrations culminating in Cultural Day - which gives us the opportunity to come to school wearing clothes celebrating our cultural heritage.