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College Joined by Jesuit Provincial to Celebrate Feast of St John Ogilvie

Faith and Values

St Aloysius’ College was delighted to welcome Jesuit Provincial Fr Dermot Preston SJ for an eventful two day visit which showcased the religious and academic life of the College and celebrated the Feast of St John Ogilvie.

Fr Preston SJ spent the first of his two days at the College in the Senior School where he met with pupils and staff and caught up with all that has been going on in the past year.

In meetings with the Chairman of the Board of Governors, the Senior School Leadership team and the Christian Formation team, the Provincial heard about how Christian Formation is present in all aspects of life at St Aloysius’ College.

Mr Day, The Director of Christian Formation, spoke highly of the visit and of the Provincial, saying,

“The Provincial’s visit was very successful and enjoyable, Fr Dermot has a wonderful manner that makes clear he is visiting to see ‘how you are’, and’ where the work is at’.”

“The feedback from him was encouraging and there is no doubt about the central importance of Christian Formation in his vision of Jesuit schools.”

The Head of the Jesuits in Britain also met with Senior School Pupil Council representatives in the College Board Room where the pupils outlined the impact they have had on life at the College through their weekly consultative meetings.

The Aloysians discussed their involvement in selecting designs for the new St Aloysius’ College Sports Kit, Pupil Prayer Book, and the new Academic Colours Tie which will be awarded to Senior School pupils to recognise exceptional achievement.

They also discussed the wider changes they had helped implement to the College’s awards system of ‘Colours’, explaining that every pupil in S6 would now receive Gold Braiding on their Green Blazer, and that outstanding commitment to an activity, as well as outstanding achievement, would now be rewarded with Colours.

Senior representative on the Pupil Council, Sophie Hartshorne of S6, said the Provincial was also very interested in hear what the pupils appreciated most about life at the College, saying.

“We discussed the importance of the pastoral care and the careers department in the school and told the Provincial we believed them to be at a very high standard, and talked about the many opportunities we had in the school, in terms of sports, arts, charities etc. and how we appreciated the school focusing on these areas as well as academics.

Everyone enjoyed meeting the Provincial and his interest in what we do and the importance of it. He was very friendly and seemed to really care about our opinions and our view of the school.”

The visit also coincided with the College’s annual celebrations for the Feast of St John Ogilvie, a Scottish Catholic Martyr and Patron Saint of St Aloysius’ College Junior School.

Celebrating the Feast, pupils and staff of St Aloysius’ College came together for two special Masses led by the Provincial and Father Porter in St Aloysius Church.

The Senior School Ogilvie Mass was set to a performance of liturgical music by the Schola Cantorum accompanied by a professional brass band whilst the Junior School Ogilvie Mass was described by staff as ‘beautiful’ and praised by Head of the Junior School, Dr Brady, who said, ‘everyone was magnificent, the Provincial and Fr Porter were so impressed’.

Director of Christian Formation, Mr Day, said it was ‘a joy’ to host a whole school mass with the provincial and S6 pupil Sophie Hartshorne added her thoughts on the importance of Chrisitan Formation at St Aloysius’ College, saying.  

“Christian Formation has been so important to me most especially in the retreats the Chaplaincy have arranged throughout my time in the school. They have encouraged me to grow as a person, develop my faith and be more aware of the needs of others”

The representatives of the St Aloysius’ College Senior School Pupil Council who met with Fr Dermot Preston SJ were Humzah Razzaq, Elena Maiolani, Ashin Siby, Leo Waters, Lucy Dunn, Holly Cluckie, Anna Blessing, Guiseppe Dunn, Erin Louise Connolly, Sophie Hartshorne and Christopher Teenan.