enquiry@ilsley.bham.sch.uk  |  Call us: 0121 706 4200

Why St Dominic and the Dominican Saints.

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In the lower school, students are asked to live out the Jesuit virtues. In the Sixth form, we ask our Sixth formers to “Catch the Fire,” in the spirit of our Patron. We live by the Dominican charisms. A charism is a gift of God’s Spirit given for the sake of others. Our goal is to build faith and strengthen student’s commitment to God, themselves, community and family; to teaching and learning and to social justice. We ensure that our Sixth form offers students time, place and context for establishing and sharing our common Christian heritage of Prayer, Community, Study, Teaching and Preaching in Word, Service and Deed.

Our Sixth form students put Saint John’s words into action: ‘our love must not just be words or mere talk, but something active and genuine’

[1 Jn 3: 18]

Our Sixth Form Charities are:

• Aid to the Church in need - #go2mass

• Alzheimer’s Society (we intend to become an Alzheimer’s Friendly School by 2020)

• Breast, Ovarian and Prostate Cancer through MacMillan

• Organize annual OAP Christmas Dinner in school for our local community

• Create Christmas Hampers to be distributed by the local SVP

• Be part of and fundraise for HCPT Lourdes

We seek to develop students’ spiritual and moral development within the context of respecting the rights and values of our British society (including celebrating Armistice Day).

• The rule of law

• Individual liberty

• Mutual respect

• Tolerance of those with different faiths and beliefs

The Sixth Form team is tasked with developing the Sixth Form students’ spiritual, moral, social, cultural and Vocational development. The Sixth Form experience assists to develop students’ social skills and also addresses many moral issues. Our assemblies and Tutor sessions also enhance our cultural understanding of the country we live in. As part of our PSHE tutor programme, students must learn how to be resilient and cope in unfamiliar circumstances.

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What’s the idea behind the dog and torch?

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The Dominican dog goes back to a vision St. Dominic’s mother had before she had him. Struggling with infertility, she was making a pilgrimage to the Abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos in Spain when she dreamed that a dog jumped from her womb holding a torch and set everything around them and the world on fire. Soon after, she conceived a son with her husband and named him after the 11th century St. Dominic of Silos, for whom the abbey she had visited had been named. The dream was prescient due to a play on words in Latin: although Dominic called his order the Order of Preachers, it would later come to be known as the Dominicans; in Latin, that’s Dominicanus, which is very similar to domini canis, or “dog/hound of the Lord.”

Given the order’s charism for zealous preaching of the Gospel, the story and the play on words seemed fitting! So, to this day, the Dominicans are nicknamed the “hounds of the Lord.”

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Liturgical life in the Sixth Form

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Sixth Form join the Holy Soul’s parish Daily Mass at 0900 twice per year.

Celebration of Saint Dominic (last Friday before October half term)

Ash Wednesday Mass

Advent Hamper Mass

Leavers Mass in May

Students have the opportunity to pray the Litany of the Hours each morning in the School Chapel at 0800. This is led by two of our Sixth Form Tutors, Rev Mr. Anthony and Mr. M. Casey

Students are invited to the Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament on Thursday lunchtimes.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available on Monday’s during lunchtimes.

Students are invited to pray the rosary at any time in the Chapel but particularly on Wednesday lunchtimes led by the Legion of Mary from Holy Souls parish.

Students pray together in community at tutor time and assembly

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Core Religious Studies Programme

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1. Aid to the Church in Need- Go to Mass for Someone Who Can't

• “Go to Mass for Someone Who Can’t (#Go2Mass),” is a nationwide initiative to promote peace and tolerance by highlighting the plight of persecuted Christians (and all people of faith) whilst teaching Sixth form about Mass, the Eucharist and the power of prayer.

• Aid to the Church in Need is asking every Catholic to make the small sacrifice of going to one extra Mass to pray for one of the 200 million Christians who are facing the threat of persecution for their faith and even risking death to receive Jesus in the Eucharist. It is time for us to re-discover that “the most powerful force in human history is prayer joined to sacrifice.” – St Pope John Paul II.

• Students are invited to become part of a wave of prayer bringing hope to the persecuted Church. They will be asked to re-evaluate the transforming love of Jesus, which, through the Eucharist is an “intimate explosion of good conquering evil [that] can then trigger off the series of transformations that little by little will change the world.”

• Exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament monthly

• St Dominic’s House Mass

• Assessment

1. Caritas- Human Trafficking and Catholic Social Teaching

• The students are introduced to the Church's teaching about and work for justice, unity and peace; unity and disunity among people;

• Social and moral implications of loving neighbours as oneself.

• Signs of the influence of Christian values in social situations;

• Social situations; ways in which Christian values might influence situations of conflict and injustice;

• The Church as a 'sign of contradiction' (e.g speaking out on contemporary issues of justice);

• The opportunities and challenges presented by active membership of the Church.

• Assessment

1. Science and the Catholic Faith

• Students will explore Science and the Catholic Faith- Is there a conflict?

• Creatio ex Nihlio- Can the universe be created from nothing?

• Evolution- is the theory of evolution compatible with the Catholic faith?

• Contingent and necessary existence- does the universe need a creator?

• Awe and Wonder- why do we feel awe? What are its effects?

• Assessment

1. Further to the Core programme above, students at Archbishop Ilsley choose to study either the Level 3 Extended Project Qualification or Level 3 Core Mathematics in context.

• The extended project is: a one-year course with weekly lessons; worth more UCAS points than a standard AS qualification and it gives the opportunity to explore any aspect of Stewardship; Philosophy; Ethics and or Theology that interests them.

• Our Mathematics in Context engages the students to consider the sense of awe and wonder in mathematics that is shown to and/or investigated by students. Mathematics can be used to explore the innate and empirical aspects of natural theology.

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