- Mar 13, 2020
- Jan 8, 2019
Open wide your door to the one who comes. Open your soul, throw open the
depths of your heart to see the riches of simplicity, the treasures of peace, the
sweetness of grace. Open your heart and run to meet the Sun of eternal light that illuminates all men.
St Ambrose of Milan
Preparations for Christmas are well and truly underway at Archbishop Ilsley Catholic
School but as the end of term approaches, let us take time to get ready for the coming of
Jesus into our hearts and homes.
As always, it has been busy in school and staff and students are looking forward to a
rest and spending time with loved ones. We have had lots going on in school including a
Catholic School Inspection and I am looking forward to sharing the report from this early
in the new term.
This is one of my favourite weeks of the year in school. It is a time of great celebration
for our Catholic community, but also a time of traditions. This week we will celebrate the
academic achievements of students past and present at our Celebration Evening, we
will welcome many guests from the local community for a Christmas dinner and students
in years 7-10 will take part in our annual Hamper Mass. The generosity of our students is
always so humbling and a poignant reminder of our duty as human beings to take care
of each other.
Traditions are the glue of our school, the things that bind us together as one family
during this special time of Advent. It is my wish that over the holidays, you are able to
carry out your own family traditions, spending time together and creating happy
memories. Our world moves at a tremendously fast pace and it is important to take time
to slow down and simply enjoy the company of yourself and others; the Christmas
holiday is the ideal opportunity to do this.
School will be closed to staff and students from 12.30 p.m. on Friday 20 th December.