Animate

Locked down in an empty Lowe House

By Father Simon Gore

Normally, as the deadline date for the Pic gets closer, I have to remind whichever team member is on that month’s rota that they should get typing. This month, with my sense of time and date distorted, it has been my turn to be reminded by Peter, our editor, that something must be written. And as I look around and see not a single team member, it is down to me. Yes, the Animate team left Lowe House at the end of March as lockdown began and for someone used to living in a community for the last few years it has been a strange and solitary life in the big house here. Indeed, as I sit down to write our monthly update, I realise I have drawn the short straw as there really is nothing to update anybody on. This term is usually incredibly busy. We have our usual retreats and missions, and also the Lourdes pilgrimage to plan for and the annual Faith in Action award ceremony to organise. Instead of that coordinated chaos, it has been a far simpler affair. With the schools not in, there has been no retreat work. Meanwhile, the Lourdes pilgrimage has been postponed and the Faith in Action event curtailed (although as

we were coming to the end of the year, most young people have been awarded their certificates by post). When all you would normally do has been cancelled, how to fill the time? It is a question most of us have asked ourselves recently and, with nothing to update you on, I thought I might as well share what life in ‘Lowe House lockdown’ has been like! As mentioned above, it is a big house and I have been thankful for that over the last weeks. Yet it does present problems. I think half of my week must be spent cleaning. The slightly ill-fitting, old wooden windows are not great at keeping dust out. Perhaps I take it a bit far, though. I am not saying I am a ‘clean freak’ but getting cotton buds out to tackle the woodwork in the chapel might be considered excessive by some. As the house has got cleaner, I feel I have become more dishevelled. At the start of lockdown, I optimistically thought it would not last this long so decided I would not try to cut my hair and would grow a lockdown beard. Nine or ten weeks on, I am not sure that was a wise decision as I look at a different ‘me’ in the mirror every morning. In order to get out of the house (and avoid any mirrors), I have been spending more time in the garden. Those of you who know Lowe House will know there is a grotto and a Calvary scene at the bottom of the garden. Again, in a slightly optimistic view, I thought I would spend Holy Week cleaning up the Calvary scene. I eventually finished this week. Even though it has taken longer than expected, there is something cathartic about seeing a visible difference made at the end of the day. Hopefully people will be able to sit and use it as a place of quiet reflection. I certainly have done. On the subject of prayer, I have found a personal rhythm to my own prayer life to be sustaining. I am lucky to have a (spotlessly clean) chapel to use each day for Mass. And I have the grotto in the garden to pray the rosary. And the Calvary scene to just sit and think and perhaps allow myself to reflect on what our Saviour endured on the cross, but how new life and hope came after the suffering. In those prayers I have remembered all our Archdiocese. In particular, I have tried to keep a special place in my prayers for the young people; there must be so much anxiety and unease in so many families at the moment. I have to believe, though, that the Lord will offer His comfort to all those who suffer. And I commend to the Lord all those who have died recently, especially those taken to the Lord through Covid19. I was saddened to add the name of Bishop Vincent Malone to this list. As a younger person I remember seeing Bishop Malone at a distance, and then going to seminary I had a chance to meet the man behand the mitre. Latterly, he was a source of advice and support. Bishop Malone also holds a special place in the life of Animate as the first chair of our management committee. The diocese will be a poorer place for his loss, but we can be assured he goes to be with the Father in glory.

Your lockdown stories We are looking to create some ‘News from lockdown’ stories for the Archdiocesan website to showcase what parishes/groups/individuals/schools have been doing. If you would like to contribute – be it with a brief 30- second video clip (selfie-style is fine) or a short written piece – please send it to me at s.gore@animateyouth.co.uk. Anything you send in is covered by the diocesan privacy policy – see liverpoolcatholic.org.uk/privacynotice.

Technology helps navigate the challenges

Staff and students at St Cuthbert’s Catholic High School have turned to technology to navigate challenges faced as a result of the coronavirus crisis. Following the UK Government announcement in March that closed many school buildings and cancelled exams to help stop the spread of the coronavirus, the secondary school in St Helens turned to innovative solutions to help students continue to learn from home and keep its community connected and supported. Teaching staff packed the school’s online portal with resources and immediately came together to share ways to keep students engaged and their studies on track. The department had previously used the platform to create private year groups, accessible by a unique code, where students could access resources and work assignments with set deadlines. The platform allows these to be submitted, marked and returned to students with feedback and stored securely online. Social media also took centre stage, both in the delivery of lessons and response to assignments. The school’s Spanish

Children of key workers and vulnerable children from Holy Trinity Catholic Primary School and St Austin's Catholic Primary School who have been attending Banks Road Primary School have been getting creative in the lockdown. During these testing times teachers have been remote-teaching the children in each of their settings using a variety of online tools. To encourage the children in all three schools they decided to produce a book of the children’s writing, which they would sell and give all profits to the NHS. The book entitled “Thank You NHS” which had the theme of ‘How the world healed’ is now complete and parents are beginning to put their orders in. The book contains 94 stories written by the children, teachers and well-known Liverpool actor Ricky Tomlinson. Children from all year groups submitted stories with most of the children who submitted stories writing them unaided at home, some used ‘model texts’ provided by their class teachers and had their class teachers look them over before submitting them for publication. James Savage, assistant headteacher at Banks Road Primary, said: “We have completed two books here at Banks Road before. These books have been around different themes and both books have had a huge impact on writing across the school. This is the first time we have collaborated across three schools to produce a book but it has worked brilliantly”. Linda Gibson, headteacher of Banks Road, said: “At the time of the pandemic in March, the three schools pulled together in challenging circumstances to keep key workers' children and vulnerable children safe. “For the children, we thought this book would provide a wonderful opportunity to give them a voice in these trying times. We wanted their stories to be optimistic, but we also thought it was very important that they be given the opportunity to write in their own words their thoughts and feelings about the world around them. “It was inspirational for the children to know that their teachers and a well known local celebrity was also taking part.

Pupils say: “Thank You NHS”

department began using its dedicated Instagram Left to right: Teachers Miss Smith and Mrs Barrett channel to live-stream interactive lessons for each year group on a daily basis. Adept at the use of smartphone technology and social media, students have also been submitting footage of work being done in their ‘classroom spaces’ at with ‘Clap For Our Community’ on the last home, including one Year 7 student who day of term – in a YouTube video that filmed herself undertaking a science received more than 1,000 views shortly experiment. after being uploaded – to donating crates Headteacher, Catherine Twist, said: of freshly washed and sanitised eye “Having an innovative team and a resilient, protectors from the school’s science well-rounded student body makes an department to NHS hospitals. enormous difference in times of crisis. We “Technology has not only facilitated the were already doing things differently, so practicalities of engaging our students at we were much more prepared for the home. It has also supported the very challenges we have faced in recent human need to remain connected and be weeks.” part of a community during what is a very Although technology has been pivotal to unsettling and sometimes frightening St Cuthbert’s practical response to the time.” Catherine added. “It’s important that coronavirus crisis, community has we don’t lose sight of the important role remained at its heart; from a rallying call to schools, their staff and students play in staff to congratulate students and parents bringing people together.”

“Not only does the published book look amazing, it has also allowed the children to contribute to raising funds for a great cause – our wonderful NHS!”

Local schools raise thousands for hospice

Pupils and teachers from four local schools have joined forces to raise money for St Joseph’s Hospice in Thornton. Sacred Heart Catholic College together with three primary schools –St Edmund’s and St Thomas’, Great Crosby and Ursuline – set pupils the challenge of finding exciting ways to raise funds for patient care during the Coronavirus crisis and have so far brought in over £5,300, to be split between St Joseph’s and the Aintree University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. The schools started with a competition to see who could come up with the best rainbow design. The winner was Nate, a reception pupil at Great Crosby, and his younger sister Trixie who came up with a colourful face-paint design. Charlotte Gee, the after-school manager at Ursuline Catholic Primary School, and a former pupil of both St Edmund’s and Sacred Heart, did her bit by completing a 10-mile bike ride from Sacred Heart to Ursuline wearing a rainbow costume made by her pupils. The schools then took on the national 2.6 Challenge, involving fundraising initiatives featuring the number 2.6. Two sets of siblings from St Edmund’s and St Thomas’ – Millie, Harry and Poppy Strange, and Izzy, Jess and Max Faraday – ran 26 miles between them to raise over £1,700. Nine-year-old Maisie Edwards from St Edmunds and St Thomas’ raised more than £1,000 with a 30-mile cycle ride from Waterloo to Southport. Meanwhile, Casandra Samuel, a Year 7 pupil at Sacred Heart College, and her sister Rhiannon, from Ursuline Primary, camped out in a den for 24

The rooftop garden at the Academy of St Francis of Assisi (ASFA) has undergone a beautiful transformation during lockdown. With the help of staff volunteers, Chaplain Phil Johnson has created a ‘Peace Garden’ for the school community to enjoy once students and staff are back in full time. The unique garden, which sits on the top of the school building, has been tidied up and a number of colourful plants have been planted, alongside a statue of Jesus Christ which offers visitors the chance to collect their thoughts and think about their faith. Phil said: “I hope this will be a peaceful garden where students and staff can just be still and reflect. Environments like this can help us connect with God and focus our prayers. “The garden is certainly a therapeutic place and is ideal for contemplation and reflection.”

ASFA unveils a ‘Peace Garden’

hours and raised £250. Ian Walker, head teacher at Sacred Heart, said: ‘We’re delighted to be able to help at these moments of great need. We’re all acutely conscious of the conditions the brilliant hospice team have to work in and our group of schools wants to play its part in doing everything possible to help.’