Faith in Our Community December 2023
Upcoming Open Events
Kindergarten and Junior School Open Day Thurs 11th Jan Kindergarten Come and Play Sessions Tues 16th Jan 2pm - 3pm Thurs 18th Jan 9:30am - 10:30am
To register visit
staloysius.org 1
Faith Journeys Confirmation Primary 7, along with some S1s and S2s, had their Confirmation during a very special Mass at St Aloysius’ Church celebrated by Archbishop Nolan. We are very thankful our Archbishop was able to join us for such an important occasion, and for all of our family, friends, teachers, and staff members who were there with us. We pray for our young people during this important step in their faith life and that the gifts of the Holy Spirit will inspire and encourage them. Congratulations everyone! Archbishop Nolan.
Aloysian Remembrance Service OA Captain Seumas A.J. O’Duffin (Class of ‘11), The Royal Highland Fusiliers, 2nd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland was welcomed back to the College on Remembrance Sunday (12th November 2023) to take part in the annual College Requiem Mass and Service of Remembrance. Mass took place in St Aloysius’ Church for all those who have died in war and for all the faithfully departed of the Aloysian Community. 65 Aloysians gave their lives in World War I. 107 gave their lives in World War II. Read more on our website. Captian Seumas at our war memorial.
Primary 7 Captains During assembly last month, we introduced our new P7 captains - appointed to their individual roles for their outstanding commitment to school life. Particular congratulations go to Matteo G. and Gabriella N. our new Head Pupils. We pray that our young people will remain committed to their roles of responsibility and will continue to inspire their peers throughout the College. Mrs. Erskine and our Head Pupils.
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Schola Season Advent at the College has been a busy time of preparation and celebration. We have welcomed our community to lots of events, where we have hoped to spread joy and the true message of Christmas with all. First up was our annual Winter Concert - a highlight for many. Each of our Schola choirs join forces for an evening of unforgettable choral music against the backdrop of the beautiful St Aloysius’ Church. The concert follows weeks of preparation by our pupils and Director of Choral Music Miss. Ann Archibald. Our pupils even took to our social media channels with their Schola Takeover - showing some behind the scenes footage of their rehearsals, and them having a bit of fun too! Our Schola have also been on the road - singing in The Church of the Sacred Heart, Edinburgh at Mass and are regular features at Sunday Mass in St Aloysius’ Church. As the saying goes amongst our choristers: “Schola never sleeps” - words that have never been truer than during this Advent. Straight off the back of their successful Winter Concert our Schola were right back into rehearsals - this time for our Lessons and Carols Concert. The Schola were this time joined by some of our instrumentalists - and all in all everyone had a wonderful evening listening to the beautifully sung hymns and carols. We spoke with some of our Schola choristers on what it is that makes Schola such a special part of their school life, and what their favourite pieces to perform are! Watch the interview here. Our choir and instrument groups also took to the Braehead Centre to perform some Christmas favourites for shoppers, all while raising funds for Ronald McDonald House. Our final total was £331.28! Before the end of term our Schola Cantorum and Nova had one final gig before finishing up for Christmas - this time the End of Term Carol service - in which all of our Senior School community join together before the holidays. What a wonderful way to end the term!
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This year, our pupil volunteers and guests set out to Strathallan in Perth for our annual Children’s Fund holiday. However, this time is an extra special treat as we are celebrating 40 years since our first ever holiday! Looking back on 40 years of great memories is always a pleasure. Beginning back in 1983 - the children’s fund has brought great joy to everyone that has been involved.
On our holiday this year we welcomed guests from Abercorn Secondary school - and lots of fond memories were made. We are very thankful for the legacy of the Children’s Fund and the joy that it has brought to so many people involved. We can’t wait for the next 40 years!
We spoke with Fr Nicholas King SJ, who was a teacher at the College and started the fund during his time here. Speaking on organising the first ever holiday, Fr Nicholas added: “Fortunately we had some very enthusiastic [students]... they are probably all now grandfathers! I got some very good trustees... they were very generous in organising fundraising.” Each year we work with our local community and offer to take guests with additional support needs on a much-deserved holiday, where we spend time making new friends and getting involved in lots of fun activities. Many staff from the College have been involved in the Children’s Fund throughout the years, including Mr. Phil Crampsey - former Maths teacher. Mr Crampsey added: “I’ve been very grateful to [Fr Nicholas] ever since... because it’s been a wonderful thing. There were some great outings... it was a fantastic experience for loads of people.”
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The First Christmas Over the past few weeks, our Junior School pupils have been busy preparing their nativity shows - with everyone taking part from Kindergarten right through to Primary 7. We first welcomed parents to our Early Years Show where our pupils took everyone on a journey through Bethlehem with the help of some amazing songs! The audience were dazzled and everyone was singing along by the final number. Our Primary 4s did an excellent job of retelling the nativity at our annual Carol Service that took place in St Aloysius’ Church. The hymns were sung beautifully by our pupils - and everyone left the church feeling very special that we got to witness the story of the first Christmas together. Well done to everyone for their hard work in preparation for your nativity services!
Christmas Fayre Our Junior School Christmas Fayre was a huge success, a joint effort from entire community. We had plenty of stalls with arts and crafts available and we even had Santa visit us (thankfully, everyone was on the nice list!) We also had various fundraising stalls - with our School House Charities receiving £1000. Our Mary’s Meals stall also raised over £700. Thank you to everyone for your generosity and kind donations. 55
Ten Years of Kindergarten Our Kindergarten celebrated 10 years since it opened as part of our City Centre campus, and what a day we had celebrating! In 2013, we welcomed the very first Kindergarten class to Hill Street – many of whom are now in S3 at the College! We had a special celebration day to mark the occasion, and our now-S3s visited us and reminisced about their time in Kindergarten, and how some of them have still remained firm friends to this day. We began our day with a special dedication service where Fr Roger Dawson SJ blessed our Kindergarten. Later, our parents joined us for afternoon tea and we watched videos of our older pupils sharing their memories of Kindergarten.
Over the years our Kindergarten experience has expanded, offering new opportunities to our pupils that allow them to explore the world through learning and play. Recently we opened our brand new Outdoor Learning Centre based at our Millerston site – where our Head of Outdoor Education offers a dedicated space for pupils to get close to nature. We had so much fun celebrating 10 years of Kindergarten. Thank you to everyone who made those years special.
We had so much fun looking back on ten years of Kindergarten – which has included many highlights for so many of our Aloysians. To this day, we still welcome our youngest pupils to start their St Aloysius’ College journey with us into our vibrant and fun Kindergarten space, which looks just as good as it did when it first opened in 2013! 6