I attended this year’s Annual Conference which took place in the Briars Retreat Centre in April. It was even more enriching because 3 other Notre Dame School chaplains were able to be at the conference too! Jo, from Notre Dame School, St Julie’s, Becca, Notre Dame School, Liverpool and Alex, Notre Dame School, Norwich.
The weekend began with a Opening Prayer and then our Keynote Speaker, Sr Franca. Sr Franca inspired us all with her talk about her work in the UN. Team Chris brought day 1 to a close with a beautiful and reflective Evening Prayer which included adoration of the Blessed Sacrament.
Day 2 began with Morning Prayer led by SVP- with Fruit Kebabs to get us started! Followed by a wonderful talk from Fr David Cain, who even had us singing Disney songs! CAFOD and CYMFED spoke to us about the Jubilee and how Chaplains can help support their work on resources for this. The afternoon brought us workshops on Canva, Music Liturgy, SVP, and BSL. These were really engaging, providing lots of resources to take back to school. The day was brought to a close by Fr Philip Cunnah and Fr Thaddeus who celebrated Mass for us, with Music provided and led by Chris and Jane.
Our final morning began with Morning Prayer led by Susan from CAFOD.
Rachel Rose was our final Key note Speaker; discussing bereavement and how to support our schools when this happens, providing us with lots of ideas and resources.
The weekend closed with the final Prayer led by National Coordinator Jess Mall, reminding us that – ‘We are an Easter People and Alleluia is our Song.’
God bless.
Suzanne
Chaplain
