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14
REVIEWS OF THE YEAR
Chapel
Rev Charlie Kerr, Chaplain
The Chapel year began with two welcome
services, the first for new Shells and their
parents, and, the second for new Sixth Form
pupils, both focusing on the idea of what we
need to flourish at school. These services
and the Ad Itinerarium for Leavers are seen
as significant spiritual bookends for pupils’
careers at St Edward’s, setting their time
here within the wider significance of lives
held and nurtured within the love of God.
The Autumn Term gathered momentum
quickly with a series in Midweek Chapel
on “Sacraments – Windows into the
Transforming Power of God”. Each of the
traditional seven sacraments was explored
using the stained glass windows in the
chancel of the Chapel as a starting point.
On the 28th October the Chapel was full
for the commemoration of the life of Derek
Roe, OSE and Governor for 44 years. It was
a moving occasion, with family and friends
playing important parts in the service, but
ultimately it felt like a joyful tribute to a
man who gave so much to the School and
so much to the world through his academic
and professional pursuits. A service was held
to mark the centenary of the beginning of
the First World War and commemorated
all those who from St Edward’s who died.
A Head of House and a Shell from each
House laid a poppy on the altar, and the
highest-ranking cadet from each of the
services of the CCF laid a wreath. The choir
sang beautifully and three soloists (Myles
Docherty, Jamie Fabian-Hunt and Tom
Montgomery) contributed excerpts from
Housman’s
A Shropshire Lad
set to music
by George Butterworth. We celebrated the
Commemoration of the Chapel on the 23rd
November with the help of Bishop Martin
Shaw (Retd), and he consecrated over 30
new Lower Sixth pupils as School Sacristans
in a service with a little pomp and some
splashing of holy water! Our usual array of
festive and joyful carol services brought the
term to its close.
The Spring Term sprang into action with
The Very Revd Professor Martin Percy
preaching at our opening Eucharist on the
11th January. Martin accepted the
invitation willingly as both a parent of Joe
(Upper Sixth, Sing’s) and, as Dean of Christ
Church, an Oxford college that holds a
special place in the heart and history of our
own community. Joe Percy, Martin’s son,
followed his father as our next preacher and
he introduced the term’s theme of “Beyond
the Bubble” by recounting his experience of
founding a charity called
Open Goal
to
support young footballers in the Palestinian
West Bank. The series continued
throughout the term, with most talks being
given by pupils challenging each of us to
look “beyond the bubble” of St Edward’s.
We moved to The North Wall on the second
Sunday of term for our annual exploration
of worshipping God in a different place and
with a different, more contemporary and
evangelical style. Bubbles blew down from a
bubble machine in the ceiling and with the
help of Sarah Laing, one of our school
nurses, we thought about how we could
change the atmosphere within the bubble of
our school. Confirmation once again proved