31/08/2026Chaplaincy
Chaplaincy - A Place for Everyone
At St James’, we believe that Chaplaincy is for everyone. You don't have to be the person who wants to stand at the front, read at Mass or lead a prayer to be part of it. God has given each of us different gifts and talents, and our Chaplaincy encourages students to discover how they can use their own gifts in the service of God and our community.
For some students, that means reading or altar serving at Mass, leading prayer or speaking on our podcast, organising a charity drive or joining one of our Chaplaincy clubs. We have musicians who sing and play at Masses and celebrations, while others write prayers that they would much rather someone else read! Some students are wonderful at welcoming visitors and offering hospitality; others help prepare our resources or support younger students.
And there is just as much value in the quieter, behind-the-scenes jobs. At break and lunchtime, students can often be found sorting resources, decorating the Chapel, preparing for Mass, putting stickers on medals or carrying boxes of Foodbank donations out to a car. Sometimes these small acts of service provide an important way for a young person to connect with Chaplaincy, our community and their faith.
Inspired by the Dominican pillars of Prayer, Learning, Community and Service, we want Chaplaincy to be a place where students can participate as themselves. Some will lead; some will create; some will organise; some will welcome; some will pray; and some will simply lend a hand when one is needed.
What matters is the understanding that we all have something to give. By offering our individual gifts — however ordinary they might sometimes seem — we serve God by serving one another and help to build the loving, joyful and welcoming community we want St James’ to be.
There is a place for everyone in Chaplaincy.
See Holly or Ms Marsh to get involved.
Retreats at St James’
“But he would withdraw to deserted places and pray.”
Luke 5:16
At St James’, we understand the importance of stepping away from the busyness of everyday life. Every student at St James’ is given the opportunity to experience retreat each year - time to breathe, to experience something different and to look at life from another perspective.
Retreat gives us space to think about where we are going, what we are doing and the kind of person we are becoming. It allows us to reflect on our successes, disappointments and challenges; to recognise the hand of God in our lives; and to place ourselves and our futures into His hands once again.
Our model for this is Jesus himself, who regularly withdrew from the crowds and demands of daily life to find a quiet place and spend time in prayer with his Father. Retreat is not about escaping from ordinary life, but about stepping away for a while so that we can return with greater peace, perspective and purpose.
Every student. Every year. Time to retreat.
Retreat and our Dominican Life
Our retreats are an expression of the four pillars of our Dominican life: Prayer, Community, Learning and Service.
We pray, making space for God and learning to recognise His presence in our lives. We learn, asking some of life's bigger questions about happiness, identity, purpose, faith and the people we are becoming. We build community, stepping away together as forms, year groups and sometimes as a whole school, strengthening friendships and learning to listen to, support and care for one another. And our retreats lead us towards service, encouraging us to look beyond ourselves and consider how our faith calls us to respond to the needs of others and our world.
Retreat at St James’ therefore isn't simply time away from lessons. It is part of our formation as a Dominican community - an opportunity to grow in our relationship with God, with one another and with the world we are called to serve.
How We Retreat
Retreat at St James’ takes many forms. Sometimes we remain within school; at other times we leave familiar surroundings and visit places of prayer, beauty and significance. We might walk, create, listen, talk, laugh, pray or spend time in silence.
The format may change, but the purpose remains the same: to interrupt the ordinary rhythm of school life and make space to encounter ourselves, one another and God.
Year 11 Retreat
At a time when it can feel as though everything is about examinations, results and plans for the future, our annual Year 11 Retreat offers students an important reminder: you are more than your grades.
Following their mock examinations, Year 11 step away from the pressures of their final school year to explore beauty, faith, art and the plans God has for each of us. We reflect on the reality that life does not always follow the plans we make. Disappointments, heartbreaks, failures and difficult times are part of every human life - but God can take even these pieces and create something more beautiful than we could have imagined.
Through reflection and a whole-year-group art project, students are reminded that each of us is known and loved by God, created with purpose, and never alone as we begin to discover what that purpose might be. It is a particularly important message as our students prepare to step towards a more adult life.
Retreat through Pilgrimage
With St James, the patron saint of pilgrims, as our school patron, pilgrimage has naturally become an important part of retreat at St James’. Walking takes us physically away from our normal routines while giving us time to think, talk, pray and encounter our faith in new places.
Our whole-school pilgrimages have also enabled us to live all four Dominican pillars together - Prayer, Community, Learning and Service - sometimes quite literally one step at a time.
Pilgrims of Hope
During the Jubilee Year of Hope, every form - and our staff - took part in pilgrimage, travelling to churches across the Diocese of Westminster to explore what it means to be Pilgrims of Hope. Together we walked, prayed, reflected and considered what hope means for ourselves, for others and for our world.
→ Read the full story of Pilgrims of Hope Here
Pilgrims for Peace
Inspired by St Francis of Assisi, our whole school took part in a relay pilgrimage through London, walking and reflecting on what peace is, where we find it, what it costs an
Gardening Club
Gardening Club is a chance for young people to slow down, step outside and spend time in nature. In a world that can often feel busy and noisy, the garden gives us space to notice, wonder and simply be. We make time to let creation speak to us: to enjoy the beauty of the natural world, to experience the benefits that time outdoors can bring to our mental health and wellbeing, and to discover the joy that comes from caring for something beyond ourselves.
There is plenty to learn and plenty to do. Students explore how plants grow, plan what to grow and where to grow it, and discover the importance of soil, light, water and seasons. We design and build cold frames, supports and other structures, developing practical skills along the way. The garden is also a place of experimentation, patience and perseverance - a living classroom where we learn that growth takes time and that small acts of care can produce something beautiful.
Our gardening is also an expression of service and community. We harvest and serve the produce we grow, raise money for charity and reinvest some of what we make into developing the club and our garden. Working alongside one another, students experience the satisfaction of making something together and sharing the fruits of their work with others.
The garden also gives us a natural way to explore our faith. Jesus so often used seeds, soil, plants, harvests and growth to help people understand the Kingdom of God. As we plant and nurture our garden, we have opportunities to reflect on our own growth too: on patience, hope, responsibility, service and the ways in which faith can take root and flourish.
Gardening Club is rooted in the Catholic Social Teaching principle of care for creation. Inspired by Laudato Si', we are reminded that our common home is a gift entrusted to us and that caring for creation is part of caring for one another, particularly for those who are most vulnerable and for generations still to come. Through the simple, practical work of gardening, students are encouraged to develop a deeper sense of gratitude, responsibility and wonder for the world God has given us.
Above all, Gardening Club is about people: enjoying one another's company, learning together, serving others and discovering that there is something deeply joyful about getting your hands in the soil and helping something grow.
Biscuits and Bibles
Biscuits and Bibles is an open club for anyone who would like to explore the Bible, ask questions, share ideas and spend some time thinking about faith - with a biscuit, of course.
Each week, we choose a Bible verse at random. We read it several times, sit with it, and then talk about what it might mean. There are no simple or predetermined answers: students are encouraged to listen, question, reflect and think for themselves about the meaning, truth and wisdom they find in Scripture.
It is a relaxed and welcoming space where students can explore the Bible in conversation with one another and discover that familiar words can take on new meaning when we stop and really listen to them. Our discussions often lead us to think about the choices we make, the people we want to be, our relationships with others and how we might put our faith into practice in everyday life.
Every session offers an opportunity to deepen our understanding of Scripture and, perhaps, to see something in a new way. It is a chance to allow God's Word to challenge, encourage and inspire us, while making connections between the Bible and our own lives.
And yes - the biscuits are good ones too.
