Today after Communion , the college choir, sang in several parts, "If You Love Me" by Thomas Tallis. It was glorious. The boys will be hummming or singing it informally for some considerable time, and will remember it for the rest of their lives. From the considerable number of the lovely classical, liturgical works which they learn and then sing at their Sunday Mass over the year their lives are greatly enriched. They are rightly proud and grateful for this wonderful opportunity to be immersed in some of the glories of their Catholic heritage.
The Latin Gregorian chant for the Mass, "Cum Jubile", was also well done. Every boy in for the weekend actively participate either as a server or chorister, as is the case Sunday after Sunday at the college's 11 am High Mass unless Father Talbot, the college's Chaplain is ill or away. The boys also assist at daily Mass, which like the Sunday Mass, is in the Ordinary Form but is not a High Mass.
There is normally singing of the Kyrie, Sanctus etc during the week also and a hymn or two.
On Saturday we experience Mass in the Extraordinary Form (the Latin rite used for centuries before Vatican II) because some of our parents, staff and boys for a variety of good reasons prefer this form. It is deemed by the school something good for the boys to experience a form of the Mass, which was loved and esteemed by numerous saints and ordinary Catholics for centuries. On Saturday this form of Mass is sometimes said as a Low Mass and other times as a High Mass. There are boys who can act as a Master of Ceremonies for High Masses in the old or new rite, and on the three occasions Bishops have said High Mass Form here there have been differnt boys who act as Master of Ceremonies perfectly with impeccable decorum.
Every boy learns how to serve Mass, and has his turn in doing so. Several boys can look after the sacristy perfectly. This might sound to be too good to be true, but such is the case. And the boys are perfectly natural and very good Catholic boys. Interested parents, educators and others for appropriate reasons are able to come and see. I have no dount Chavagnes is a really unique school.
Many a modern Catholic boy would imagine that such an immersion into the life of the Church would be boring and overdone. Nobody complains here. To the contrary boys here realise how fortunate they are. The practice of daily Mass was the cornerstone of the institutions for boys run by St John Bosco, and also a requirement of Catholic boarding schools for centuries with normally great results.
Sunday 17 May 2009
Wednesday 13 May 2009
Boys
Today I had the pleasure of looking in on Mr Joe Aldridge's Year 8 maths class when he was teaching them above the level required of his age group of boys turning 12 or 13 in this school year.
It was an absolute pleasure to see boys so alive, enthusiastic about learning nets, the volume and other measures about cones after, in one lesson, having learned about pyramids, cubes and other shapes. They did not need to be given the formulae to help them do this as they were able to work them out themselves by dissecting various shapes in the cones.
I was enthralled by the concentration and clear thnking etc involved in this. They enjoyed themselves in doing this, and I was thrilled to see in operation one of the keenest classes I can remember. There were six boys in the class today, not one of them with English as their first language, but the lesson was perfectly well understood in English with much involvement with the teacher. These boys are excitedly waiting for the UK maths challenge cut off points which will be announced with three boys expecting to obtain gold certificates, Max (Malta), John-Baptiste and Marc (France) Two other French boys, Jacques and Pierre-Antoine, are expecting a silver or bronze, depending on the cut-off points, as is as another French boy who is also doing well, Matthieu, as is Maxime (Russian his first language and also Spanish as he lives on Majorca).
It is a joy to see these boys so keen, alive and whole-hearted about their schoolwork in Mr Nicholas Lloyd's Biology also, the other class I am also sometimes invited into as an observer. I cannot get over the enthusiasm of these boys. I am unsure how much they realise how fortunate they are to be in such an environment so supportive of their learning, and in classes where they get so much indvidual attention.
It was an absolute pleasure to see boys so alive, enthusiastic about learning nets, the volume and other measures about cones after, in one lesson, having learned about pyramids, cubes and other shapes. They did not need to be given the formulae to help them do this as they were able to work them out themselves by dissecting various shapes in the cones.
I was enthralled by the concentration and clear thnking etc involved in this. They enjoyed themselves in doing this, and I was thrilled to see in operation one of the keenest classes I can remember. There were six boys in the class today, not one of them with English as their first language, but the lesson was perfectly well understood in English with much involvement with the teacher. These boys are excitedly waiting for the UK maths challenge cut off points which will be announced with three boys expecting to obtain gold certificates, Max (Malta), John-Baptiste and Marc (France) Two other French boys, Jacques and Pierre-Antoine, are expecting a silver or bronze, depending on the cut-off points, as is as another French boy who is also doing well, Matthieu, as is Maxime (Russian his first language and also Spanish as he lives on Majorca).
It is a joy to see these boys so keen, alive and whole-hearted about their schoolwork in Mr Nicholas Lloyd's Biology also, the other class I am also sometimes invited into as an observer. I cannot get over the enthusiasm of these boys. I am unsure how much they realise how fortunate they are to be in such an environment so supportive of their learning, and in classes where they get so much indvidual attention.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)