The Headteachers from our schools gathered together at Woldingham School in early March for the 13^th Leading from the Heart Conference.

This year, the focus was an introduction to the four Apostolic Priorities recently announced by the RSCJ Sisters. Sr Bernie Porter joined the Conference for a fascinating insight into Sacred Heart Spirituality, followed by sessions on Formation (of school staff, parents and governors) and JPIC. Colleagues from Woldingham also presented on their extensive leadership programmes offered to staff and students.

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These annual in-person gatherings, facilitated by the Schools Network office, allow for collaboration and shared formation together with some much needed spiritual nourishment.

Next year’s Conference will be alongside European Network Head teachers at a gathering in Rome in October 2023.

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At the end of January, the Goals Coordinators and Chaplains from across our 5 schools and college gathered at Woldingham School for their first Conference of this academic year.

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Over a busy two days, we planned joint ventures across our schools for the Goal of Community including fundraising for a new Sacred Heart School in Eldoret, Kenya, and garden projects celebrating 180 years of the Society in England and Wales.

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For our spiritual and professional nourishment, we reflected on the challenging times of Madeleine Sophie and its comparisons with today and enjoyed an in-depth presentation on the Sacred Heart leadership programme being piloted at Woldingham.

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'Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.' ~ Luke 23:46

"Holding fast to the Lord's last words and to the witness of His entire life, we too want to follow in His steps and commend our brother into the hands of the Father." ~ Pope Francis

As we pray for Pope Emeritus Benedict we remember with gratitude his remarkable visit to our country, when Heart spoke unto Heart. May perpetual light shine upon him; may he rest in God's eternal peace.

We pray too for Pope Francis, and for the many needs of the Church throughout the world. 

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AT THE END OF THE YEAR  

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As this year draws to its end,

We give thanks for the gifts it brought

And how they became inlaid within

Where neither time nor tide can touch them...

Days when beloved faces shone brighter

With light from beyond themselves;

And from the granite of some secret sorrow

A stream of buried tears loosened.

We bless this year for all we learned,

For all we loved and lost

And for the quiet way it brought us

Nearer to our invisible destination.

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_{JOHN O'DONOHUE}

_{Excerpt from the blessing, 'At the End of the Year,' from the books}

_{Benedictus (Europe)}

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We wish everyone the blessings of joy and peace this Christmas, as we celebrate the birth of Christ, our Emmanuel, God-with-and-among-us. 

And may our hearts be open to welcome Christ, present in every stranger, and every newcomer, as well as in every familiar face.

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Throughout the month of December, our Schools have been celebrating the season of Advent in their own unique ways with Carol Services, Nativity Plays and Masses. Angelic voices have rung out up and down the country, culminating in a breath-taking celebration at Westminster Cathedral hosted by Woldingham School and attended by representatives from all of our schools and college.

Here’s a summary of events, as shared on Twitter:

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On Saturday 17th December Sheila McNamara celebrated 25 years of Profession from 1st Vows.

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It was a lovely day spent with family, friends and her community in Newcastle.

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Congratulations Sheila!

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Across the European Network of Sacred Heart schools marked the Feast of the Immaculate Conception on the 8^{th of} December with the lighting of candles and prayers.

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On this day in our Province, our schools and college lit their special 180 Years candle and celebrated the launch of this special year of celebration in different ways.

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Watch this short video to find out more:

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On 8th December 1842 a small group of Sacred Heart Sisters travelled to England from France to open a new community. Our first foundation in this country was in Berrymead (West London); in 1850 it transferred to Roehampton, now home to Digby Stuart College.

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The last eighteen decades have seen the opening and closure of many communities,plus several schools and teacher training colleges. During WWII several of the schools and colleges were evacuated, and some were eventually relocated.Sisters from this country have also made foundations in Australia, Malta and India, and others have responded to the call to serve in different countries on every continent. 

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Since the Second Vatican Council (1962-5) there have been many changes in the Society, and in how and where we continue to live our mission of discovering and making known the unlimited and unconditional love of the Heart of God, especially in places and situations where love and reconciliation are most needed. 

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And so, on 8th December 2022 we begin a year of thanksgiving for all who have gone before us, and for the contribution that the Society of the Sacred Heart has made over the past 180 years, especially in England-Wales. Throughout this year we will be sharing reflections, memories and events on this page, which will go live on our birthday.

Please pray for the Society today as all the Provincials meet together in Malaga.

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The meeting is partly to prepare for the General Chapter in 2024 and to deal with ongoing issues that affect us all.

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May the Spirit and St Madeleine Sophie be close during these days.

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Someone recently asked me for the date of the Feast of the Sacred Heart. I began to explain that it's a moveable feast, coming at the end of a whole series of moveable feasts, which begin with Pentecost... no, with Easter... no, Lent... Ash Wednesday... And as I heard myself describe this liturgical continuum, something within me broke into a gleeful little dance. Wow, I thought... Wow... from Ash Wednesday to the Sacred Heart, in one unbroken movement!

From the day when we turn to God with all our hearts, seeking grace and forgiveness and mercy... through Lent, when we yearn and learn to love, and Easter, that greatest of all feasts of Christ's love... and then Pentecost, the love of the Trinity, and of Corpus Christi... to the day when we celebrate the Heart of God, the fathomless source of all that tender, overflowing, compassionate and merciful love.

In a pastoral letter for Ash Wednesday, Cardinal Vincent Nichols once wrote that Ash Wednesday is the doorway into this season of renewal. And so it is... And it's also a doorway into God's wide-open Heart, a sure companion on our journey. And this is the hope and the assurance which strengthen me as I enter this time of growth and renewal, and this Lent which is, as always, filled with a promise which holds as much blessing as it does challenge.

Have a happy, grace-filled Lent, everyone!

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Adapted from a reflection by Silvana Dallanegra RSCJ, which first appeared in All this Life and Heaven Too

On Saturday 2nd August Sisters Mon McGreal RSCJ and Steph Romaine RSCJ quietly celebrated their Golden Jubilees of perpetual profession of vows, made in 1975.

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Here, Steph, who is part of our community in Fenham, Newcastle, shares how she spent the day...

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I began my Jubilee Day with Mass in the Cathedral, and to my surprise the first reading from Leviticus (25:1, 8-17) reminds us of the origin and meaning of Jubilee. God owns the land and for a whole year it was to remain uncultivated, unworked on, so that the land itself had a holiday! So, after coffee and a scone at the Oak and Iron Heritage Centre I went for a walk at nearby Gibside.

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The first thing that showed itself to me was the beginning of a new leaf on a twig - it told me that this is the beginning of a new stage of my life. As I walked on it felt as though I was walking back through my life again, through the woods of my life:

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Babies in buggies, young children playing….older children making dens. I remembered the woods of my childhood on Putney Heath; the woods at Woldingham when I was a novice – the Dark Night where I had an illegitimate cigarette or two; and the woods at the top of St Michael’s Mount when I was teaching in the school at Woldingham, taking a walk on a day off from the boarding school. On I walked in the Hollies near Leeds and Roundhay Park, on a Saturday with Vivien Bowman. On and on, until surrounded by woods and mountains at Llannerchwen. A few sedate walks around Bolam Lake and Wallington here in the North East, until today the woods at Gibside. I’ll come again now I’ve found the bus route!

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Woods hold so much, speak with so much symbolism of my 80 years of life and now 50 years of Final Profession: so much variety, so much contrast, so many beginnings and endings, and handing’s over; so much darkness and light and dappled light and deep shade. There was deadness, dead leaves, dead trees, dead ends; and yet fresh greenness, new buds, new leaves, and fresh fruit, hollows and vistas... and always stillness with rustling leaves and silence, silence broken only by birdsong; clear paths and brambles with no way through and yet always The Way.

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So much to be grateful for, so many companions on the way, and through it all, invisible and everlasting arms holding and guiding, picking up, comforting, never letting go and always loving:

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‘The Good news of the Kingdom’ (my Probation Name)*

And my devise (motto)

‘I praise you, Father, because you have revealed these things to little ones
and hidden them from the wise and prudent.
You have put all these things in my hands.’
Lk:10:21

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We send our congratulations and prayer to Steph and Mon, and to the other RSCJ around the world for whom this is a Jubilee year.

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* 'Probation' is our preparation for final vows, a process done in an international group, lasting almost five months. At the end of this time, as per a long Society tradition, the Superior General will give the group a name and devise which give them a communal and individual new identity and call as professed RSCJ.

On a very hot day at the beginning of July, the Head Girl teams from Sacred Heart in Fenham and Hammersmith joined their fellow students leaders from Woldingham School for two days of student leadership training. The conference, titled “ Leading from the Heart” gave them the opportunity to consider their leadership styles, their role within a team as well as important skills such as effective communication and using your initiative.

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It was a delight to see how quickly the students bonded and enjoyed sharing their experiences of leading in a Sacred Heart school. In the evening, a poignant moment was had in Woldingham’s new vineyard as we learned more about the symbolism of the different parts of the vine and the importance of the vines to St Madeleine Sophie Barat.

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The Society of the Sacred Heart around the world celebrated 100 years of St Madeleine Sophie Barat on May 24th. The schools and college in our province marked this very special occasion with liturgies and special assemblies, heart-shaped lollies and prayer cards. Students and staff also came together to watch a new film made by the Schools Network to tell the story of Sophie's life and share some of her most loved quotations, read by our RSCJ Sisters. You can watch the film here:

75 students and staff from across all of our schools and college gathered at the end of September to celebrate HeartFest 6, our biennial student conference at the Emmaus Youth Village, County Durham.

For three days, students worked collaboratively on a range of tasks linked to all 5 Sacred Heart Goals of education, as we are celebrating this school year, the 50^th birthday of the Goals which launched in the United States in 1975.

Despite the torrential rain, spirits were high as creative skills were used to express each of the Goals in workshops such as friendship bracelet making (for the Goal of Community) and re-imagining our ideal world in art (for the Goal of Social  Awareness)

HeartFest 6 concluded with a moving liturgy at Sacred Heart High School, Fenham where all those in attendance were commissioned as the first Sacred Heart Network Student Team, who will now take an active role in leading Goals based activities in our schools and college.

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UPDATED 29th JULY - We send our prayers and best wishes to the Alumnus of Sacred Heart Schools around the world who are competing in the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris this summer:

(clockwise from top left)

Tierna Davidson from Sacred Heart Schools, Atherton, California (Class of 2016) will compete in soccer for the USA

(photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Lanihei Connolly from Baradene College of the Sacred Heart, Auckland, New Zealand (class of 2023) is competing in swimming (100m Breaststroke) for the Cook Islands.

(photo credit:www.birmingham2022.com)

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Gaby Lopez from Collegio Sagrado Corazon, Mexico (class of 2012) will compete in Golf for Mexico

(photo credit: Wikipedia)

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Mary (Daisy) Mazzio-Manson from Newton Country Day School of the Sacred Heart, Boston (class of 2016) will compete in Rowing fours for the USA

(photo: LinkedIn)

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Georgia Bell from Sacred Heart High School, Hammersmith (class of 2010) will compete in Athletics (1500m) for Great Britain

(photo: Michael Steele / Getty images)

Isabella Russekoff from Sacred Heart Greenwich, Connecticut (class of 2018) will compete in Equestrian Showjumping for Israel.

(photo credit: @shgreenwich Instagram)

Katie Ledecky from Stone Ridge Sacred Heart, Bethesda, Maryland (class of 2015) will compete in Swimming (400m freestyle, 1500m freestyle, 4 x 200m freestyle relay, 800m freestyle) for the USA.

(photo credit: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

Carlota Ciganda from Sagrado Corazon, Pamplona, Spain (class of 2008) will compete in Golf for Spain

(photo credit: Wikipedia)

Erin Gemmell from Stone Ridge Sacred Heart, Bethesda, Maryland (class of 2023) will complete in Swimming (200m freestyle and 4 x 200m freestyle relay) for the USA

(photo credit: Jack Splitser / Splitser photography)

Phoebe Bacon from Stone Ridge Sacred Heart, Bethesda, Maryland (class of 2020) will complete in Swimming (200m backstroke) for the USA

(photo credit: Wikipedia)

Paige Greco from Sacre Coeur Glen Iris, Victoria (class of 2015) will compete in Paralympic Cycling for Australia

(photo credit: Paul Harris)

Mewen Tomac from Lycée Sacre Coeur, Amiens, France (class of 2020) will compete in Swimming (100m and 200m backstroke) for France

(Photo credit: Faugere / L’Equipe)

Annabelle Smith from Sacre Coeur Glen Iris, Victoria (class of 2010) will compete in Diving (3m synchronised) for Australia

(Photo credit: @annabellesmith Instagram)

Beth Yeagar from Sacred Heart Greenwich, Connecticut (class of 2021) will compete in Field Hockey for the USA

(Photo Credit:www.teamusa.com)

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NEWLY ADDED (centre left)

Marie Simon from La Perverie, Nantes, France (class of 2018) will compete in Field Hockey for France.

(photo credit: www.ffhockey.org)

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NEWLY ADDED (above centre)

Blanca Hervas from Sagrado Corazon, Rosales, Madrid (class of 2021) will compete in Athletics (4 x 400m relay) for Spain.

(photo credit: www.worldathletics.org)

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NEWLY ADDED (centre)

Elizabeth Dekker from Duchesne College, University of Brisbane (class of 2022) competing in Swimming (200m butterfly) for Australia

(photo credit: Delly Carr)

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NEWLY ADDED (centre right)

Noe Jouin from La Perverie, Nantes, France (class of 2020) will compete in Field Hockey for France.

(photo credit:www.ffhockey.org)

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We send our congratulations also to Samantha McGill (former Head Girl from Kilgraston Sacred Heart, Scotland) who joins the Team GB support team for Tennis.

Please let us know if we have missed anyone on our Sacred Heart Team sheet  – and consider following our Schools Network Instagram account for schedule updates and results: heart_filled_year

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As part of our 1842 celebrations and in recognition of the Year of Community, schools across our Network raised a phenomenal £12,374.08 for the building of a new Sacred Heart Primary School in Eldoret, Kenya. Schools took part in a range of creative fundraising activities including sponsored walks, bake sales and singing competitions. Their collective efforts will make a huge difference to this exciting project which will provide an education for young children, many who are orphaned and living in poverty on the outskirts of the city of Eldoret. It is hoped that once the school opens, links can be made with primary schools in our network in order to set up some joint student projects.