Our school community journeys throughout the seasons of the liturgical year alongside our parish community. We are incredibly fortunate that our parish church is on the same site as our school, therefore we are able to use this sacred space often. Students join together at least fortnightly on a Monday in the church for a whole school Celebration of the word which is planned and delivered by senior leaders. Throughout the week, smaller groups, such as year groups, return to church for other Celebrations of the word. These are planned and delivered on a rotational basis by each form for their year group peers.
In addition to our usual timetable for Celebrations of the word, seasonality is experienced through Masses (including a whole school welcome Mass in September, Advent Masses, an Ash Wednesday liturgy – when Ash Wednesday falls in term time, – Lent Masses and our Feast Day Mass) and other special occasions such as end of term celebrations and Holy Week services. You can read more about Collective Worship at SSPP in our policy: RE and Collective Worship Policy (Draft).
During Advent, our school is lucky enough to be able to put on an annual Christmas Spectacular inside our beautiful church. This is a highlight of our year and we are incredibly proud of our very extensive and talented choir. During Lent in 2026, the school performed Born for This. A dramatic and musical version of the Stations of the Cross. These special events highlight our Catholic identity and we welcome families and parishioners to join us for these.
The church and parish is very important to our school and we encourage our pupils to take part in parish life. On Education Sunday, our Headteacher speaks in our local parishes about the work of the school community and how our pupils continue to grow in faith. In the past, the SSPP choir has been invited to sing at the Interfaith Holocaust Memorial event, the Celebration Mass for the Mayor of Lincoln and also the Lincoln Parishes Confirmation mass. Our pupils are actively engaged in parish work and serve their communities in a number of ways.
Pupils have taken part in a number of parish masses, leading readings, bidding prayers and taking part in the offertory. On Youth Sunday, some of our Sixth Form pupils spoke to all parishes about the important role that young people have in ensuring the church continues to grow. Pupils who recently accompanied the Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes in July 2026 led various coffee mornings and supported at other parish events throughout the year prior to this trip to raise money towards their pilgrimage costs.
Throughout the year, we host several events in our parish centre for our parish community. We target these as intergenerational events in the hope of engaging a wide variety of ages. Through refreshments, fun activities and conversation, the Catholic Social Teaching principle of human dignity for all is explored and positive relationships are fostered between the school and parish.
We have recently created a link between our school and Home Grange Retirement Village which is across the road from us. So far, we have visited once to introduce ourselves and engage in simple but meaningful conversation with the residents. They are very much looking forward to our return and are particularly eager to hear from our wonderful choir!
Throughout the year, the Chaplaincy Team help to plan fundraising events for charities such as CAFOD and the Lifting Children’s Hopes charity. We also aim to support Fairtrade Fortnight.
We continue to work towards the CAFOD Live Simply award and our journey so far can be viewed here.
