Led by the Chaplaincy department, on Saturday 11th March 2023, the Third to Upper Sixth Form had their annual school retreat. Only taking place in the morning, the theme was about ‘Community living’ with the retreat helping kick start the process towards the schools ‘Charter of Community living’. Christ’s Parable of the Good Samaritan would give pupils and staff the inspiration to grow deeper as a community.
With the delight to many of the pupils. The school day started later at 9.20am in Houses. With the morning prayer focused on ‘Community living’. Then the pupils were instructed to go into their tutor groups for the first session.
Within the tutor groups, they started with Lectio of The Good Samaritan and supporting questions to help them digest the parable. This then led onto an aspect of Community living.
- The Third Form focused on ‘Acknowledging others in our school community’
- The Fourth Form to focused on ‘Addressing the needs of others in our school community’
- The Fifth Form to focused on ‘The value of Listening to others in our school community’
- The Lower Sixth Form to focused on ‘Being an example of compassion within our school community’
- The Upper Sixth Form to focused on ‘Supporting those who are struggling in our school community’
The pupils and staff were invited to reflect on this aspect and discuss how this can grow better within the school community. At the end they were asked to present a ‘Tutor statement’ about the aspect and then present this in the second session when each of the form groups got together in different areas of the school.
The school council members then collated the statements and created a simple sentence to present back to the whole school when we met together at the Hymn Practice in the Abbey Church at 11.10.
Mr Andrewartha (Lay Chaplain) spoke about ‘The Good Samaritan’ and Community living to encourage everyone to not be ‘an Island’ of themselves and just ‘walk by’ situations that they face, but be like the Samaritan, seeing those who need help and helping them.
Mr Andrewartha’s adapted John Donne’s ‘No Man is an Island’ poem, for Downside School:
No one at Downside School is an island entire of itself,
Everyone is a part of the school,
A part of the community.
If we do not promote a loving community,
The school is the less,
As well as if a promontory were,
As well as any manner of thy friend’s,
Or of thine own were.
Any person who is not recognised, cherished, and loved, diminishes me,
Because I am involved in this school community.
And therefore, never send to know for whom the Abbey Church bell tolls;
It tolls for thee.