St Leonard's

Listen, child of God, to the guidance of your teacher… 

My words are addressed to you especially, whoever you may be, whatever your circumstances, who turn from your pursuit of your own self will and ask to enlist under Christ, who is Lord of all, by following him through taking to yourself that strong and blessed armour of obedience which he made his own on coming into our world.

From the Prologue to the Rule of St Benedict. 

Here at St. Leonard’s, all pupils are offered the opportunity to go on retreat. In the current academic year (2023/24), pupils in Year 7 and Year 10 have a three day retreat at the Youth Village in Consett and Year 9 and Year 10 pupils will attend the YMT Summer Festival. This year, pupils will have the opportunity to visit other sacred spaces such as Ushaw College and our local Catholic Churches for formation days. As new opportunities for retreat and workshops are offered, we will continue to embed these into every pupil’s journey of faith here at St Leonard’s. These special events offer all pupils the opportunity to develop spiritually and deepen their faith, as well as strengthening their sense of community and belonging. 

Faith in action

The Faith in Action Award encourages young people through recognising, rewarding and celebrating their active faith lived out through service and reflection. The Award helps them connect their life and faith in a tangible manner. In journeying through the Award, young people should experience a deepening of their relationship with God and find themselves exploring that relationship. It is hoped that through their relationship and action, others will see God’s love through them.  

Our Faith in Action award pupils meet on a weekly basis to plan their work. During significant times throughout the school year e.g. Advent and Lent, our Faith in Action pupils fundraise for charity organisations where the values are similar to our schools. So far donations have been made to Aid to the Church in Need and St Cuthbert’s Care.  

John Paul II award

The Pope John Paul II Award is a faith achievement award for young people between the age of 16 and 18. It is non-competitive, inclusive, flexible and voluntary. The Award enables participants to take an active part in the life of their Church – in the life of their community and society. It enables young people to become more aware of the teaching and role of the Catholic Church in the world and to engage at a deep level with Christ. 

We currently run this award with our Sixth Form pupils as they take an active role within our school community and wider Parish life. These pupils help to lead in liturgies and whole school fundraising events, modelling our school virtues and faith in action.  

CAFOD club

Our CAFOD club is one of the most popular enrichment clubs throughout our school week. Over 40 pupils gather to plan events to spread awareness and raise money for CAFOD and the campaigns they run throughout the academic year. Pupils from a range of year groups attend and we are lucky enough to have our Sixth Form pupils as official CAFOD volunteers leading the way. From our strong connections to our local CAFOD representative, we have been able to raise thousands of pounds for CAFOD throughout the school year and our CAFOD events and Fast Days continue to be widely spoken about due to their success.