24 January 2020
On Wednesday 22 January, Mr Ross, our Sacred Heart Reps and I travelled to Duchesne House, Roehampton, to meet the retired Sisters of the Sacred Heart Order who live together in community. The sisters were delighted to meet the students and told us stories of their time working at Woldingham. It was very clear how much they have enjoyed their long association with the school, where they started their training in religious life and taught successfully for many years or worked in the school laundry. We joined the sisters for the celebration of Mass and we left them with lots of lovely cake, made by our catering team, which was very much enjoyed by the residents.
After Mass and lunch, we walked the short distance to the Sacred Heart Primary School which was built by Mother Janet Stuart. We were greeted by the headteacher, Mr Anthony Gibbons, and the students were taken to the infant department where they helped the young pupils with reading, writing, painting, RE and other classroom activities. It was a fun afternoon and we are most grateful to the staff for making us feel so welcome and giving us the opportunity to work closely and develop our strong links with another Sacred Heart School.
As we first entered Duchesne House we saw the words of Saint Madeleine Sophie written on the wall, “For the sake of one child I would have founded the society”. I think that she would be very proud to see that the Sacred Heart education is continuing to grow and develop in the UK and throughout the world
Fr Gerry Devlin, Chaplain
