| |
|
 |
|
For a post-industrial
working class town which doesn't always
hit the headlines for the right reasons,
Ipswich has a lot to be proud of, and not
just in terms of the history of its
football team. Take St Alban's, for
example, the big Catholic High School on
the eastern outskirts of the town, which
regularly finds itself near the top of
the national leagues for exam results,
outperforming many smaller, wealthier
schools in both the state and private
sectors. And it isn't just
the exam results, because St Alban's has
an impressive and enviable reputation for
pastoral care. Ofsted inspectors
consistently describe the school as
outstanding in their reports. One of the
aspects of the school that many people
admire is its all-enfolding Catholic
ethos, which attracts many families which
are not Catholic themselves. Small
wonder, then, that here at St Alban's is
the only purpose-designed school chapel
in a state school in Suffolk.
|
The
chapel is a wide, simple, square space, with
spot-lighting from a low roof. This simplicity
enhances the drama of the view to the sanctuary,
with three large floor-to-ceiling windows
spanning the width of this wall. They are filled
with abstract designs: water and fire in the
outer windows reflect the themes of Baptism and
Confirmation as well as of the beginning and end
of Christ's mission on Earth, his Baptism and the
Day of Pentecost. The central window depicts a
huge sunflower which is also at once a raised
host and the new sun of Easter. They were
produced by a Norwich firm to the designs of
staff and students; the translucent stretched
glass creates a further abstract of the garden
and trees beyond.
| This wall is also punctuated
by two excellent sculptured furnishings,
the tabernacle with its design of a fish,
a boat and an ear of wheat, and the fine
silver crucifix which formerly hung in
the school hall and was donated to the
school back in the early 1960s. The
chapel was opened by Bishop Michael of
East Anglia, and it is a point of pride
in our house that my son was one of the
servers at the dedicatory Mass. The
chapel is open all the time, and students
are encouraged to drop in and use it for
private prayer and contemplation whenever
they feel the need to. It is always
possible to light a candle, and there are
regular lunchtime prayer sessions. In
addition, the chapel is used for class
Masses and for RE lessons. The
furnishings are designed to allow for
student participation in their decoration
- wall hangings, lectern hangings, sacred
art and the like. Because of this, the
chapel acts as a spiritual focus for the
work of the school; a touchstone to all
it is, and all it aspires to be.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
