St Thomas More School Hosts Deanery Meeting
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St Thomas More School Hosts Deanery Meeting
Confidence Conversation and Connection
St Thomas More School provided the venue for the Deanery meeting where representatives from each of the Bedford Parishes convened to watch Bishop Peter’s DVD, Walking Humbly with our God. This was part of the process in developing a framework for the future, building upon the reflection and conversation inspired by Bishop Peter’s vision. Discussion then took place in Parish groups focussing on devising an achievable plan for the future of our Pastoral Area.
Michael Simmonds coordinated the meeting and following the DVD we divided into Parish groups to identify areas of strength with a view to sharing expertise across the Deanery. In addition, the groups were able to explore areas which require further development. The ideas were then collated and will form the basis of the ground plan which will be submitted to Bishop Peter in the coming months.
The local steering group consisting of Canon Seamus Keenan, Fr Tony Brennan, Michael Simmonds, Rosemarie Langley, Mary Frost and I meet on a regular basis and at present we are busy analysing questionnaires which have been completed on a Parish basis.
Using the excellent Performance Area at St Thomas More enabled all the Parishes to meet and share their ideas rather than working in isolation. It was helpful to listen to the views of other groups as we fed back on the range and scope of the present provision within each of the Parishes. The challenge is now to ‘bring the story together’, defining local aspirations and to establish a set of priorities for the future. All the schools in the Catholic Federation have been invited to contribute to the process so that every voice is heard. St Thomas More School will be coordinating the focus group which will be seeking the views of all stakeholders.
F. Topa
Deputy Head teacher