Before the start of the new school session, updated information has been sent by post to every Catholic primary and secondary school, advising teachers how schools can participate in various Papal Visit events.  In some cases, schools have been asked to respond to these letters and to take URGENT ACTION to register their participation. 

• Any Catholic secondary school which has not recently received two letters about the events listed below should contact SCES as soon as possible.
• Any Catholic primary school which does not receive one letter by Monday 16th August should contact SCES as soon as possible.

The Bishops of Scotland wish to encourage schools and families to prepare children in advance of the visit, to involve them in praying for its success, to celebrate the occasion joyfully and to participate in various ways in the events taking place from Thursday 16th to Sunday 19th September.  The paper below lists the events and outlines some of the resources which SCES has provided to support various learning activities which you might plan before, during and after the various events.

Having received this information, schools should be able to organise their own plans for participating in the events summarised below.

Schools are encouraged to bring groups of young people to be spectators as the Pope travels in a slow motorcade along Princes Street after being received by the Queen at Holyroodhouse Palace.  The motorcade will be immediately preceded by a St Ninian’s Day Parade featuring 1000 pipers, a pageant of figures from Scottish history, and representatives of St Ninian schools throughout Scotland.  More details on: www.stniniansday.co.uk

Primary school groups have not beeen invited to attend the Mass, due to the anticipated duration of the event. Secondary schools have been invited to bring groups of pupils and final numbers are urgently required at this time.  Hopefully, it will be possible to obtain video recordings of the Mass and some of the preceding activities for later viewing with pupils   

The Holy Father will join in an assembly of over 3,000 children and young people from Catholic schools across England, Wales and Scotland. All schools are encouraged to enable pupils to connect to live streaming of this event which should last just over 1 hour on the Friday morning, starting at approximately 10.15am.  Details of exact timings will be confirmed in a later email and on the SCES website.

Schools may well be receiving communications from various companies offering merchandise to commemorate the Papal Visit.  I can confirm that the Bishops’ Conferences of Scotland, England and Wales have appointed IVS Group Ltd (IVS), as the official event and Web merchandiser for the visit.

IVS are offering a variety of products including: a commemorative programme, T shirts, Plates, Mugs, and key rings. There will also be religious items including Rosary Beads and Candles. Details are avaialble on the website: www.thepapalvisit.org.uk

Further information

You are advised to check this website regularly to keep in touch with arrangements which will emerge in the coming weeks.  There will be further bulletins from SCES before the start of the new term, advising further of arrangements. 

This is the eighth in a series of news bulletins designed to keep schools (and others) informed of arrangements for the Papal Visit.  To see previous bulletins, click here.  Please note the official website for the UK Papal Visit: www.thepapalvisit.org.uk