This week in our school community: 17 October 2025

We are delighted to share some of the many plans we have for this year’s celebration of culture and diversity in St Gregory’s Catholic College.

 

Culture and Diversity Week Celebrations

We are delighted to share some of the many plans we have for this year’s celebration of culture and diversity in St Gregory’s Catholic College. It is a great honour for organisation of the annual celebration to be led by the student leadership team, the 1719 Society, with support from Chaplaincy and senior leaders.  Our school community includes over sixty spoken languages and backgrounds that span the globe.  Our culture and diversity celebrations need to celebrate and benefit from the richness of society in our everyday encounters at school.

There are many exciting activities, workshops, quizzes and more taking place throughout the week from Monday 20 to Thursday 23 October, with many things led by ourselves as well as visiting speakers and dancers.  Below are some of the events taking place that we’d love as many people as possible to get involved with.

International food festival and competition - Tuesday 21 October

Students are invited to bring in some food that celebrates their cultural heritage, for entry into a competition and to be sold at our food festival.  In previous years, we’ve had an assortment of sweet and savoury snacks and cakes, jollof rice, Jamaican dumplings, sarmale, curries and more to excite the culinary appetites of everyone.   Winning entries will receive a prize.  All the food will be sold for donations at break time and students will pick the charity the money is sent to.  Please remember we are a no nut school; writing any dietary information on the box will also be greatly appreciated. 

Traditional/Cultural Dress Day - Thursday 23 October

Come into school in the national dress or similar for your cultural background.  In recent years we’ve been blessed with a sea of colour as students have attended in Indian Saris, Romanian, Polish and Hungarian tops laced with flowers, Quadrille dresses from Jamaica and very smart looking young men in their Shalwar Kameez.  For those who struggle to find something appropriate, students could also come to school dressed in the colours of their national flag.  There is no monetary charge for being in non-uniform.   

The Great St Gregory’s Cookbook - Celebrating Cultures

As part of our upcoming Culture and Diversity Week 2025, we are creating The Great St Greg’s Cookbook – Celebrating Cultures.

Food is such a wonderful way to share traditions, stories, and family life and we would love to showcase the rich variety of recipes from across our school community. Whether it’s a dish passed down through generations, a family favourite that brings everyone together or something new you love to make, we’d be delighted if you could share it with us.

Every contribution helps us celebrate the diversity and uniqueness of our school family.

Please email your recipe to RobinsonM@st-gregorys.org.uk by Friday 7 November .  You could include a photo of you/your child cooking and one of the finished dish; we would love to feature these alongside the recipes.  The finished cookbook will be a beautiful celebration of culture and community, available in a digital format just in time for Christmas.  We look forward to an exciting week full of respect and admiration for the richness of the family of St Gregory’s. 

St Carlo Acutis Exhibition 

We were delighted to welcome to St Gregory’s this week an exhibition of the work of St Carlo Acutis, the recently canonised teenage saint who is being spoken of as the millennial saint.  Students, staff, families and inspectors have had the opportunity to take in some of the incredible research St Carlo Acutis conducted on Eucharistic miracles worldwide and throughout history, which were then recorded on his website: https://www.miracolieucaristici.org/

He had the most incredible devotion to the Eucharist for one so young, full of maturity in all matters of faith.  To him the Eucharist was “The highway to heaven”, a place he reached at the tender age of 15 years.  But in that short time he found a deep connection to Jesus, became a witness and disciple in the modern age and brought others along with him.  Carlo has succeeded in an extraordinary way, despite living an ordinary existence like that of many, in dedicating his life, moment by moment, to the highest goal to which all people are called: eternal bliss with God. We hope that the classes and all those who voluntarily came along to view the exhibition have found a lens into the message of the Gospel through one of their peers.

Mr Robinson

Lay Chaplain