50 years of faith at JFK School

On 27th September JFK School in Hemel Hempstead, marked the beginning of their Golden Jubilee year with a whole-school Mass, joined by members of the Governing Body and the headteachers of local Catholic primary schools. The Mass was celebrated by Fr. Brendan Seery, a student of JFK between 2001 and 2008. In his homily Fr. Brendan reflected on the significant changes in the world during the past fifty years but suggested that the core values of our school were still strongly rooted in its faith life. Music was provided by the Music Liturgy Group and the Mass was supported by a team of students as readers and Eucharistic Ministers. In a short address to conclude the Mass, Paul Neves, Headteacher, relayed some of the early memories of the school received from one of the teachers who was on the staff of four teachers when the school opened its doors to 100 students in 1967. These memories showed that many aspects of the school have not changed a great deal over the fifty years. In particular, we are told that the first headteacher, Mr Singleton, introduced systems that were aimed at reflecting the values of equality, respect and community development.’ Fifty years later those themes are just as important to JFK today.
The Governors are organising reunion events for former staff and students to revisit JFK during this academic year and a Facebook page (search @jfk50) has a large number of followers sharing fond memories and photographs of the last 50 years.