{"id":4671,"date":"2026-03-13T16:00:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T14:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.chavagnes.org\/?p=4671"},"modified":"2026-10-27T00:44:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T22:44:52","slug":"learning-to-serve-prayer-and-responsibility-at-a-catholic-boys-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.chavagnes.org\/en_gb\/learning-to-serve-prayer-and-responsibility-at-a-catholic-boys-school\/","title":{"rendered":"Learning to serve: prayer and responsibility at a Catholic boys’ school"},"content":{"rendered":"

Responsibility becomes real when someone else is depending on you. A boy learns to serve through the things he is asked to do faithfully, carefully and without fuss.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"The
The washing of feet: a visible lesson in Christian service. Photograph: Jean de Malet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At Chavagnes International College, a Catholic boarding school for boys in western France, we understand education as a formation of character as well as intellect. The life of prayer gives that work its centre.<\/p>\n

The ordinary work of community<\/h2>\n

Shared life provides repeated opportunities to think about other people: keeping a common space in order, being punctual, preparing properly for a lesson, helping a younger pupil, or playing one’s part in a team. None of these things is spectacular. Together, they help a boy discover that freedom carries obligations.<\/p>\n

Good school discipline should lead towards that discovery. A rule is more readily understood when a pupil can see the person or common good it protects.<\/p>\n

Prayer, worship and example<\/h2>\n

Mass and prayer are central to Chavagnes. They place the school day within a larger horizon and remind teachers and pupils alike that education concerns the use we make of our gifts.<\/p>\n

Serving in the chapel, singing or simply learning to attend reverently asks for preparation and self-control. The adults in a Catholic school have a particular responsibility here: boys learn from what they see as well as from what they are told.<\/p>\n

Growing into a useful young man<\/h2>\n

Parents naturally hope that their son will become confident. Confidence takes on a richer meaning when it includes the ability to be dependable, admit a mistake and offer help. Leadership can begin with the willingness to undertake an unglamorous task well.<\/p>\n

Our aim is to help boys develop the knowledge, habits and generosity that will serve them beyond school: in university, work, family life and the Church.<\/p>\n

Read about the Catholic life of Chavagnes<\/a> or contact the Headmaster to learn more<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Responsibility becomes real when someone else is depending on you. A boy learns to serve through the things he is asked to do faithfully, carefully and without fuss. The washing of feet: a visible lesson in Christian service. Photograph: Jean de Malet. At Chavagnes International College, a Catholic boarding school for boys in western France,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":3926,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[40,39],"tags":[120,127,44,109,128],"class_list":["post-4671","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-news","tag-catholic-boarding-school-for-boys","tag-catholic-formation","tag-chavagnes","tag-faith","tag-responsibility"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chavagnes.org\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4671","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chavagnes.org\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chavagnes.org\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chavagnes.org\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chavagnes.org\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4671"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.chavagnes.org\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4671\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4672,"href":"https:\/\/www.chavagnes.org\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4671\/revisions\/4672"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chavagnes.org\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.chavagnes.org\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4671"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chavagnes.org\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4671"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.chavagnes.org\/en_gb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4671"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}