A Stitch in Time
‘Without memory, there is no culture. Without memory, there would be no civilization, no society, no future.’
(Elie Wiesel)
At St Augustine’s Priory the theme for this year is Memory and, as the Headteacher, Mrs Raffray, wrote in her last letter, ‘We will be planning rich cross-curricular links, competitions as well as developing practical strategies for improving memorising techniques. There are cognitive benefits to this for every member of the community – from the Preps with their times tables to A Level girls now doing subjects in a two-year cycle, to those of us who are older and who need to head off dementia!’
One of the ways in which we at St Augustine’s Priory celebrate memory is our on-going community project which reaches back two millennia to the roots of our faith and the foundation of our school in 1634, ‘A Stitch in Time’. Initiated in 2015 to mark the centenary of being on this site in Hillcrest Road this project undertakes to upholster the kneelers in the Chapel.
Bringing together parents, pupils and staff in designing the kneelers, everyone has been involved in stitching, including many of our alumnae. The designs on the canvases incorporate emblems richly evoking our faith and our school and it is so exciting to witness the progress as our enthusiastic stitchers gather at lunchtimes to contribute their efforts to this endeavour.
This term the co-curricular club for ‘A Stitch in Time’ will continue from Monday 19th September from 12.45 – 1.15pm in the Chapter Room (next to the Chapel). This is always supervised and is open to all girls from Lower I to Priory 6.
Ms Eng, our Head of Art, writes “’A Stitch in Time’ is a community project that we have been running for the last two years where girls, parents and teachers regularly stitch into twelve kneeling cushions designed in the Arts and Crafts style to match our Chapel. The idea is that through the act of stitching, girls can gain practical skills, make new friends, and leave their mark in the school’s chapel for years to come.”
As there is limited space in the Chapter Room next to the Chapel, it is advised that you register your daughter’s interest with Ms Eng on ceng@sapriory.com stating which day she would like to come and stitch.
A Stitch in Time is an enterprise where memory is an active enterprise and where girls can become embedded in the long history and memory of St Augustine’s Priory in a very real and wonderful way.
