As a church school we work closely with Lichfield Diocese to continually develop and celebrate our Anglican and Christian Distinctiveness. We also maintain excellent links with St. Chad’s Church, the village and the wider community.
The links between our school and village church are very strong…..
The children at St. Chad’s thoroughly enjoy the fortnightly ‘Open the Book’ sessions during worship on Mondays when a team of volunteers from the church come into school to ‘act out’ stories from the Bible with the aim of bringing these stories alive to the audience. The two teams actively encourage the children watching to participate in the ‘performance’ to help them learn the stories and remember them.
Our Vicar and the foundation governors (who are chosen by the church) are familiar faces as they are often seen in school and are warmly welcomed. The Vicar regularly leads worship with the school community and joins in with RE lessons with year 4 as part of their curriculum where the children ask challenging questions about religion and faith. Governors also join in with RE sessions and have supported the school in trips to Lichfield Cathedral.
Our school and church work co-operatively on many church events involving the wider community. Many visitors to the village’s Scarecrow Festivals and Christmas Tree Festivals will have seen scarecrows and trees created and decorated by children from St. Chad’s . In addition, the school choir regularly sing at the annual Church Fete in July and support in family services.
The younger children in school have enjoyed joining with members of the church who attend ‘Who’s for Lunch’, a monthly lunch club to bring people together socially. The children enjoyed having stories read to them and enjoyed chatting to the grown-ups!
St Chad’s children feel very happy and comfortable in church and enjoy a range of events and fun activities which take place there….
During the summer holiday, the church runs a holiday club which is well supported by many children from our school . Holiday club is led by a team of volunteers from the village and church community and enthusiastic young leaders (who are all ex- St. Chad’s pupils).
The church continues to run ‘Messy Church’ events at different times during the year. Again, these are very popular with the children from our school who attend along with their families.
The church is often used as an additional learning environment as it offers a wealth of learning opportunities for subjects including Maths, History, Art and DT. To enhance the learning experiences for the children in our school the church has involved St. Chad’s children in educational events including ‘Experience Easter’ to help deepen understanding of the Easter story and another initiative where the children visited church to learn more about the church building, history and the significance of its features (font, altar etc.).
St. Chad’s children are involved in a range of church services…..
End of term services take place in church at Christmas, Easter, Harvest and at the end of July for the Year 4 leaver’s service. In addition, St. Chad’s children also take an active part in the monthly family services on the 1st Sunday of each month at 10am which are led by members of the church community. The monthly Youth group is planned and delivered by pupils that previously attended St. Chad's. It is wonderful to see them grow as members of the congregation.
Many children who attend (or have previously attended) St. Chad’s are also members of various uniformed organisations (Brownies, Guides, Cubs and Scouts) and take part in the annual Remembrance Parade Service in church in November.
The Vicar also leads an Ash Wednesday service in school and a child-friendly communion service to celebrate St. Chad’s Day, an important event in the school’s calendar.
To visit the church’s website click below.