Church Links

Church and Community

Our school has a warm, friendly family atmosphere where parents, the church and village community are encouraged to become fully involved in all events and activities. As a Voluntary Aided school, we are very proud of our strong links with St. Mary’s Church.

Throughout the year, we visit St. Mary’s Church for school events including Harvest, Christmas and Easter. Our children also participate in a number of church and village events, such as the Christmas Tree Festival, Remembrance Day and the Brighstone Horticultural Show. Classes use the church to support programmes of study for Religious Education and History.

Each week, a member of the church community leads a whole school Collective Worship in school. Currently, these are:

Peter Johnson – reader at St. Mary’s Church

Andy Dorning – South Wight Area Youth (SWAY) leader

Jack Norridge – South Wight Area Youth (SWAY) leader

We also take part in regular school Eucharist services, which are held in St. Mary’s Church, which all parents are welcome to attend (see the Buzz for details as to when there are upcoming services). (These Eucharist services are not currently taking place, due to Covid-19 restrictions.)

Our Archdeacon is The Venerable Peter Leonard, Archdeacon of the Isle of Wight.

Our Bishop is The Right Reverend Christopher Foster, Bishop of the Diocese of Portsmouth.

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Contact The Five Churches office,

e-mail: bbmskparishes@gmail.com or tel: 0747 4987 683

or contact www.portsmouthanglican.org

At the moment, there is no vicar at St. Mary’s Church.

 

Collective Worship during school closures
Here you will find our weekly Collective Worship PPT for you to watch and read with your child. The CW PPT follows this structure:
Welcome
Gather together and light a candle. This signals the start of worship. We usually play a relevant song when children come into the hall, so this is also included in the PPT.
Learning
Symbolised by a window, the Learning element is when new possibilities or different perspectives are ‘opened up’ through the use of drama, visual images, poetry or puppetry based on Bible stories or other texts.
Reflecting
Symbolised by a mirror, the reflecting element encourages everyone to consider how the Bible story or other stimulus has resonated with, or challenged them. Using ‘searching questions’ are offered as a focus for reflection. Sometimes a guided meditation is suggested or a few moments of silence.
Responding
Responding, the final element in the worship, has the symbol of the door and provides an opportunity to consider how God might be challenging those present in the worship to ‘step out’ and play their part in making a difference in the world either as individuals or as part of the whole school community.
Fruits from the Roots
A practical suggestion is given for an activity, often light-hearted and fun, designed to stimulate further discussion and consideration of the theme of the worship through the week.
Collective Worship Powerpoint link – please click here.