PROUD TO SERVE PRIORY CE PRIMARY SCHOOL
We are blessed and privileged to serve a community with a super Church primary school at its heart. Over 400 children attend the parish primary school and links between the school and the Church are to be celebrated. Children are a gift from God and we are delighted to be able to share in supporting the school - its leaders, teachers and support staff - to offer an educational experience which is distinctively Christian.
Priory is a Church school, not a faith school (like all Church of England schools) - this means that whilst the school's vision and values are distinctively Christian and underpin the daily work and strategic vision and direction of the school, children and adults who are part of their school family do not have to be Christian. Church schools welcome children of all faiths and none; worship at school is invitational and we are proud to be involved in the Christian life of the school. You can find out more about our mutual relationship as you read on.
Collective Worship
Shaun regularly leads worship at Priory. This is a real source of joy. The children and adults at Priory are able to hear Shaun share and unpick God's word with them in his relaxed, informal and approachable style. Shaun enjoys leading worship at school, though he does prefer it now that he is able to be there in person instead of meeting the school family via Zoom!
Open The Book
Open the book?
Open which book?
No, not that book!
THE Book! Book with a "big" B!
We, in partnership with our friends at Trentham Church, have an awesome team of Storytellers, who are registered with and trained by the Bible Society, to be part of a nationwide project called Open The Book. Open the Book simply opens the wonder of the Bible, the power and majesty of God's marvellous Word right in front of children's captivated eyes. We are incredibly proud that we have members of the congregation who are able to, not only give freely of their time, but who do this so very well. Find out more about the Bible Society's Open The Book project.
Foundation Governors
Being able to serve as a Foundation Governor for the school at the heart of our community is a role that not many are able to fulfil. Shaun and Patricia represent the Diocese of Lichfield as the Foundation Governors for Priory. Their work is valued by the Church family and, we hope, by the school family as well. Being a governor takes time and is a real commitment. We thank God for the work of all at Priory and, through our two Foundation Governors, we hear about the marvellous wealth of experiences that the children in our local parish primary school are able to explore. They work to ensure that the children and adults in the school community are able to flourish as a result of the school's distinctively Christian vision.
iSingPOP!
For a few years (running up to the pandemic), the Church PCC has helped to fund iSingPOP! with the school family at Priory in order to support colleagues at the school with the delivery of Collective Worship and "catchy" worship songs. iSingPOP is a singing, performing, and resourcing project that helps children and families engage in Collective Worship.
Gifts at Christmas
We gifted the book of this song to all in reception and Year 1 at Christmas 2020.
We gifted the book of 'The Promise and the Light' to all Year 5 and 6 children at Christmas 2021.
We have been in the fortunate financial position to be able to gift a Christmas book to two year groups in both 2020 and 2021 - we pray that we will be able to continue with this project. We gift a book about Christmas, knowing that there are 120 families who are then invited each year to share with each other about God himself coming to Earth and about the light that he brings in the darkness.
We thank God for the monetary gifts from members of our congregation which fund projects like this. We know that, for some children, this gift will be one of many, but we know how, for too many, this gift will be one of a couple that are from charitable sources.
Pray, Bake, Read
Pray. Bake. Read. It's a beautifully simple concept. And our church family can ALL be involved. This is an inclusive project for our church family which will has a great impact on the school family. Before the pandemic, this was embedded into life at St Matthias as one of the main ways that we offered support to our friends at Priory. We simply cannot wait to be able to revive this project in full - at the moment, only one third of the project is underway.
Pray we invite our whole church family to pray for Priory. Please lift the school family up in prayer as part of your regular conversations with God. We know that it can sometimes be difficult to know what to pray about - to help, there are some prayer points for you to consider here.
Bake we are so blessed to have so many exceptionally talented bakers amongst our congregation. We ask that every now and again - during our 'planned weeks', you gift some of your time during the day, or of an evening, from your busy schedules, in order to bake for the staff at the school - such a simple gift, but we all know how much a cake can bring a moment of joy in amongst the busyness of a day - just imagine it amongst the busyness of a school week!
Read this one is harder! Amongst our brothers and sisters in Christ, we have some who are truly gifted in engaging with children. Schools are often 'on the look out' for volunteer readers - adults (who will undergo all of the necessary safeguarding checks and training) who can give some time during a regular time slot in the week to read with children who would benefit from an adult to read with them. If you think this would suit you, please speak to one of our foundation governors in the first instance.
