Earlier this month, 16 headteachersnew to their roles in church schools in the Diocese attended a welcome day at thediocesan office.
During the day, the DiocesanEducation Team explained how they could support schools and the role of the Diocesan Board of Education(DBE). Among other topics, church school governance and land and buildings were discussed.Colleagues from St Marys CE VC Primary School in Kingswinford also attended,sharing best practice and presenting about how they live out their schoolsvision and values as a Church of England school.
Margaret James, Diocesan Director of Education (DDE), said: Leading a Church of England school is both a privilege and a significantresponsibility; it was valuable to spend a day focusing on training.
Training was followed by an afternoon tea and a service ofwelcome and blessing in the Great Hall, led by the Revd Ruth Walker. The new headteachers committedto ensuring:
- Everyone in their school isvalued and recognised as a uniquely gifted child of God;
- The school is rooted in aChristian vision, values, principles and beliefs;
- Worship and religious educationare central to the whole life and work of the school.
Most valuable was ending the day with our service ofwelcome and blessing, Margaret continued. The headteachers committed toenabling a Christian education in their schools, in the fullest sense of theterm.
A governor representative from each school attended theservice to support their headteacher in the Act of Anointing, where each headteacherreceived the sign of the cross on their hands in oil. Each headteacher alsoreceived the gift of a holding cross, to be used as they go forth in their newroles.
