Our Church and Community Links

St Paul's Church, Bentley Common

Our link with our local Church, St Paul's, Bentley Common is extremely important to us.  We regularly visit them and both host and participate in services to mark different festivals throughout the Church year.  

Many of our children and their families are members of the congregation at St Paul's and are very familiar with it.  Our children enjoy attending services at the church and are involved in the preparation and leading of services.  

The Vicar at St Paul's, The Reverend Julie Hardy is well known to the children, taking an active role in both the services in the church as well as leading Worship regularly in school.  She supports teachers with the planning and preparation of the services and supports them with the teaching of the curriculum when it is focused on Christianity.  

Reverend Julie has a presence around the school and often visits the children during other events.

In Year 6 our children are offered Confirmation.  Each year a number of our children make the decision to strengthen their involvement in the Anglican Church and are Confirmed at St Paul's Church.  

Our services include Eucharist Services and the whole congregation is invited to join us in Communion.  Those not confirmed are invited for a blessing.  

Brentwood Schools Christian Workers Trust

We have strong links with the Brentwood Schools Christian Workers Trust (BSCWT), an organisation within the local area who support schools with the teachings of the Bible.  We have half termly visits from two of their workers who lead worship, these sessions are based around stories from the Bible and are both interactive and engaging.  The children love these and invite the ladies to many events during the school year as guests of honour.  BSCWT also lead the children in a variety of workshops, these include Bible Explorer sessions and key workshops based around Easter and Christmas for specific classes.  

The Bible explorer workshops run over a 6 week period and lead the children through key events in both the Old and New Testaments.  They are presented with drama, re-enactments and animation to really bring them to life.  

Some of the workshops take place in school and others at St Paul's Church.  All of which are rich learning experiences for the children which develop their knowledge and understanding of the Christian faith.  

Around the Community

A number of our children attend other local churches and we have developed links with the Pastor of Trinity Church who has led worship with us.  

We have links with the Brentwood Food Bank and the School Council have met with members of the Food Bank and we make collections for them.

The Choir at Christmas

Each year our school choir is invited to sing at the Nine Lessons and Carols service at Navestock Church (one of the three churches in the Benefice).  this is an annual service and the children participate with enthusiasm and often read one of the lessons. 

They have also been invited to a special lunch at Mulberry House (a Christian Retreat Centre) to sing Carols for the guests.  

Special Events

Each year our Year 5 and 6 children attend St Paul's Church on Remembrance Day to Celebrate the lives of those lost in the World Wars.  They hold a small service outside and lay poppy wreaths on the graves of the fallen.  The children throughout the school take part in Remembrance Day, observing a minutes silence and making wreaths and displays to remember those who died in war.