On 7th October 2014 Woodchurch High School had its Official Opening Ceremony to mark Woodchurch High School as a Church of England Academy. We were also pleased to welcome pupils from Woodchurch C of E Primary School as they sang a song ‘Everywhere around me’ for us to help in our reflections and we hope to have them back at other formal assemblies.

The service centred around the value of belonging to the Church of England family of schools. We were pleased to welcome a large number of guests to the ceremony. The Bishop of Birkenhead, the Rt Rev’d Keith Sinclair represented the Diocese of Chester, sharing with us the importance of us being light in our community and world. The Archdeacon of Chester, the Ven Michael Gilbertson, read a letter sent from Chester Diocesan Director of Education and then both Rev Graeme Skinner and Mrs Helen Mason (members of the schools chaplaincy team) shared with us how we are a beacon of Christ’s love to each other and the world in which we serve. We were also pleased to welcome Revd Nzua from the Aru Diocese in Congo who shared with us the contrasts he could see with our school and the schools of the children he works with in the Congo.

We were also fortunate to be visited by the Mayor of Wirral, Cllr Steve Foulkes, who spoke about the importance of getting involved in our community. Our Chair of Governors, Cllr Tony Smith shared with us the history of Woodchurch High School and our journey of becoming a full Church of England school. The Head, Ms Rebekah Phillips, also spoke of the importance of this stage of our school’s life and Mr Timothy Shelton, Social Enterprise Coordinator spoke about our community action work with regards to the Archbishop of York Young Leaders Award.

Pupils read Bible Readings, shared their appreciation of the ceremony and our worship group performed ‘Ten Thousand Reasons’, a Trio sang ‘Lead me Lord’ and the Choir led all of the congregation in the hymn ‘One more step’.

This reflective service was an excellent opportunity for our pupils to think about what makes Woodchurch High School: A Church of England Academy unique and how our Christian values impact them and will help them in their lives to come.