My first year as Headteacher at Church Langton has had many highlights but on Thursday 9th May I was able to be part of a very special part of our school. Six children from our Year Six class had their Confirmation service at St John the Baptist Church in Billesdon. They were joined by others from the community and pupils from Billesdon Parochial Primary School for the service. Confirmation marks the point in the Christian journey at which someone affirms for themselves the faith into which they have been baptized and their intention to live a life of committed Christian. The service was led by Bishop Christopher, assistant Bishop of the Diocese of Leicester and involved our own School Chaplain, Reverend Alison Booker. Mrs Wilce, Mrs Denton and myself were able to be part of a large congregation, with many proud parents watching on.
Children from years four, five and six formed a choir with children from Billesdon and sang ‘Today’ and ‘As One’ beautifully. Each child received a gift from the Diocese and a candle which they held aloft at the end of the service. The ceremony had been preceded by Confirmation classes that have been led by Reverend Alison and Reverend Richard Curtis. This is the second year these classes have run and it has been great to see the enthusiasm of the pupils.
We are very proud to be an Aided Church of England School and I personally have been made to feel very welcome since joining the Diocese. We were delighted to welcome Canon Mary Lawson to school last month, who led our Collective Worship and met pupils and staff. The further development of our Christian ethos is something that we have been examining recently and in the next half term we are looking for to Reverend Alison joining each class as we look to identify a set of values that we will adopt as a school. This will be another way of strengthening our status as a Church of England School.