Our Church
St Mary’s Church has formed the centre of our village community for over 1000 years. In the early 1800s local philanthropist William Lambe donated forever a sum of £5 to establish a Sunday School. Its purpose was to instruct the poor children of the village to learn and repeat the principle of the Christian Faith. In 1845 the Lambe Trust was set up and still exits to this day, it not only built the school but ensured as long as there were children to be educated in the village it would remain open at no cost to the community. Here at St Mary’s CE Primary School we continue to have strong links to the church we share our name with.
St Mary’s is a Church of England primary school and is a member of the Herefordshire Diocesan Education Trust, together with all other Anglican Schools within the Herefordshire diocese. This provides us with additional support where necessary.
Our school vision encompasses everything that we believe in at St Mary’s that all children should be treated “as unique children of God, wonderfully made, dearly loved and precious” PSALM 139. Our mission statement ‘living, loving and learning together’ is founded in the Christian values of faith, hope and love. This underpins daily life at our school creating an environment that welcomes all regardless of faith, background, culture or need.
Our strong links with our Church mean we enjoy many special services throughout the year. Parents, carers and community members are always welcomed and encouraged to come and enjoy these services with us. Our incumbent vicar is Reverend Matthew Burns. Our reverend regularly supports the spiritual life of our school through collective worship during assemblies and our children are given the time to reflect during these. We encourage our children to respect each other, to act with kindness and compassion, and to aspire as part of our values and beliefs.
“Worship is a strength of the school. Church leaders, pupils and staff enjoy worshipping together, sharing Bible stories to help them apply the teachings of Jesus through their life choices. The passionate Christian witness of school and Church leaders brings them together as a praising community, through the strong links which exist.”
SIAMS Report, 2019