Both the school and the parish are there to serve the community in which they are located. A school community extends beyond children and teachers reaching into the parish through households, extended family, support staff and premises staff who often live close to the school. Both school and church wish to see the adults and children in their local community living life in all its fullness. When school and church work together, they are better able to support the flourishing of adults and children in body, mind and spirit.
The materials on this page contain resources that could be used in partnerships with any school: church schools, community schools, and independent schools. These materials can be used with schools of any phase, from preschool to sixth-form college. However, schools and parishes will need to adapt these materials to suit their local context and the age of the pupils.
Resources to Support School and Church Partnerships
We have created these materials to support you as you plan and develop your joint work. They contain ideas and links to useful websites:
- Walking Together Through the School Year
- Planning Proforma
- The School and Church Partnerships Audit Tool
- Principles and Suggested Resources for Running a Lunchtime or After-School Christian Clubs
- Supporting RE in Primary Schools
- Top Tips for Leading a School Assembly
Walking Together Workshops
We run regular workshops for headteachers and incumbents to think and plan together. Information about these is on the diocesan training calendar.
Welcome to Our Community
Welcoming new children and adults to the school and church community using simple liturgy is a helpful way of linking school and church. We are creating a bank of materials for schools and churches to adapt to suit their own local context. We will add new liturgies as we write them.
Leaving Our Community
Saying goodbye to children and adults as they leave the school and church community is important.
We are creating a bank of simple liturgies for schools and churches to say farewell to adults as they leave the school or church. We will add new liturgies as we write them.
Growing Faith
Growing Faith is the movement that exists to put children, young people and families instinctively at the heart of all the mission and ministry of the Church by changing the culture of the Church of England.
There is a wealth of information on the Church of England website.
You can read about our research project “What makes for an effective church/school partnership in the role of supporting the spiritual development of children?” via the links below: