A special relationship between a South Tyneside church and its local school has been recognised with a prestigious award.
All Saints Church in Cleadon, and Cleadon Church of England Academy have been jointly awarded the Diocese of Durham’s Growing Faith Foundation Partnership Award.
Growing Faith is a national Church of England movement that exists to put children, young people and families at the heart of mission and ministry. The award recognises the Academy’s efforts in developing partnerships between home, school and church for the benefit of children, their families and the wider community.
The award was celebrated at a special service held in All Saints, which was attended by Bishop Sarah and dozens of pupils from the Academy.
Gary Scott, headteacher at the Academy, said: “The school has been working closely with the Revd Vernon Cuthbert and All Saints over the past three years on a range of aspects.
“There are so many wonderful things that we do together including staff meetings, CPD, Bible groups and special events.
“The Growing Faith Award was developed by the Diocese to recognise the exceptional partnership work between the Church and local church schools. It’s relatively new and hasn't been given out to many schools so we are delighted to get it and also extremely pleased that the Bishop was able to present us with the award.”
The Revd Cuthbert added: “We’re thrilled that the great work All Saints does with the Academy has been recognised. Developing and nurturing the relationship with the school is a key priority for the church.
“Although the whole congregation is supportive of the relationship, we have a dedicated team of volunteers who regularly help with things like Bible groups at the school, or are here at the church to welcome pupils for special services we host on their behalf.”
Recent activities between the school and church have included a ‘peace dove’ exercise whereby every pupil at the Academy created peace doves which were then displayed in the church. A recent school carol service was held at the church, while earlier in the year, All Saints hosted a Year 5 Cross Curriculum Challenge Day.
Photo (from left to right): Paul Rickeard, CEO, Durham and Newcastle Diocesan Learning Trust; Gill Booth, Interim Director of Education for the Dioceses of Durham and Newcastle; Gary Scott, headteacher at Cleadon CofE Academy; Bishop Sarah; and the Revd Vernon Cuthbert.