Faith and Worship
Culford is a Methodist school and our identity as a Christian school is felt when pupils first join us. We value the whole child and nurture their sense of wonder at God’s creation and encourage them to value each other as part of that creation.
As Chaplain I visit the Nursery once a week and take a short act of worship. Most of the talks revolve around the antics of my scruffy, dysfunctional Patterdale terrier “Rupert”. He gets into all sorts of scrapes as he plays with his friends and these stories illustrate some simple pieces of Jesus’ teaching. We also hear from “Sylvester the Seagull” who it seems was present at most of Jesus’ miracles and reports them with his own unique interpretation. At festivals like Harvest, Christmas and Easter the Nursery joins the rest of the Pre-Prep in St Mary’s church for a service full of pupil participation.
I help children learn a spiritual vocabulary, some simple prayers and the simplest understanding of who God is. This helps them explore their own identity and see faith as a normal part of life. It’s kept very simple in that first year at Culford, but they mean it when they say “God bless Mummy, God bless Daddy, God bless my family”. Those first few prayers in a child’s life come from the heart, who can measure their worth?
Rev. Simon Battersby, School Chaplain