Faith and Worship
Culford is a Methodist school and our identity as a Christian school is felt in all we do. We welcome children of all faiths, and of none. Boarding pupils may, of course, attend services according to their own faith where we can arrange it.
Culford values the whole child – mind, body and spirit and nurture their sense of wonder at God’s creation. We also encourage them to value each other as part of that creation. The Prep School has a theme of the week which is preached about in our services and used by tutors and teachers throughout the week. This way we share together the spiritual and moral education of our pupils.
Each child attends two formal services a week with a simple format of opening prayers, Bible reading, sermon prayers and a hymn. The services may be formal but the sermons have lots of pupil participation and we model an enthusiasm for spirituality. Faith is a dynamic relationship with God and, throughout the school year, we explore how that can affect a young person for the better. Then at festivals like Harvest, Christmas and Easter we have a service in St Mary’s church.
The top two years have a weekly Christian Union called “Pizza Pirates” in the Chaplaincy Centre. The Upper Thirds (Year 8) end their academic studies with a pilgrimage which sets their journey to senior school in the context of a journey of faith and personal development.
Giving a child a spiritual vocabulary is a great gift from a school. By learning how to talk to God and how to talk about their place in the world they add depth to their ideas of who they are. Modern life puts such pressure on our identity and knowing where we come from; it gives us a solid base for knowing who we are.
I take a particular interest in the welfare of boarders and I spend an evening on duty in Cadogan House once a week. Four times a term the pupils come to my house to watch a movie and feed more crisps to my dog than is good for him.
Rev. Simon Battersby, School Chaplain