The Church of England Parish of Henfield, with Shermanbury and Woodmancote have close links with St. Peter’s Church of England Primary School in Henfield and really enjoy being part of school life.  In fact the school is central to our work in the community. The village school is a voluntary aided Church School and serves children and their families both in Henfield and the surrounding villages.   It’s a large school with 380 children from Reception to Year 6 in 14 classes. There has been a church school in Henfield since the boys school was opened in 1812.  The current building was opened as the infants school in 1957 and was extended to incorporate the juniors who arrived from the old junior school on Henfield Common in 1983.  Because St. Peter’s is a church school the Christian faith lies at the heart of its ethos, creating and nurturing a compassionate and secure family community. And community is very important at St.Peter’s who enjoy being part of such a vibrant village.

The teaching staff and governors endeavour  to help the children leave school with high quality skills and an unwavering belief and confidence in their own ability. In order to do this, all the work embarked upon at St Peters follows the core values of : Respectful, resourceful, resilient and always aiming high.

To contact St.Peter’s school or to apply for a place for your child please phone 01273 492447 or follow this link to their website:  https://stpetershenfield.org.uk/

The school admissions policy can be found by following this link: https://stpetershenfield.org.uk/admission-arrangements/

There are several ways in which the churches contribute to the life of the school, some of which are described below.

Collective Worship.

Most people call them assemblies, but whatever we call them the children attend collective worship every day.  The vicar and clergy go into school to lead worship every Tuesday, and both staff and children enjoy a short pause to reflect in the middle of a busy school day.  Several times a year the whole school attends worship at St. Peter’s Church, Henfield, where the children enjoy reading, leading prayers and acting out Bible stories.

Church Visits

The children regularly visit St. Peter’s Church in Henfield to discover all that happens in a church building. They learn about the stories in stained glass windows, and to find out why we do things the way we do. In the picture below the reception children are watching Rev’d Paul baptise one of the class dolls as they explore what it means to become part of the family of God’s Church.

Governors

As a Church school the Parochial Church council nominates to the Diocesan Board of Education,  people who it believes can offer skills which can help the Governing body run the school.  Church nominated Governors are called Foundation Governors and are usually also a member of one of our churches. The vicar is an ex-officio Governor and there are a further 7 Foundation Governor positions.   School Governors are people who want to make a positive contribution to children’s education and Governors are one of the largest volunteer forces in the country. They have an important part to play in helping to raising school standards. The role of the governing board is absolutely key to the effectiveness of a school and all our Governors, whether they are Foundation Governors or not,  see it as a privilege to contribute what they can in helping make St. Peter’s the great school that it is.