Partnership with St Stephen’s Church

Banks St Stephen's CE SIAMS Report

Church Links

We have close links with the beautiful St Stephen's Church situated down the road from the school. We have a programme of joint activities and have many formal and informal links. Rev'd Rebecca Clarke visits the school regularly and participates in whole school worship alongside our Worship Group. Rev'd Rebecca is a hands-on school governor and a close member of our school community. She provides pastoral support to the staff and is a member of the Staff Wellbeing Committee. She is also the Chair of the Curriculum Committee! Our other Foundation Governors are Mr Tom Cropper (who has been Chair for many years and most recently Vice Chair). The recently-dug school pond is named Cropper's Pond in recognition of Mr Cropper's enormous and ongoing contribution to school life. Miss Anne Wallbank is a new Foundation Governor, who also takes a great interest in the school and visits regularly. For more information about the Governors' Christian Vision, click the Vision and Values tab and Governing Body tab.

Foundation Governors Church Links

Our Worship Group 2021-2022. They organised and led worship all year - we will miss them. We have plenty of volunteers for this popular and prestigious role for 2022-23.

Worship Group

In July 2022 our Leavers' Service was emotional but the Class of 22 are more than ready for the next step on life's journey. They shared reminiscences, songs, readings and poems with the younger children, Y6 parents and governors, who were blown away by their confidence and achievements. We are all so proud of our leavers, knowing that they had been given wings to fly. Credit for this lies not only with the school but with the whole community, who have supported them all the way.

Leavers' End of Year Service at St Stephen's

It was fun to visit the Church in December for our Christmas service. Bottom left photo, at the front, you can see Mrs Owen, Mrs Mussell and Mr Richardson, our senior leadership team. After this Christmas service, Year 4 had the idea that instead of the teachers buying small gifts for the children, the teachers could make a donation to the food bank. The children then extended this idea by bringing in gifts themselves from home, which they took to the Food Bank at the end of the Christmas service. We thought it was a great idea and this new tradition has continued.

Christmas in Church

Below are some photographs of the Harvest Service. Due to the strong agricultural heritage of the area, the displays are impressive and we all loved it! We even had our own window. After the service Y4 delivered our school's contributions to the food bank.

Harvest

Class of 22 Leavers' Service at Liverpool Cathedral

Y6 visited the magnificent Liverpool Cathedral for the annual diocesan leavers' service. In recent years, the service has been online due to Covid, so it was great to be back there face to face. In the morning, we took part in a variety of workshops and activities and the service was in the afternoon.

Cathedral Leavers Service

Sunday School (Young Adventurers) and Family Services

Mrs Yardley (who is a member of staff in school) runs the Sunday School. For more information about this please contact Mrs Yardley at school or church. Mrs Yardley is also a Reader at St Stephen's. Rev'd Rebecca (school governor), Miss Anne Wallbank (school governor and Reader) and Mrs Yardley liaise closely with the school to organise regular family services in St Stephen's Church.

Church Magazine

Our Y6 children love to contribute to the Parish Magazine, which is compiled by Mr Kenneth Wallbank. Our current chief reporter is Wesley. The Church magazine is available from the school office for 80p and subscriptions are also available. Please ring the school office if you want a copy. If you want an annual subscription, please email kenneth.churchfarm@gmail.com and he will put you in touch with the local distributor. Here is Wesley's January 2022 contribution.

It is a new year at Banks St Stephen's and we are feeling better than ever! We feel like 2022 will be a great year!

First we have to start with what happened over Christmas time but before that, us at Banks St Stephen's wish you and your family and friends had a Merry Christmas! 

Now to tell you what happened. So first we went to BSS (Banks St Stephen's) Church to sing some carols that we learned and after that Year 4 and Year 5 stood up with their brass instruments and they played some great music. Then it was the Year 6 Brass Band's turn and they played Jingle Bells. 

Next we had an amazing Christmas Party. We played loads of fun games and every class enjoyed it. We had the time of our lives! The party lights really did set the scene perfectly. We danced, we pranced, we jiggled and we wiggled and to end it off we did the macarena! 

Lastly we moved the performance at the Church to the playground! The parents really enjoyed our performance and we were very proud of ourselves and we were just as good or maybe even better that what we were at the Church.That is how you know that there is still always more room for improvement and we'll get better and better as time goes on.

That is not the end of what happens here at Banks St Stephen's. 2022 will have way more to bring, so we hope it brings more for you too. Just remember we wish you the best year for the new year. Welcome to 2022 at Banks St Stephen's!

Wesley Bridge Year 6

Church Magazine Reporter

Remembrance Day Ceremony 

Remembrance Day at St Stephen's. Year 6 organised a ceremony, assisted by Mr Bill Abram of Banks Brass Band and Rev'd Rebecca. In 2021 we invited the children of Banks Methodist to join us.

Remembrance

Forest Cross and Prayer Ribbons

Rev'd Rebecca performed a ceremony of blessing on our forest cross (kindly made by a local carpenter) and our prayer ribbons, which children, parents and members of the community tied to our school fences and the cross.

Cross and Prayer Ribbons

 

Please look at our school Facebook page for more pictures/videos of Church events.

BSS School Facebook Page