Mustard Seed Day
The Head teacher, SLT , Staff, Ethos Council and Governors have clearly identified the vision for our church school (linked to who are we, why are we here and how then do we live). Our vison underpins everything that we do and is promoted around school by our artwork which has been produced by our children and school Artist – Gillian Parish. Since 2018, we have annually hosted a ‘Mustard Seed Day’ whereby the children dress in yellow and reflect on our Vision and Values. In 2019, Bishop Mark opened Mustard Seed Day and toured the school meeting our Ethos Council, Earth Stewards, pupils, staff and Governors. Our staff and Governors then took part in an art/well- being twilight whereby they reflected on our Mustard Seed Vision and St.Peter’s. The artwork produced is now displayed in our staff room. Our Mustard Seed Vision is annually discussed and reviewed by all key stakeholders. Our Music Teacher has worked with our children to devise a Mustard Seed Song and this is performed at school events and during collective worship. Please see pictures of our Mustard Seed Day Reflections below. Our Ethos Council also had their article about the day published in the Diocesan Spring Newsletter.
In 2021, we were so pleased to welcome Bishop Mark, Reverend Farnworth and Karen Beal back to school for a special collective worship and tour. Pupils also worked with Hand 2 Mouth on a Mustard Seed Journey. We had such a lovely day exploring the parable of the mustard seed!
This year was a double celebration, as pupils and staff celebrated the school’s 50th Anniversary. The present school building was opened in 1972, however the school has a long history predating this. The school's trust deeds belong to St. Peter's Church, which first built the Welbeck Street School in 1835 and later Victoria Street School in 1871.
To mark the 50th Year Celebration, our school’s Ethos Council and Trinity Club led a special Collective Worship which was attended by pupils, staff, governors and Bishop Mark, the Bishop of Middleton.
During the worship, pupils reflected on our school’s past, present and future alongside school highlights including a visit from David Walliams in 2019; being named one of the best schools in the country for progress in 2014 and our recent OFSTED Good Grading from June 2022.
During worship, pupils also shared their interviews with some of our longest serving members of staff: Mr Derbyshire (30 years) Mrs Beddows (23 years), Mrs Crutchley (23 years), Mrs Walker (22 years) and Miss Bardsley (20 years). Miss Bardsley, also attended St.Peter’s as a pupil from 1982 – 1989.
One Ethos Member shared, “We wanted to say thank you to everyone who has helped to make St.Peter’s what it is today, all the staff, the children, the parents/carers, governors, the church and all of our community”
During Mustard Seed Day, pupils also took part in workshops led by the charity Hand 2 Mouth, linked to our school value of Respect. They made scrolls, bracelets and their own Salvadorian Crosses. Staff also took part in a reflective journey and Trinity Club buried their own time capsule.
We all enjoyed a special birthday cake and a balloon arch to mark this great occasion and milestone.
