Wickford Church of England School shortlisted for award

Not only is The Wickford Church of England School rated an Outstanding School by Ofsted, but it is also on the shortlist of this year's Times Educational Supplement awards for Primary School of the Year.

Check out today's article in The Echo about the school being shortlisted for this prestigious award.

Miss Bristow, Head of School, says of the School:

"The school provides education for children from the ages of 2-7 in the local area. As a team, we aim to create a respectful, caring and secure place for children to explore, learn and be happy together. As a distinctively Christian school, spirituality is at the heart of all we do and we are supported in doing this by the close links we have with the Wickford and Runwell Parish."

Jon Severs, editor of Tes Magazine said: "Congratulations to all the shortlisted entries - the standard was so high this year despite the challenges schools face.

"It is critical we celebrate excellence and share it widely so we can ensure that the fantastic work happening in education is properly recognised."

Wickford Church of England School is part of The HEARTS Academy Trust, which was established in 2011 and is inspired by its values of happiness, self-esteem, achievement, respect & responsibility, truth, spirituality and service. The Trust was founded by The Wickford Church of England School, and also now includes Briscoe Primary School & Nursery, Waterman Primary School, Stambridge Primary School, Hilltop Junior School and Hilltop Infant School. In 2018 they were proud to open The Atrium, a specialist alternative provision for children with social and emotional needs.

HEARTS Academy Trust are also extremely proud to announce that their CEO, Mrs Debbie Rogan, has been selected as a finalist for The Pearson National Lifetime Achievement Award. This year saw exceptionally high-quality entries from educational settings across the UK with Debbie being highlighted as a strong candidate. The results will be announced on 19th June 2024.

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Water into Wine Band - Hill Climbing For Beginners.

Sharing experience of life with epilepsy

 

Very proud of our daughter Emma for sharing her story with Epilepsy Action and Essex Echo. Read Emma's story by clicking here.

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Joy Oladokun - Trying.

Press coverage of fundraising campaign

Our fundraising campaign for St Catherine's Church has been featured in the Billericay & Wickford Gazette and the Echo. See here for the Gazette coverage and here for the Echo's coverage. I also spoke on Sunday Breakfast with June Woolerton on BBC Radio Essex about the campaign last Sunday. To hear that interview, click here.

Urgent work is required to the Tower of St. Catherine’s Church Wickford as a result of ground movement caused by the long dry summer. This resulted in subsidence of the foundations in the North West corner of the church which caused a number of large cracks to appear in the walls and some stonework to fall. As a result, urgent safety and weather protection work costing £23,000 is required followed by the investigations needed to design a long-term solution to the problem.

A fundraising campaign to raise an initial £23,000 has been launched, but this is only the beginning of a much longer project to effectively underpin the church in order to prevent the regular recurrence of the issue. This first stage of the project will involve: removing or temporarily fixing loose stonework; undertaking temporary roof repairs and loose filling of walls for weather protection; removal of loose internal plasterwork; temporary covering of affected windows; and the reinstatement of the lightning conductor.

"Our churches are seeking to be at the heart of the community in Wickford but also need the support of the wider community in the town, particularly as we address the problems of subsidence at St Catherine's Church and the expense of maintaining this much-loved community building given the effects of significant climate change."

“Our recent consultation exercise in the Parish revealed that the churches in Wickford and Runwell are seen as contributing to the sense of community and are valued both for the support they bring to others and as centres for peace and prayer which provide a sense of Christian presence. Many local people have been baptised or married at St Catherine’s or have family members commemorated in the churchyard. For all these reasons, we believe many locally will want to support this campaign to ensure that this much-loved community building is repaired and secured for the future.”

Our fundraising campaign begins with a series of fundraising events involving Ladybirds Song Group, Rumatica Ukulele Group and a Quiz Night:

• Ladybirds Song Group: Saturday 21 January, 7.30 pm, St Andrew’s Church (11 London Road, Wickford SS12 0AN). The Ladybirds Song Group sing all over South Essex performing popular songs from the 1950s to the present. No tickets required. A retiring collection will be taken.
• Quiz Night: Saturday 4 February, 7.00 pm, 1st Runwell Scout Hall (Runwell Gardens SS11 7DW). £5.00 p/head. Tables of up to eight. Bring your own snacks & drinks (Tea and Coffee available). To book a table email StCatherinesQuiz@hotmail.com. Street parking in Church End Lane.
• Rumatica Ukulele Group: Saturday 11 March, 3.00 pm, St Catherine’s Church (120 Southend Road, Wickford SS11 8EB). A local band playing and singing a wide range of popular songs including rock, pop, country, swing, rock and roll. Enjoy a cream tea afterwards in the church hall.

Those wishing to contribute to this campaign, can send cheques made out to Wickford and Runwell Parochial Church Council to The Rectory, 120 Southend Road, Wickford SS11 8EB or phone 07803 562329 / email jonathan.evens@btinternet.com for the bank details to use for a bank transfer.

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Rumatica Ukelele Band - Sit Down.