School News
Revd Steve Gold was at St Gabriel’s CofE Academy last week for collective worship with the pupils. Every week he meets with the whole school for a short act of worship. Last week’s visit was a little different to the norm, with Steve providing a late Ash Wednesday ashing to those children who wanted to take part. He ashed around 200 children – nearly half the school!
SIAMS News
Congratulations to staff and governors at the following schools who had their SIAMS inspections recently. They were both found to be living up to their foundation as a Church school, enabling pupils and adults to flourish.
You can read the reports here:
Wolston St Margaret’s CofE Primary
DBE News – Office Move
The DBE team have now moved offices to:
Wolston Priory, Priory Road, Wolston, Coventry CV8 3FX
Our telephone numbers and emails addresses will all remain the same but please bear with us next week if our responses are slower than normal.
Free Clearance Items from the DBE Office in Rugby
We have cleared our cupboards of resources, books, stationary and other sundry items that are available free of charge for schools and churches that can put them to good use. Do feel free to come and look and take whatever you like after 1pm on Friday 20 March – there is parking on site.
iSingPOP – what is available FREE for your school as part of the Diocesan Partnership
Many of our Church Schools and their parish churches are now seeing the benefit of having iSingPOP come in and work with your pupils…
There are three offers available FREE for this last year of the partnership:
Bespoke Main Event – 3 days teaching in your school with a professional live production/concert on day 4 (ideally in your local church) to involve families and the community.
POP Box Training with the NEW Belonging Box (Summer Term)
iSingPOP are piloting a new resource called The Belonging Box. The Belonging Box can be used as a follow on from the Difference course for schools, or as a stand-alone resource in school or Sunday school. Each session has been designed to give opportunities of pupil voice and creativity and the elements of each session have the windows mirrors doors framework in mind.
Emma Kenyon will come in to train 8-12 KS2 pupils over 3 weeks on how they might lead collective worship, using any of the 3 resources you decide. Availability is from the week commencing the 18 May onwards.
Joy Seekers Workshop (Mental Health and Wellbeing)
A whole school workshop day where the children will learn 2 catchy songs, have a prayer activity and celebrate at the end of the day with an assembly.
Any of these iSingPOP activities are available FREE until the end of 2026 for CofE schools in Coventry Diocese so do make the most of this opportunity.
Contact Emma Kenyon to discuss needs, availability and booking. If you have any specific requirements (e.g. to fit around a specific school celebration or event, do talk to Emma to see what she can do to tailor some of the songs/content).
For the full Headlines newsletter contact joanne.evans@coventrydbe.org
On 11 February All Saints CofE Primary, Coventry held a Spirituality Day based on the theme of Love. Creative and reflective activities were organised both in school and at the church, with older children being tasked with supporting younger children through the activities. The day culminated with a whole school collective worship in church led by Revd Pam Howell to reflect on God’s love. The school reported that “it was a special day for our whole school community.”
MAT Members, CEOs, Chairs and DBE Board Members met on Tuesday at Ashorne Hill Conference Centre for a day focussed on collaboration and vision. Bishop Sophie led the morning and started the day with a communion service where she preached passionately in honour of Holocaust Memorial Day. She spoke about her current work in developing the vision for the diocese, her visits to schools and MAT visions. In addition, she interviewed April Gold, asking questions about DBE vision and strategy. The afternoon was spent hearing a short summary from each CEO about their MAT and its work, followed by discussions about collaborative working and how this might meet some of the challenges across the education sector. The day was hugely positive and attendees were keen to pursue further collegiate conversations after the government white paper is issued.
Prior to the dinner, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson spoke warmly about the Church of England’s long‑standing contribution to national education, praising the commitment, community role and leadership of its schools and trusts. She highlighted the strength of the partnership between Church and state, recognising the impact of Church of England schools in serving more than a million children and acting as “calm and hopeful anchors” within their communities. 
Just a reminder that the DBE have three collections of books that you can borrow for your school. They accompany the 
