Bishop Richard Moth, the Bishop of Arundel and Brighton, visited Sacred Heart School on Tuesday 16th January. The visit was to help celebrate mass and bless the opening of the new Nursery and Foundation Stage classrooms at the school.
All of the children, teachers, governors and some parents and parishioners gathered in one of the new classrooms and the Bishop entered as the congregation were singing a hymn. Bishop Richard said that he was delighted to have been asked to attend and that it was a real honour.
Mass was celebrated and the servers were children from the school: Amalie, Hugh, Madeleine G and Madeleine T from Year 6. Mrs Gabriel, one of the teachers read from Isaiah and children from Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 said the bidding prayers. One member of the congregations said that the highlight for them was when the whole school joined the choir in singing The Lord is My Shepherd.
After Mass, the new building was blessed with Holy Water – Bishop Richard even sprinkled water over the congregation, much to the delight of the pupils.
The there was a short break when cake and coffee was served to the adults in the new building. The children were all offered a slice of the special cake that Mr Mitchley, a parent, had made especially for the occasion.
Once the cake had been enjoyed, the Bishop had a tour of the whole school. He visited every classroom, happily answering the questions everyone had. The children in Year 6 learnt about the symbolism of a Bishop’s clothing and heard about the crozier that he was borrowing while his own was being mended.
The whole event was a beautiful celebration and was enjoyed by all who attended. It was a day never to be forgotten. Hannah Y6
Thank you to Mr Mitchley who very kindly made the beautiful cake and thank you to Bishop Richard who found the time in his busy schedule to visit our school. He spent the morning with us visiting individual classrooms and answering the children’s questions. Please click here to see photos from his visit.