·is a conscientious pastor, teacher and communicator, able to challenge and inspire people at different stages of their Christian journey
·is able to meet the challenge of increasing the involvement of children and young families in the life of the church, whilst developing the spirituality, skills and expectations of older people
·is a leader – able to motivate/empower others and delegate!
·is a good listener
·can enable change
·can encourage/understand our needs
·is enthusiastic/energetic
·is experienced with children/schools/young people
·is sympathetic to rural community/village life
·is looking for a long term commitment
·has a sense of humour
“TO UNIFY US IN CHRIST FOR ACTION IN THE COMMUNITY”
To build community -- within the congregation and
-- within the village
by -- providing a richer/more varied range of worship and
-- reaching out into the community and building relationships
PARISH OVERVIEW
Bottesford is the largest village in the benefice with over 3,500 residents and two schools. BelvoirHigh School has a catchment area, which covers the Vale villages and there is a large C of E primary school with 215 children on roll.
In addition to established links with the schools, young people are an important part of our ministry and outreach, which includes the weekly ‘Little Angels’ pram club, the fortnightly ‘Youf’ for 11-to-14 year olds, our Sunday School, the local Teamwork club and our monthly family service.
The church maintains close links with the young peoples’ uniformed organisations in the village, with scouts, guides, cubs, brownies and rainbows invited to participate in appropriate services.
St Mary’s has a long-established RSCM-affiliated robed adult choir which supports morning worship and is always open towards more modern music, when appropriate. Choral Evensong is set once per month. Our Organist/Choirmaster is experienced in traditional and more contemporary forms of worship. A dedicated team of bell-ringers rings for Sunday services.
We have a small pastoral visiting team who visit the sick and housebound, a weekly study group, monthly prayer meetings and a Mother’s Union.
We are a Fairtrade church with a permanent shop, which is open after services.
Through CTiB (Churches Together in Bottesford), we meet with the Methodist and Baptist churches in the village for prayer and worship during the year. Our ‘prayer warriors’ maintain contact across the benefice by email for focussed and concerted prayer. Following a successful Youth Alpha in 2008, CTiB has run Alpha for adults through autumn 2009.
ThePCC has drawn up the following analysis of St Mary’s:-
STRENGTHS
Work with children and families
Strong links with C of E Primary School
Good choir, organist, bell ringers
Mix of loyal traditional worshippers and young families
Beautiful ancient building which attracts many visitors – in good order
Small pastoral visiting team
Gifted, committed individuals
Financially sound but aware there will be challenges to meet in the future
Good ecumenical links
WEAKNESSES
Worship not flexible or very child-friendly
Communications need improving – both ways (from congregation to PCC; out into community
Shortage of ‘doers’ – and we don’t always encourage involvement
No church hall
Some apprehension towards change
Need more teaching/nurturing/outreach
Ageing congregation
OPPORTUNITIES
Becoming more of a community church
New links with BelvoirHigh School
Working through uniformed organisations
Occasional offices (baptisms, weddings, funerals)
Opportunities to develop richer forms of worship
Outreach into new housing estates
Opportunity to work with newly appointed Team Vicar
THREATS
Competition from secular activities
Competition from other churches outside Bottesford (e.g. Vineyard in Nottingham etc.)
Burnout of key individuals
BelvoirHigh School
Age range 11-19 with a 6th Form partnership
Projected NOR: 650
Belvoir
High School has an excellent reputation and was 50% oversubscribed in 2009. In June 2008 it was graded as ‘Outstanding’ by Ofsted and inspectors wrote of our pupils, ‘Pupils’ behaviour is exemplary in lessons and around the school’. As part of the re-organisation of education in the Melton and Vale of Belvoir Partnership we have moved from a 10-14 middle school to an 11-19 secondary school. A £6.5 million building programme has recently been completed, and we have been awarded Specialist Science status.
RE is delivered within a Humanities department which comprises an established, supportive and successful team of three full time teachers who are all subject specialists and who deliver all of the KS3 and KS4 Geography, History and RE lessons between them. All Humanities classrooms are large and modern with interactive whiteboards in every room. The Humanities subjects are engaging and popular with pupils and the majority of our first cohort of Year 10 pupils chose either Geography or History in their options last year. The WJEC RE short course is compulsory for all Year 10 pupils and next year there is the option of studying for a full course GCSE in Philosophy and Ethics to be taught over Years 10 and 11. It is clear that Belvoir pupils are learning a great deal in RE and are covering topics that are both academically challenging and satisfying as well as being relevant to everyday life. It is this practical application, coupled with a rigorous and stimulating RE curriculum. that means that RE will continue to thrive here at Belvoir now and on into the future.
Bottesford Church of England Primary School is a vibrant lively school, keen to improve and to challenge. There is a particularly strong positive ethos that is explicit in all aspects of school life. We are a school of high hopes aiming always to live out our mission statement to be “Aspiring and Achieving All Together.” This is done within our context as a Church of England school, where we aim to demonstrate Christian values within an environment of love and respect. Positive attitudes and values are promoted and developing appropriate relationships is an important part of our school.
The school is set in a rural village, and is the catchment school for all children in a four mile radius. There are 215 on roll currently (December 2009) aged 4 – 11 years of age. We enjoy strong links with local churches and our surrounding community. We celebrate many school highlights including termly church services, taking part in local events such as the Gala May Day, Scarecrow festival and hosting children from
Belarus annually for four weeks. We have also achieved a number of national accreditations including:
1.2nd International ECO-Schools Green Flag award 2009
2.5th Active Mark 2009
3.International Schools Award Intermediate Level 2009
4.Healthy Schools’ Standard 2008
5.FMSiS (Financial Management Standards in Schools) 2008
6.3rd Investors in People 2007
7.3rd Basic Skills Quality Mark 2007
We have been particularly fortunate, over the years, in having very supportive church rectors who have forged strong links with pupils, staff and parents alike through their committed involvement in our school’s governing body as well as in our Collective Worship and RE.
The school and church are also mutually proactive in developing community links on a local scale and with more diverse communities in
Leicester and beyond and we are excited at the potential opportunities such links may generate in the future.
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