Blessing the Peace Garden
It was a most idyllic autumnal setting. Nestled in the lea of the St. Peter & St. Clare Church, the leaves were golden, the school fields and Peace Garden illuminated by a low sun peeking through hazy cloud, and the children of The Dassett school together with volunteers, helpers, designer, parents and staff all gathered to hear Bishop Christopher formally open and bless our Peace Garden.
It was a real morning of celebration with hymns, prayer and an unexpected blessing for all!
The worship group had planned all of the details of the ceremony and did an absolutely amazing job - each child was involved in leading prayers or reading poems and then Jamie (Y4) invited the Bishop to bless the garden.
The blessing asked the children to give thanks and praise for the beauty of trees and sky, the sound of wind and water, the smell of flowers and cut grass, the peace that this garden brings, the buildings, grounds and facilities we will enjoy, the friendships we share and the fun we have here, the learning and growing we do together, the way our school is at the heart of our community, all our teachers, governors, support staff and parents and for all our children and the children responded at each with, ‘We give God thanks and praise’.
The garden was then blessed with water and blessing with water was then extended to all those present, much to the delight of children and parents alike!
Headteacher, Mrs Hine, thanked Bishop Christopher and said that today was very much a celebration of the ‘birth’ of the garden as it would take time to grow and establish itself but that in future years, long after the children there have left the school, it would still be a potent symbol and reminder of what the Dassett is truly about –the children, their relationships with each other, with the church and with God.
This garden was built at virtually no cost to the school, but was a combination of goodwill and generosity from many, many local companies and individuals. Our thanks must go to Cherie Lebbon for designing the garden, parents for clearing the ground, the team from Jaguar Landrover for both their financial support and physical labours, all of our local contributors for all of their kind donations including CW Knight for gravel and to David Austin Roses for their extremely kind donation of 9 ‘Tranquility’ shrub roses.
We would also like to give our heartfelt thanks to Bishop Christopher for giving us his time today and coming and blessing our garden – it meant so much to all the children and is, I’m sure , something they will remember forever. Bishop Christopher then enjoyed a school lunch with the children from the Worship group before he had to leave us. Videos from the day can be found in the Gallery. http://www.thedassettprimary.co.uk/the-blessing-of-the-peace-garden-5th-november-2014/
It was a wonderful day and we all feel blessed.
