Page 30 - Oxted Local November 2024

30 November 2024
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Oxted Local 
01883 708 166 www.oxtedlocal.co.uk www.facebook.com/oxtedlocalmagazine www.instagram.com/oxtedlocal
In the last
academic
year the head
teacher of
St. Mary’s
Primary
School -
Mrs Lewis,
handed in her
resignation
to take effect
from July
2025. This
gave the
Governors
plenty of time
to consider
what would
be the requirements for a new executive head who would be taking on
headship duties for the partnership of St. Mary’s School and Limpsfield
Infant School.
The post was advertised in July and in October interviews took place.
After a rigorous two days of interviews the Governors were pleased to
announce that Mr Timothy Samuel had agreed to accept the offer of
Executive Headship of the partnership, starting in September 2025.
Mr Samuel is currently executive headteacher of two schools in a
similar partnership agreement to St. Mary’s and Limpsfield and has held
leadership positions in the education sector for over 15 years as well as
being involved in a variety of other roles in education. He demonstrated
a clear understanding of the values of the two schools and their Christian
ethos, showing that he will maintain the Christian distinctiveness of both
schools.
Eco Church: At its meeting in May the Parochial Church Council (PCC)
agreed that St. Mary’s Church should work towards becoming an active
Eco church following a programme run by A Rocha UK with whom it
registered. This organisation is part of the international A Rocha family
which is a network of Christian organisations present in over 20 countries
in six continents. It is open to churches of all sizes and all denominations
and is run in partnership with Christian Aid.
The Eco church scheme run by A Rocha equips churches to care for
God’s creation in a wide variety of ways. By completing an online survey
churches can be considered for an Eco Church award at Bronze, Silver or
Gold level.
There are five areas in which a church must demonstrate environmental
engagement in order to receive an award. These are worship and
teaching, the management of church buildings, the management
of church land, community and global engagement and individual
lifestyles.
Following the PCC’s decision an Eco champion for St. Mary’s was
appointed and a small team of people with different skills and
experiences covering the different areas of church life volunteered to be
part of the Eco church team. A self- evaluation survey was undertaken
to see how St. Mary’s could satisfy
the requirements for an award.
Although there is a long way to
go before St. Mary’s satisfies these
requirements a start has been
made in several spheres.
One of the first special initiatives
was undertaken by the children and
teachers of Junior Church who on
June 9th took part in the Churches
Count of Nature 2024 where
species of plant and nature in the
churchyard were counted.
In the following days from June
10th until June 14th St. Mary’s took
part in The Great Big Green Week
when a series of talks from experts
on such things as bees, swifts and
life in the oceans was laid on.
One of the Eco team made a
survey of all the places in the local
community where a wide variety of
items can be recycled. In addition
recycling boxes were placed in the
church building and in the Parish
Office for paper, plastic and glass
and a food recycling box was
placed in the St. Mary’s Space.
Even before the idea of becoming
an Eco church was agreed St.
Mary’s had been fulfilling some of
the requirements. It took part in
No Mow May when the grass in
several parts of the churchyard was
left to grow, encouraging wildlife
such as butterflies and moths. It
also has a flock of sheep who graze
the grass in a fenced off area in
the main churchyard and in two
fenced off areas in the churchyard
extension. These are hardy Soay
sheep whose wool does not have
to be sheared so on occasions they
look very untidy. They are a popular
attraction for young children and
an invaluable asset in keeping
the grass in the graveyards under
control
Further initiatives will follow.
More details are available from
the Parish Office on 01883
714263 or by email: stmaryoxted.
stpetertandridge@gmail.com