Anglican Cathedral gives Year 6 a special send off

By Anna Godsman, Gateacre School, Year 12

Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral welcomed over 2,500 Year 6 pupils for their Diocesan School Leavers’ Services over three days from 23 – 25 June.

Created to help commemorate the children’s time in school, the services are a credit to the community spirit the city is built on.

However, this is not only a time to celebrate the special milestone, as ‘Bringing the Bible Alive’ was the theme for 2014’s services with the church being keen to express its hopes of reviving the importance of the Bible for all churches, schools and communities.

Bishop Richard Blackburn has recently issued a challenge to the Anglican Cathedral’s Diocese for this year, to bring the Bible back to life, so restoration of the scripture was a prevalent idea.

Monday’s service was led by Bishop Blackburn, accompanied by a choir made up of pupils from St Oswald’s, Netherton.

Bishop Cyril Ashton headed Tuesday’s celebrations, and a joint choir consisting of Arnot St Mary’s and Childwall primary schools sang while Wednesday’s leavers’ service saw Dean Pete Wilcox lead, with the school choir from St James’ providing the music.

This gave many children from the city a chance to show off their talents and have their parents gushing with pride.

A number of schools also took part in workshops at the Cathedral, including drama performances. Bishop Blackburn highlighted the importance of the days by stating that “these services and workshops mark the occasion in a special way’.

Looking ahead to the new chapter of starting secondary school was a major feature of the occasion, with the transition being described as often “daunting or traumatic for young people”.

Jon Richardson, director of education for the Diocese of Liverpool said: “Schools really look forward to these services. It is extremely important to give our young people an opportunity to reflect on their life at primary school, and encourage them to look forward with optimism to the new challenges and experiences awaiting them.”

The three days of services provided a sentimental reflection over the years of primary education that has come to an end for many young people, yet offered a celebration of not only the countless possibilities these children have as they move on to the big world of secondary school, but reaffirmed the churches future as an important part of our community.