Events

At St Nicholas we have many celebrations and events which reflect and embody our overt Christian character.

Many of them follow the Anglican calendar and others are key events where the children and adults reflect on aspects of their life and identity, their place in our community or society or ways in which they can affect others’ lives. Below is just a flavour of what we have done this year so far.

Church Service Dates 2025-26

Parents are invited to: all year group services, Harvest, Christingle, Easter and Yr 6 Leaver’s service as well as Sunday services which will start at 10:30.

Choir should attend the Sunday services too.

Confirmation November 2025

On Wednesday 19th November, St Nicholas Primary Academy celebrated the baptising and confirming of a group of 22 children and 2 adults in the church with Bishop Rose. It was a truly special event, with the church bursting with the candidates’ family and friends and the rest of Years 5 and 6. Deciding to be for confirmed and for many of the children getting baptized as well is a big decision and one that they think hard about. Worship is central to what we do in school and is an important part of the children’s spiritual development. All of the candidates are asked to write to Bishop Rose and explain what has made them decide to take this next step in their faith.

‘I have chosen to get confirmed so I can be closer to God. I have faith in God and I respect and love Him. I think this is very important because God will be with me forever. I feel like if I get confirmed, I will always have His trust and love. In worship, part of my heart stands strong and soars for God and I really focus in on that feeling and how it makes me feel. This is one of the easiest decisions I’ve ever had to make; it’s just the right thing for me. Knowing God, I feel safe and I will always try to grow my belief even bigger and stronger. I can’t wait to be able to take communion and for God to have an even bigger part in my life.’- Beau

‘I had journeyed with this amazing group as we prepared for their baptism and confirmation and had seen them grow in confidence and faith. The honest and sometimes difficult questions had been asked, and not always answered but that’s what faith is, and now I stood with Bishop Rose as she laid hands on each one of them and anointed them with oil. It was a truly moving experience for all.

Reading their statements about why they were being baptised and confirmed allowed me to see how St Nicholas is more than just a church school, it is truly a Christian Community in every sense, nurturing faith and discipleship, experiencing spiritualty, putting together and delivering creative worship all woven into the fabric of daily school life. All this brought 24 people to express their faith and commit their lives to Christ.’ Reverend Chris

All the children involved were very excited by the day and have enjoyed telling children at school just how special the occasion was. After the service, all the children and the parents were invited to a celebratory tea party in the church.

‘When I arrived at the church, I was a little bit nervous but so happy as I knew it was going to make me feel closer to God and become part of His family. I liked the part where Bishop Rose splashed us and the whole congregation after the baptism. She made the mark of the cross on our heads and prayed for all of us. Taking communion for the first time was such a special moment and one that I won’t forget. It made me feel really happy and I know that my parents were proud of me for making this decision because it’s not something that they have done.’

A couple of weeks later, we had our Advent Eucharist service in school and this was the first time for most of the children that they had been able to take communion at school and show their faith to everyone. We now have nearly 50 children and adults who are able to take Holy Communion as a part of these school services. It was a beautiful service with some of the children learning how to be a server and writing their own prayers of Intercession. For Year 3, it was the first time they had experienced this and so many of them were thrilled to have received a blessing from Rev Chris – a truly special time in our Christmas celebrations.

Confirmation February 2025

On Tuesday, 4th February 2025, we celebrated a joyous occasion as 18 pupils were confirmed by Bishop Rose Hudson-Wilkin at St Nicholas Church. This was the third year of confirmations held at the church, with over 60 children and adults being presented before Bishop Rose during that time.

The confirmation service was a significant milestone in the faith journeys of the young pupils. “It was a true delight to see the joy shared by the candidates as they affirmed their faith with Bishop Rose and their families,” said Christopher Dale, Headteacher of St Nicholas CE Primary Academy.

During the service, Bishop Rose spoke of her hope for the future, saying, “I look forward to a time when we have priests and Bishops come forward from these candidates.” Confirmation can be an important part of a lifetime journey of faith as a follower of Jesus Christ, and it was evident that the event held great meaning for the school community.

Children chose to get confirmed for a variety of reasons. One child explained that ‘Because of worship in this wonderful school, I decided to take this amazing opportunity to take confirmation classes and be confirmed. The classes were great and I have no doubts that this is what I want to do. I would like to be even closer to God in my life and it is an honour to do this and to know that Jesus and God will be at my side no matter what happens.’

Another said that, ‘I want to be baptised because I want my sins to be washed away and then I want to be confirmed because I want to feel even closer to God. I know God wants me to be the very best person that I can be and when I am a part of His family, He will be able to guide me to do that. I have been thinking about this since last year’s confirmation and I am ready to do it now.’

After having been confirmed, one said, ‘It was such a special occasion and I’m really pleased I shared it with my family. I feel really content and full of joy knowing God is with me.’

At school the following week, we held a belated Candlemas Eucharist and all our newly confirmed children were able to take Holy Communion alongside the children who made their confirmation last year. Other children are able to receive a blessing if they wish. As one of our Year 4 children said, ‘You can really feel God in our school on special days like this. I like it.’

We continue to be committed to providing a nurturing and supportive environment where pupils can thrive academically and spiritually. The confirmation ceremony is just one example of the school’s dedication to fostering the faith and personal growth of its pupils.

Harvest Festival

What an amazing Harvest Festival we had this year. At a time when so many of our families are struggling with the cost of living crisis, the huge amount of donations that we received was deeply touching and demonstrated what a wonderful caring community we are a part of. Children led a beautiful service with some carefully chosen readings and amazing prayers. Every year group performed a Harvest related song, or poem, or showed some artwork or even did some drama. It was lovely. Over 700 people were in the church, which was full to bursting point and not even an audience of this size was enough to make the new reception children nervous as they sang their hearts out to a new song that they had learnt and then taught it to the whole school! All the food collected will be going to the Rainbow Centre, the Community Hub and local families in need.

Ash Wednesday

On Ash Wednesday, children in Years 5 and 6 attended a service at church where they learnt about repentance and could get ashed to show the start of Lent. All the children wrote private prayers to say sorry to God, which were then burnt.

Whilst the children were at church, some worship leaders wrote a worship for children in KS1 where they explained about the significance of being ashed and the importance of saying sorry. They used charcoal to demonstrate what it would look like.

Candlemas at St Nicholas CE Primary Academy

We were lucky enough to have our first Eucharist service in school this term using the beautiful communion set which had been bought for us by the church. It was a beautiful service led by Reverend Chris and Reverend Jacky. It meant that the children who had been confirmed recently were able to receive communion in school for the first time with Lehel learning how to be a server. The rest of Key Stage 2 were able to choose to receive a blessing. It was a deeply moving and spiritual occasion when all the candles were lit and the school was silent in prayer. We are already planning our next Eucharist service in school. Later in the year, we are hoping to run more confirmation classes for children who want to confirm their belief in God.

Celebrating St Nicholas

The school choir were invited to sing in a special service held at Canterbury Cathedral again this year. It was a beautiful event and the children all sang fabulously. We also had a special service in the church, where, as tradition dictates, a child Bishop was ordained for the day. Children from Year 3, made a St Nicholas wall hanging which they presented to the church, to join the Advent one made by Year 4. When the children returned to school, St Nicholas had visited and left a chocolate coin in everyone’s stocking – children and staff alike!

Light Up New Romney Parade

As part of the Light Up New Romney celebrations this year, Year 4 was supported by members of the organisational team to make a giant lighthouse complete with waves and beams of light to walk through the town. The children loved the art sessions which were held at school and most of them took part in the parade and then went on the meet in the church where they had been invited to sing for the community. Being a coastal school, the significance of the lighthouse is important and is also the children’s favourite song.

The lighthouse, will now be a focal point in the school for reflection and prayer because as the children said, ‘ a lighthouse keeps people safe, and God is our lighthouse looking over us. Having it in school also reminds us of the special times we spend with our community.’

As a part of the celebrations, children from the school also won the KS1 and KS2 Mayor’s Christmas card competition and got 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the prayer writing competition.

Confirmation November 2022

For the first time, we had a group of children from Year 6 take part in confirmation. The children had taken classes during their lunchtimes once a week for a term and then were confirmed by Bishop Rose on Saturday 5th November and took their first Holy Communion. They were joined by the school choir on their special occasion. Some of the children were also baptised as part of the same event.

Children decided to take this step for a variety of reasons. One child said, ‘I have decided to be confirmed and join the church because I am Christian and I believe in God and follow him. Coming to this school, has inspired me to be a Christian. I will always remember the Ash Wednesday service at school where I got to ash Reverend Chris. Attending church and worship has changed my life. I really enjoyed the confirmation classes we did.’

Whilst another said, ‘I have been a worship leader at school now for a couple of years. With other leaders, we plan and deliver worship every week to the younger children in the school. My role has made me explore more about my relationship with God and Jesus and I know that I am a Christian so after attending classes with Reverend Chris, I decided to get confirmed and I’m looking forward to it.’

It was a decision that none of the children took lightly. ‘I have decided to be baptised and confirmed because it means that you become a part of God’s family. I became inspired by attending worship every day at school and then going to a Corpus Christi service at school. I have attended classes and thought hard about it and now I am ready to confirm my belief in God. I know my family will be proud of me.’

On the day itself, many of the children were nervous but ended up really enjoying the occasion.

‘On Saturday I was very nervous to go to church to be baptised and confirmed even though I had done the classes with Reverend Chris and I knew I wanted to do it. Once the service started, I became less nervous and enjoyed it; I would totally recommend it. At the end, we got a cross and a candle to take home to remind us of our special day. The best part was taking communion for the first time and knowing that I am now a part of God’s family.’

‘On Saturday I was confirmed. It was such a special day and I had been looking forward to it for a long time. I enjoyed it all but I liked taking the communion because it meant that I was at one with God. Bishop Rose put oil on my head and put her hands on me and prayed. I will remember this day for a long time. My favourite bit though was holding the candles together at the end. It was like God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit were with us all. ‘

A tea party was held at school for all the children involved and their families. We will be having our first Eucharist service in school early next year using a beautiful communion set bought for us by the church.

Harvest 2022

Despite everyone struggling with the cost of living crisis, our families have never been more generous and we were able to support and help many of our families before sending the extra donations to the Community Hub. Children from our nurture group made Harvest wall hanging which they presented during the service.

Education Sunday

On Sunday 25th September, children from St Nicholas’ CE Primary Academy supported Rev Chris in leading worship to celebrate Education Sunday. Forty children and their families joined the congregation to think about this year’s theme: ‘You are not lost.’

We used this as an opportunity to think about and pray for everyone involved in education but especially all of the schools on the Marsh. We heard readings from Luke 15: 1-10 about the Lost Sheep, which is one of the stories that supports our school value of perseverance, and the story of the Lost Coin. We know that we are never lost to God and that he will never turn his back on us. Our younger children led the singing including singing Wonderful Lord which was accompanied with British Sign Language.

A highlight of the service for many of the children was being able to watch the renewal of wedding vows. One of the choir said, “Being able to be a part of their special day was really amazing. I felt like we were singing just for them. I did think it was funny when Reverend Chris said that they had been married for longer than he’d been alive!’

We wrote our own prayers.

God of love and life,
On this Education Sunday, we pray for every member of our community, both close to home and globally, who are returning to school this month after the summer holidays.
We pray for their places of education to be overflowing with love, kindness, creativity, inspiration and opportunity for all.
We pray for your peace to fill the classrooms, the dining halls, the playgrounds, and the hearts and minds of those who are worried about returning to school.
We pray that you will equip the teachers and teaching assistants with the tools they need to help the children in their care to fulfil their potential both academically and to grow spiritually knowing they are loved by you. We pray for the parents and grandparents as they support their children through their education and into adulthood.

Lord, in your mercy ………. Hear our prayer

We remember that some children get lost in education because of the challenges they face but as Mr Dale reminded us, they are the ones who need our love and support the most and that we must not give up on them in the same way that the shepherd did not give up on his lost sheep.