The Giving of Bibles to school leavers has been a feature of Church Schools for hundreds of years.
Indeed, the Lord Philip Wharton Charity was founded in 1696 with the objective of presenting school children, who met certain conditions, with a Bible to guide them through their spiritual life and the organisation is still actively distributing Bibles over three hundred years later.
And this tradition, known to have first started in the village in 1839, has continued at Berkswell Church of England School to the present day. It is believed that around five thousand Bibles have been given to pupils over the 185 years that this important and meaningful event has been taking place
The whole school gathered in St John Baptist Church in mid-July for their end of term service and awards ceremony and to bid farewell to Year-6 pupils who were leaving to start their secondary education in September.
The Bibles are funded and presented by Berkswell Charities, one of whose objectives is ‘the advancement of education of pupils in the principles of the Church of England (including social and physical training) through the provision of items, services, facilities and special benefits of any kind not required to be provided by the Local Authority for the benefit of the School and its pupils’.
The Bible presentation was carried out by Andrew Yates, the newly appointed Chairman of the Charities and he commented afterwards that he found it a very uplifting experience.
“It was wonderful to see so many happy and involved young people taking part in the service and to hear the whole school enthusiastically singing the hymns chosen by the pupils themselves,” he said.
He added: “As a charitable organisation, we don’t always get the opportunity to see at first hand where our donations are made but to be able to hand the Year-6 girls and boys their Bibles and see the pleasure they expressed when they received them, was a delight to me.
“The Charities have supported Education in the village for hundreds of years and with so many pressures on school funding we’re pleased to be making the difference in Berkswell.
“Even in the last three years we have donated tens of thousands of pounds to the school for essential building maintenance and equipment,” he said.
Kevin Milward, Chairman of the School Governors thanked Andrew and the Trustees for their support during the year.
At the end of the service, each Year-6 leaver, standing in front of and supported by a parent or guardian, was individually blessed by the Rector of Berkswell Church, the Reverend Dr Canon Mark Bratton, to help them meet the challenges that lie ahead in the next stage of their education.