Archbishop visits Bishop Rawstorne C of E Language College  

‘Remember remember the 5th November’. This was a date that students and staff at Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Language College in Croston, Lancashire would certainly not forget in a hurry.  As part of his trip to the Diocese of Blackburn the Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams, accompanied by the Bishop of Blackburn the Rt Rev Nicholas Reade made a visit to the College much to the great excitement of all concerned.

The Archbishop took time out to meet with the head teacher Alan Davies and his colleagues who head up the other Church of England Secondary Schools in the Diocese. A fluent speaker of several languages he was keen to observe some of the French, German and Spanish language lessons being taught in the MFL Department. Whilst at the College he also dedicated a new flagpole and commemorative plaque of his visit as part of the rededication of the College as it celebrates its 50 year anniversary, before finishing the day by partaking in afternoon tea with the staff.

Unsurprisingly the Lead Teacher of Religious Education, Tracy Swindells, who is also a Reader in the Church of England, was not going to let the opportunity for some of her students to question the ultimate visiting speaker pass by. Her Year 9 students had just completed a unit of work entitled ‘Is death the end?’ where they examined funeral rites from different religions including humanist funerals, considered whether life that ends in the coffin has meaning and purpose and explored what gives people courage in life and death. They were keen to find out Dr Williams’ views on the topics studied as well as questioning him about his role as Archbishop of Canterbury.  

The students asked several poignant questions including ‘how do you help family and friends mourn after the death of a loved one?’, ‘what’s your view on children attending funerals?’ and ‘how do you feel when leading a funeral?’. The reply that captivated them most was the one in response to the question ‘do you want to be cremated or buried when you die and why?’ Dr Williams surprised them by explaining that he would like a Christian burial but one that was green and environmentally friendly, perhaps in a wicker coffin in a woodland burial plot. They had expected him to say that he was going to be interred in Westminster Abbey with a big memorial or something similar so were quite taken aback with what they heard.
When they wanted to know how much pressure there was in being the Archbishop of Canterbury they were highly amused when he said ‘lots’ and advised them to ‘get a job as a plumber or something similar’.

This was an amazing example of how the themes explored in RE can be really brought to life through interacting with a visitor. When the students who are practising Anglicans were questioned about their reactions to the Archbishop’s visit they said that they felt ‘honoured and special to have had the opportunity to meet the leader of their Church’. Those with no particular faith said that ‘it was brilliant to meet someone so famous and be able to ask him questions about what they had been learning’. Many of the students had expected him to be quite formal and were really taken by the fact that he was so down to earth and able to talk to them at their level.    

It can be categorically stated that all of the students involved in the lesson had no problems in hitting the level 5 component of ‘asking questions about the lives of key religious people and the meaning and purpose of life’. In fact as the Archbishop left many of them were busy moving on to level 7 and evaluating his responses in light of what they had just learned in their unit of work. The lesson objectives were fully achieved by all and without pen touching paper too!

Tracy Swindells
Lead Teacher Bishop Rawstorne Church of England Language College, Croston, Lancashire.