Children with instruments and a gospel choir are due to mark the arrival of the Archbishop of York, the Most Revd and Rt Hon Dr John Sentamu when he visits three Nottinghamshire Church of England schools this week on Thursday, 3rd April 2008.

Archbishop Sentamu will be greeted by pupils playing unusual instruments when he begins the day at Nottingham Emmanuel School at 9.30am. The visit will include a tour of the new building – with hard hats compulsory - followed by a question and answer session with pupils. The students are particularly keen to hear more about his reasons for cutting up his clerical collar on television.

From here the Archbishop will go to Nottingham Bluecoat School at 10.45am where he will be met by students from the school’s Gospel Choir and he will unveil a plaque on the new school building, following by a dedication of the new chapel.

The final school visit will be at The Minster School, in Southwell, where the Archbishop will have lunch at 12.30pm. The Minster School is one of the oldest continuous educational foundations in England, tracing its origins back to the establishment of Southwell Minster 900 years ago. The archbishop will take part in a blessing service for the chapel in the new school. He will also hear about the school’s link with a school in Uganda – the Archbishop’s birthplace.
 
Following lunch the Archbishop will join representatives from all three schools in a service of celebration at Southwell Minster at 2pm.


PHOTO OPPORTUNITY: There will be an opportunity for a photo of the Archbishop with some of the pupils immediately before the service outside Minster’s Great Hall at 1.45pm on Thursday, 3rd April 2008.

 
Director of Education for the Diocese of Southwell & Nottingham, the Revd Dr Howard Worsley said: “This is an exciting year for three of our church secondary schools as they mark different stages in new building projects – one still underway and others very much open for business. We are pleased that our Church Schools are at the forefront of best practice in terms of architecture and project management, but we note that our distinctiveness remains in our reliance on God, 'Unless the Lord builds the house, those who labour will labour in vain.' This will be the theme of the Archbishop's visit to us."

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