Warberry Church of England Academy aims to serve its community, within a Christian Vision, and to equip our children with the skills and attributes to flourish in life, in all its fullness. Our vision ‘Roots to grow, fruit to flourish’ is underpinned by John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit.” Our children will begin their journey as young seedlings growing from their roots and flourishing throughout the years like a tree bearing its fruit.
We believe that we are all created in the image of God and that we are able to open our hearts and allow ourselves to be transformed by him, leaving our positive imprints on others. We believe it is our privilege and duty to responsibly nurture and support our children, the community and ourselves so that together we stride forwards to make the community and world we live in a better place.
Our academy lives and breathes the Church of England’s vision of John 10:10, that every child will flourish and that they will achieve the very best they can, fulfilling their dreams and ambitions. It is a place where all are valued as individuals and as God’s children. The whole child matters to God and we invest time to nurture children’s intellectual developments as well as their many, other gifts.
At Warberry we aim to serve our local community by providing a high quality education in the context of Christian beliefs and practice. Our curriculum promotes Christian values throughout offering rich experiences and education for all our pupils. Our values are Respect, Resilience, Compassion, Honesty, Responsibility and Community.
St Mags Church in Union Street, Torquay, is now home to a superb art installation featuring more than 2,000 butterflies suspended from the ceiling.
The display is the culmination of work from local school children, care home residents and community organisations, celebrating the heritage of the Church.
“Reverend Sam Leach went up the tower at St Mags last summer as part of the Inspire Project, working with the National Lottery Heritage Fund, and this art installation is another community initiative to enrich local life,” said organiser Jo Leach.
“It is our last event in this phase of the project and Flight of Light specifically pays tribute to a beautiful stained glass rose window at St Mags, which was gifted to the Church by a man called William Wales in 1846.
“We’ve had around a thousand school children from the local area, including Ellacombe School, Ilsham, Warberry and Upton St James, who have all made butterflies based on the shape of the window.
“The project has also included local care homes, residential centres for adults with learning difficulties and community groups like Ladies Lounge, with around people helping to make the butterflies, which totals over 2,000.
“The butterflies are flying down from the Church ceiling and it took us a week to put it up. We had around 400 people visit last Saturday.”
When Reverend Leach climbed the Church Tower last summer for charity, it was a particularly impressive achievement for someone who has a fear of heights but his contribution this time was based more at ground level.
“Sam was in a cherry picker and enjoyed driving that a lot more than hanging the butterflies,” added Jo. “Every single butterfly needed a wire and silver clip, so we’ve had a big team of amazing volunteers from St Mags Church and the Torquay branch of the Christian Creative Network.
