On Thursday 4th October, pupils, parents and their pets from Winterfold School, Chaddesley Corbett were invited to what proved to be an amazing celebration of the love of our pets.

On the feast of St Francis, the patron saint of animals, the School held a Pets’ Blessing which took place in the Secret Garden, an area reserved for special occasions in the School grounds.

It was the very first time that the Blessing had been held at the School and the weather was glorious.  It was a delight to see such an array of Winterfold pets arrive for the service.   They had everything from guinea pigs to mini tortoises and even a Persian blue cat named Pebbles was laid back enough to be unperturbed by the beautiful dogs present.

Amazingly, not an animal noise was heard, as Father Lamb, the School’s Chaplain read an extract from the Creation story and sprinkled holy water over them. The hymn All Things Bright and Beautiful followed and some of the children recited Bidding Prayers written on the theme of nature and animals.

Commenting on the service, Headmistress Denise Toms “As a School community, we joined together to celebrate the love of our pets.  The animals were all beautifully behaved and definitely seemed to have a sense of the occasion”.