The new Bishop of Winchester has officially taken up office with a special ceremony this weekend to which we were honoured to be invited to be part of. St Mary's was one of just 9, out of over 90, schools in the Diocese to be invited 

The Rt Rev Philip Mounstephen was announced as the new bishop in July 2023, and officially started in January.

Bishop Philip will serve as the 98th Bishop of Winchester Diocese, which covers 255 parishes across most of Hampshire, parts of Dorset, the Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands.

His service of welcome was held at Winchester Cathedral on Saturday, January 13.  The last time the city saw such a service was more than a decade ago, in 2012, when the Reverend Canon Dr Tim Dakin became the 97th bishop.  The service on Saturday began at the ancient church of St Lawrence in the city centre, where he made oaths and declarations.   He was then met in The Square by the mayor of Winchester, Angela Clear, plus the headteacher and a pupil representative from The Bishop of Winchester Academy in Bournemouth.

With other Bishops of Hampshire, they walked to Winchester Cathedral, where Bishop Philip followed tradition by knocking on the West Door.

Mrs Lillywhite was joined at the service by Paul Skinner, our longest serving Foundation Governor, and 3 Year 6 pupils who represented the school amazingly. It was a wonderful service to be part of, and it was lovely to see so many traditions undertaken in such a beautiful building. 

Please see our photo gallery for pictures from this special occasion.