101 (or more) Ideas. for developing and nurturing relationships between church and school communities Update

Transcription

1 101 (or more) Ideas for developing and nurturing relationships between church and school communities Update

2 Introduction Page 3 Church supporting school Page 4 In worship, faith & spirituality Page 4 Christian Unions Page 4 Christmas, Easter and other specials occasions Page 5 School visits to Church Page 6 School Services in Church Page 6 Church into School Page 7 Supporting RE Page 8 Recognise Mission Opportunities Page 8 Chaplaincy Page 9 Working together Page 9 Resources Share Page 9 Serving in Structures & Governance Page 9 In Collective Worship Page 10 Through Transitions Page 10 Takeover Challenge Page 11 Useful resources Page 11 Youth and Child Friendly Church Awards Page 12 2

3 The idea that churches and schools can and should work together for the benefit of children and young people is nothing new. In the changing world of schools and academies it is more important than ever that we find ways of working together to maintain the powerful connection between faith and learning which is central to the vision for church schools. The Way Ahead: Church of England Schools in the New Millennium (2001) emphasised the possibilities for developing and nurturing relationships between churches and schools and encouraged churches to be creative in this enterprise. This was further picked up in Going for Growth(2010); The potential for developing relationship, whether with church or community schools, is enormous through chaplaincy, activity clubs, religious education, serving on governing bodies and visits to the church itself. The continuing requirement for an act of daily worship in every school offers further possibilities for parish and school engagement. (p3) This resource offers parishes and schools a starting point for developing and nurturing relationships that will benefit the whole community. There are ideas, signposts to resources and a smattering of wisdom gleaned from schools and parishes! Here are some important points; Church and school links are stronger and live longer when they are not only reliant on the Head teacher and the clergy person. Nurturing church and school links is a two-way process. The majority of these ideas are appropriate for Primary and Secondary schools. Developing relationships is ultimately for the benefit and nurture of children and young people. In all situations ensure that everything is done within the school s safeguarding policy/protocol 3

4 In worship, faith & spirituality 1. Find out prayer needs of the school and support in prayer. 2. Gather a team who can create Prayer spaces in schools Offer Godly Play sessions in school. 4. Support the school in the use of liturgy in worship, church calendar, saints & special days and seasons Work with children so they can plan and lead worship 6. Find team to offer Open the Book Share worship songs & music. 8. Make the most of Education Sunday. Resources can be found at the Churches Together in England website. 9. Invite schools to take part in/lead special services, monthly services on a Sunday. 10. Prayer walks around the school grounds & local community by church members. 11. Set up a prayer walk around school & grounds to enable children to pray for their school and community. 12. Develop a group who will visit school and speak about their faith story 13. Help set up and run projects like Labyrinth Help meet the needs of the RE curriculum creatively and appropriately (see page 9 for more on this). Work with schools to develop an improving community approach to worship 15. Develop Eucharistic services for the school or staff Christian Unions 16. Offer a lunch time meeting for Christian children or young people. 17. Starting a Christian Union starting-a-christian-union 18. Youthwork ready-to-use meeting guides Urban Saints offer Energize. Great material across age groups from 3-18 energize.uk.net 4

5 Prayer Spaces in Schools "Prayer Spaces In Schools enable children and young people to explore faith and spirituality from a broadly Christian perspective in a safe, creative and interactive way. A range of flexible resources can be adapted to work for participants aged 5 to 18 bringing an experiential dimension to a variety of subject areas and to pastoral aspects of school life." The Prayer Room is a great opportunity for students to have an experience of prayer rather than solely learning about prayer in RE lessons. (Head teacher) Prayer Spaces in Schools is an initiative of 24-7 Prayer. Further information can be found at Christmas, Easter and other Special Occasions 20. Experience Christmas and Experience Easter Holy Family and Advent. Mystery of Easter and Faces of Easter. Godly Play stories 22. Barnabas RE Day Christmas, Easter or other themes Christingle There are many resources for offering Christingle themed services, assemblies and workshops in Church, after-school and youth clubs, primary and secondary school assemblies & classroom workshops and worship. Christingle is a key fund raiser for the Children s Society and an opportunity to talk with children & young people about a range of issues concerning their peers. Further Information at fundraising-and-appeals 24. Resources for other seasons can be found at youthandchildren/children/ 5

6 School visits to churches 25. Liaise with the school over exactly what the visit is intended to achieve 26. Unlock, open the door and turn on the lights and heating and have welcomers present. 27. Be hospitable & generous. 28. Show church as a living community; let pupils see the work of faith - prayer lists, charitable work, deanery/diocesan connections, community events, mission links - anything including the worldwide church will be especially helpful 29. Use symbols in your building to open up the mystery of God. Encourage wondering about God in the colours, light, icons, crosses and other features. 30. Use understandable and appropriate language. Beware of assuming knowledge, being churchy or patronising. 31. Use Crossing the Bridges materials developed by SACRE in Berkshire Give the children time and space to think, reflect or pray. 33. Make sure everyone can hear you use a microphone if it helps. 34. Give warm goodbyes. School Services in Church 35. Work with school on this as an act of worship rather than a performance or show and tell. 36. Communicate with school about role of clergy/church workers in leading, speaking and hosting services in church. 37. Include members of the congregation in welcome and worship. 38. Open early & offer refreshments to parents/ carers/supporters attending services while they wait for children to arrive from school. 39. Be aware of how the practicalities of the building will impact on children s ability to participate. For example, the time it takes getting in and out of pews, gathering at the front, sight lines behind pillars and so on. 40. Where possible ensure microphones and sound amplification equipment is available and properly used. 6

7 Church into School 41. Recognise opportunities for church members to serve 42. Seek opportunities to engage with community learning initiatives such as family literacy or parenting. 43. Offer resources for your school to access a Barnabas RE Day or visit to a places of worship 44. Include information about the school in church though notices, notice board, parish magazine 45. Do 44 about church in school 46. Offer to volunteer in schools speak with staff in the first instance. Some ideas for volunteering; 47. Help with Golden time activities. 48. Accompany groups on school trips. 49. Cheerlead at sports day. 50. Bake and take in cakes and offer prayer and support through times of Ofsted and SIAMS inspections. 51. Share a Bible story in book week. 52. Serve refreshments for those organising the school fete. 53. Be a lifeguard for school swimming. 54. Listen to readers. 55. Help school develop wild, spiritual or food gardens in their grounds or offer parts of church grounds/gardens for this Offer a lunchtime or after school club for any children. 58. Let school staff know about Alpha or other courses on offer at the church. 59. Supporting or coaching sports clubs. 60. Getting involved in mentoring young people. 61. Offer a Work Experience placement in church. An example of this by Trinity Learning in Abingdon can be found at Where appropriate, encourage church members to offer work experience at their businesses. 7

8 Supporting RE When working with RE always begin with a dialogue with the school about what their needs are. 62. REinspired REinspired is a Christian charity based in Reading working with 20 local churches, 11 primary schools and 2 secondary schools whose vision is to see churches fully engaged in supporting their local schools in religious education and the spiritual development of pupils. 63. Culham St Gabriel s Institute Energize from Urban Saints offers a wealth of material on a variety of topics Recognise Mission Opportunities. 65. Run a Holiday Club. A wide variety of material is available from amongst others BRF Barnabas and Scripture Union. A number of churches are often willing to share expertise and resources and we at the Diocese offer to pray for Holiday clubs, big & small, every year. Contact the Diocesan Children s Adviser about this yvonne.morris@oxford.anglican.org 66. Host activity mornings/afternoon/days for children and families. 67. Provide meals for those who normally receive free school dinners. 68. Run Messy Church or similar with or in school. 69. Offer afterschool clubs depending on the expertise you have available. For example, gardening, Bible stories, art & craft, dance, music, drama, sport/games. 70. Attend and help at grounds days. 71. Help with breakfast clubs including financial from the Church. 72. Sponsor a school sweater ask congregants to contribute towards the cost of an embroidered school jumper for families in need. 73. Offer appropriate Christian books, bible storybooks and suitable full bibles for school libraries. 74. Encouraging and supporting children and young people to attend Christian holidays or camps. 75. Enable teenage Christians to serve on holidays and camps as young leaders. 8

9 Resources Share 76. Share newsletters or magazines. 77. Share expertise across a range of topics, needs and age groups for example, ICT, gardening. 78. Share training in appropriate topics. 79. Share buildings, car parking. 80. Share time and cost of youth or children s worker. 81. Joint school and church choir. 82. Shared charitable and community projects. 83. Vicar and Head teacher book in some pastoral interaction time for each other. Serving in structures & Governance 84. Develop a locally agreed protocol to link school, congregation and PCC. 85. Include regular item on worship and church links in Head teacher reports to governors and in school improvement plans. 86. Include Church as part of the welcome/induction of a new Head teacher and their commissioning/affirmation service 87. School involved in clergy appointments. 88. School to be part of welcome for new incumbent. 89. Invite the Head-teacher or a governor to PCC to report on school and community issues. 90. PCC meetings include item on school links. 91. Fill Governor & Foundation Governor places. 92. Recognise and applaud governance as part of Christian service or vocation. 9

10 Collective Worship Church. 93. Lead engaging and creative collective worship regularly in school and church, for and with children and staff. 94. Gather a team who will regularly create and lead collective worship in school. 95. Ask school for feedback about collective worship in order to learn and improve. 96. Offer conversation and with staff on Anglican worship. 97. Use appropriate delivery techniques; be aware of language, themes, choosing stories, agenda/values of person delivering and how appropriate these are in whole School, Key Stage/year groups or Classroom settings. 98. Refer to idea 15 School 99. Ensure that visitors to collective worship are fully aware their role and how worship plays a part in the school community Communicate your needs, hopes and expectations to visiting speakers, listeners and storytellers Evaluate and feedback to visitors on collective worship or other contributions Pray for church through the annual cycle of seasons, events and specific local occurrences Help church workers make a year plan of when you would like them to come in for visits, assemblies, special occasions and when they could share information about their special events, services and clubs. Transitions Supporting children and parents through times of transition can be an important and valuable role that church members can offer help with. Scripture Union offer two resources; 104. Get Ready, Go! is a resource for children starting primary school. A version for parents is also available It s Your Move is for those moving from primary to secondary school. Both can be found at Help children transition from children to youth ministry Offer a group or event for parents to discuss issues and offer peer support through times of transition. 10

11 Use Takeover Challenge as an opportunity for children and young people to; 108. Plan and lead worship in church or school Be involved in a PCC or Governors Meeting Takeover specific roles for the day. Barnabas in Churches Barnabas in Schools Faith in Homes Godly Play Going for Growth National Society Schoolswork.co.uk Scripture Union Worship Workshop Diocese of Oxford School Pages Christian Values for Schools Side by Side with God in Everyday Life and Exploring God s Love in Everyday Life by Yvonne Morris both published by BRF 11

12 The 'Welcome' award is accessible to all churches in Oxford Diocese and examines how children and young people experience building, community and faith. The Welcome award acknowledges that not all churches are able to provide 'big' ministries but that small scale Sunday groups or family services are important and valuable in the life of the church community. The Good News Award builds on the Welcome Award and looks more fully at engagement and provision for children and young people. What this looks like will differ from place to place but the underlying principle of the Going for Growth report that asks churches to 'be good news for young people' is what matters. The awards are intentionally labelled 'family-friendly' because this language is most accessible to those outside the church. There is a self-assessment process which asks churches to examine the values, attitudes and behaviour of the whole church towards children and young people and to recognise the opportunities they have to improve and develop to be more welcoming and even better news. Help, support and advice are available from the Youth & Children's Advisers. More information from: youthandchildren/child-youth-friendly-church-awards/ 12