Ashley Nichols sees parents as playing a pivotal role in helping schools provide appropriate space and time for children and young people to consider the Christian faith.
School looms large in the mind of all Christian parents. Not only is it important from a general educational perspective, but there are also always the questions: when it comes to religion and especially the Christian faith, what are youth and children learning at school? Is it supportive? Or is it undermining what they are learning at home and church? And if it isn’t supportive why not? And crucially, what can be done about it?
What’s happening on the ground?
Legally speaking, all community schools are meant to have a daily act of collective worship that is ‘wholly or mainly of a broadly Christian character’ and it’s encouraging to see, from my experience in the Diocese of London, Church of England schools are, more than ever, doubling down on their ambition to be distinctively Christian. But, speaking more widely, the reality seems to be that it largely depends on the staff at a school as to how this guidance is followed. It’s not that there is necessarily an anti-Christian agenda, but for many schools, preparing thoughtful assemblies is not a priority and the idea of leading an act of worship can be out of the comfort zone of the staff team. Thus, assemblies have often become about recognising pupil achievement, learning from ‘heroes’ or people in the news, or sometimes simply a forum for giving announcements to the children. In some schools, there has been a deliberate choice to minimise Christian input in order to reflect the makeup of their community, particularly if they receive complaints from parents. Schools can be granted permission to do this by writing to the local educational authority. According to an article on a popular website used by schools, since 2018, 70 schools across the country have officially opted out.
However, the doors of schools are still very much open to having Christians from the community come in to visit and it is often parents or local church members who can really make a difference in bringing Jesus into local schools. In many ways, it is up to us as Christians in our local communities to use these opportunities well.
The crucial role parents can play
The charity I work for visits more than 40 Primary Schools in North London to lead assemblies, RE lessons and clubs, and in our case, it’s a 50/50 split between CofE schools and ‘non-faith’ Primary schools. In many instances, it was either parents, or church members who are teachers, who played a part in making a connection with these schools. Typically, headteachers are so overwhelmed with work, or school offices so flooded with emails, that a local church or charity ‘cold-calling’ a school doesn’t always get a response. In my experience, a more personal approach is much more likely to succeed.
Her prayerfulness, and persistence in offering teachers support with teaching Christianity, opened a door to take Jesus into that school.
Most recently, I had a parent get in touch with me saying that they had been praying for opportunities in their children’s secular school for years; she was consistently responding keenly to teacher’s requests to “let us know if your family celebrate any religious or cultural festivals that you’d like to share” and offering to visit her children’s classes to share a little about Christmas and Easter, but was finding progress slow and feeling discouraged at times. She was struck when she first visited her children’s classes to read the Christmas story, that it was only her own children in each class of 30, who had ever heard of the Bible. Since connecting with our charity, as well as consistently building good relationships with several teachers at the school over a number of years, she now runs a weekly lunch club at the school (a bit like a Christian Union but open to all children). Together with a team member from our charity, she has this regular opportunity to teach her children’s friends about Jesus in a safe and fun environment, with Bible stories, games, crafts and discussion. We’ve also since had opportunities to collaboratively lead workshops on baptism and parables at the school in the last few months, as well as to lead Christmas and Easter assemblies. Her prayerfulness, and persistence in offering teachers support with teaching Christianity, opened a door to take Jesus into that school, and, combining that with the growing positive reputation of our charity amongst local headteachers, has developed those opportunities further.
This isn’t an isolated case either. I could name other parents who similarly are invited into non-faith schools at ‘times of special celebration’ for Christians to go in and share. For parents who lack the confidence to speak in front of others, being able to reach out to a minister or youth or children’s worker from a local church, or a local Christian schools work organisation, has enabled them to feel equipped to do this.
Much of what our charity does was thanks to a mum many years ago who had a passion to reach her children’s school. She started as a volunteer, then joined the staff, then became the chair of trustees for a number of years.
The school’s perspective
Seeing things from the schools’ point of view, they need reassurance that the people they invite in are going to be reliable in speaking in a way that is appropriate to the school environment. This means being respectful to the diverse range of backgrounds and experiences that the children will be from and not forcing children to share the Christian point of view, but rather, inviting them to hear what our beliefs as Christians are and how they inspire us and change how we live. The school will also be looking for people to be able to communicate well with children, pitching it at a suitable level in an engaging way.
Inviting an unknown minister from a local church can feel like a risk to them. Ministers are not always experienced in talking to children or working in a school environment. But parents are known to the teachers. They are there at the school gate to easily speak to and parents generally know how to speak to children and what their children enjoy. Children and their peers also enjoy hearing from those they already know, and it can make these learning experiences far more meaningful than bringing in a complete outsider to share something so personal.
Teachers usually welcome recommendations from parents or other staff because many of them feel out of their depth when it comes to teaching religious education, and don’t know where the best place to look for Christian speakers is.
So…
If you’ve been praying for your children’s school, look for opportunities, particularly as we approach Easter, to ask the school if they will be doing anything to teach about or celebrate Easter and if you could be helpful in coming in to share the story, or recommending someone who would be able to share about it. Who knows where it will lead – for some child, that conversation might lead to them hearing about Jesus for the very first time.
