Over the years, we’ve heard so many stories about the decline in the number of children attending our churches. And it’s sadly true; fewer children are part of a church community. However, while they might now be in a variety of different places on a Sunday (the football field, the dance studio, a separated parent’s house or in front of an Xbox), there is one place where they are almost guaranteed to be for the rest of the week: school.
On the schools’ work page in the last issue, we heard from a head teacher, Martyn Skinner, on how best to make that first approach to schools (he recommends a low-key approach, introducing yourself and listening to the head teacher about the needs of the school). In this article, we’ve brought together some great schools’ work brains to talk about some of the things that you might offer that would be a great support and help to most primary schools.
As Martyn pointed out in the last issue, it might take a while for a head teacher to invite a new contact to help out in their school (after all, it takes a while to get to know people), however, there you can offer or get involved in a whole range of activities once you have a good relationship with your local primary school. What you get involved in depends on your skills and gifts, the resources you have available and how many volunteers can join you (if needed). Take a look through these ministries. What might you be able to offer?
Assemblies
These are perhaps the most common aspects of schools’ work, but they are sometimes tricky things to manage. The amount of Christian content and the way in which you talk about your faith needs to be handled with care. After all, when children come to church they are there (mostly) out of choice and you can freely talk about your faith. In schools, you don’t have that freedom.
Often assemblies are one of the first things offered to faith volunteers, as the commitment to collective worship can be tricky for a school to manage. There are hundreds of people already involved, and we’re going to bring you their wisdom over the next few issues on the schools page (and there’s a sample assembly on this issue’s school page). But if you’re starting out and have been offered an assembly slot to take, chat with the school to find out what expectations and guidelines they have. Be modest in your plans for the first few assemblies. Don’t go in with all guns blazing, make a huge mess and never get asked back! These can be the gateway to further involvement with schools, so treat them with care. The children (and the staff) in the school deserve the most appropriate and best you can give them.
School clubs
Cathy Benyon works in schools, Yorkshire, for Beverley Schools Christian Trust. She runs a programme of lunchtime Bible clubs in the area. ‘It’s an ideal thing for volunteers from churches to come and help with,’ says Cathy. ‘When I started, a school asked if I had any suggestions for a lunchtime club – maybe teach guitar – and I said: “Could I run a Bible club?” The club went well and a church heard about it and asked if I could come and help them set up a similar club in their local school. That’s how it began, really. It’s a partnership between the local school, the local church and me.’
Cathy’s programme of clubs now runs in nine schools, with more than 200 children attending per week. ‘We do a mixture of craft and games,’ she explains, ‘and the children who come choose to come.’ As local church volunteers get more involved, the relationship between school and church grows. ‘The club helps volunteers who want to help the school in some way, but aren’t sure how to go about it. Also, they’re able to invite children to events in the church because they have this relationship of trust with the school.’
As children from outside the church’s reach start to come along, Cathy relates that churches have to change what they offer on a Sunday. It challenges churches to think about what they do and why they do it. This can only help churches get better at all kinds of children’s work.
If you’re starting out and have been offered an assembly slot to take, chat with the school to find out what expectations and guidelines they have
Seasonal presentations
Doing seasonal presentations (usually at Easter and Christmas) for schools is a ministry many churches have become involved in. Wayne Dixon, a schools worker in Berkshire, has been part of a team delivering seasonal sessions for 20 years. ‘The children spend around 90 minutes inside a warm and welcoming church,’ Wayne explains. ‘The aim is to give a, positive and friendly welcome to pupils and staff, and to share the greatest gift ever given (Christmas) or the greatest event in history (Easter) in a fun, relevant and engaging way.’
Each presentation is different, depending on the resources available and the needs of the school, but generally children explore the Bible stories through a mixture of upfront presentation and group work. The upfront presentation is fastpaced, funny and might contain a mix of drama, storytelling, games and video clips. In smaller groups, children investigate the story in more detail through guided discovery, puzzles, quizzes and shorter periods of storytelling.
The schools benefit as the presentations help them fulfil part of their local RE curriculum in areas such as visiting places of worship and learning about Christianity. At the same time, churches can welcome children into their congregations, tell an amazing story and build relationships with local schools.
Transition ministry
Wayne Dixon often follows up seasonal ministry with activities to help year-six children make the move from primary to secondary school, and he’s not alone. Across the country, churches have been getting involved with school life by helping teachers around this tricky time.
Cathy Benyon also runs a transition ministry, using a bus to get around Beverley and the surrounding area. Her trust runs prayer space activities along the theme of change and transition. This is also the approach of Pippa Rossiter, a schools development worker in Blandford Forum, who ran prayer spaces in classrooms to help children to explore their thoughts and emotions around going to secondary schools.
Hundreds of churches are already involved in helping children move from primary to secondary school. It’s your move has proved a useful tool for churches. Covering a wide range of areas that children will face when they start secondary school, it’s a fun-packed book that many churches and schools’ work trusts have used as the basis for assemblies, lessons and even half or whole days.
Wayne leads two teams of young people from eight local churches, visiting 28 local primary schools. The young people in the team tell relevant stories of how they fared when moving schools and year-six children identify well with these team members. The team members also benefit greatly from being part of a team. The feedback from teachers is good. One said it was an excellent opportunity for the year sixes to share their thoughts and concerns in a safe environment, while another described it as ‘fun, friendly and very accessible for the year-six children’.
Bible programmes
There are a variety of programmes that help children engage with Bible stories and gain an appreciation of the whole story of the Bible. Programmes such as Bible Alive (run by Scripture Union Scotland), Bible Society’s ‘Open the Book’ and Bible Explorer are just three.
Wendy Swan oversees Open the Book assemblies in eight schools in north Wales. Teams of local volunteers (ranging in age from 18 to mid-70s) commit to supporting their local schools with the Open the Book material. ‘This volunteer structure helps build relationships between schools and churches,’ says Wendy. Open the Book is a simple retelling of the Bible, using the Bob Hartman Storyteller Bible as its starting point. Storytelling is often dramatised, using costumes, large props, puppets and sometimes the children too. The legacy has been great, with children experiencing Bible stories and remembering them well into secondary school.
‘Good relationships have been formed and children love participating in the assemblies,’ says Wendy. ‘It makes you a celebrity in your own town, as children recognise you in the shops and ask what the next assembly is!’
Being a governor
Wendy Swan is also the vice-chair of governors at a local primary school: ‘I was invited by the school to be a community governor, having been involved in the life of the school through RE lessons, Open the Book and other assemblies.’
According to the charity Governors for Schools, one in ten governor posts are unfilled, rising to one in four in rural areas. ‘Schools are often in need of people, particularly parent governors,’ Wendy adds. ‘You’re not involved in teaching, but you bring fresh eyes to the running of the school. You support and challenge. Schools need a wide range of skills and it’s often hard for them to access them.’
Lifepath
Lifepath is a ministry started by Scripture Union, and events happen in several locations across the country every year. Each Lifepath is based around the life of a famous local Christian (or group) and children explore their life, together with some local history and a time where they can reflect on the path their own life is taking. All this is done in a venue which relates to the character in question: a ruined abbey, a local church, a village green.
Spend time building the relationship with the school it’s some of the most valuable work you can do
Rachel Foster is a schools worker in Milton Keynes with Bridgebuilder Trust. She is part of a team that delivers Lifepath events on John Wesley and John Bunyon. ‘Lifepath is an excellent event for schools, because it’s so well organised and jam-packed full of different sorts of activities to engage everybody. The activities are divided into four streams: living, believing, exploring and learning,’ Rachel says. Schools benefit because the event helps children to learn about Christianity by learning about someone’s life. ‘It’s always done in an appropriate way, just as if it had been done in schools,’ explains Rachel. ‘But it makes RE and learning about Christianity much more fun. This experiential approach fosters a spirit of curiosity within children, helping them ask questions about faith.’
It takes more than one person or small group to run a Lifepath. It might be that individual churches can find a Lifepath near them to get involved with. ‘If you’re interested in starting a Lifepath, help with one first,’ Rachel advises. ‘Then, if there’s a personality in your area who would be suitable to look at, gather a good strong team to help put it all together. This year, we had over 1,000 children come to Elstow to learn about the life of John Bunyan. And most children will remember, some even after three or four years, and can tell you what they did and what everything meant, because they’d experienced it, rather than just been told to write it down.’ In addition to these ministries, you can be part of a school’s life by listening to children read, running a breakfast club, facilitating a visit to your church, providing chaplaincy-style support… there are lots of things to consider. But before you start any of these ministries, spend time building the relationship with the school. This might seem slow and feel frustrating at the start, but it’s some of the most valuable work you can do!
