This looks a really amazing piece of work - where do we get the details of how Jason used it? (not buying Youthwork enough, me) I think the idea of identity (in all the RE syllabuses of course) is a great one - working with this concept, faith becomes relevant to everyone, and 11-16s are spending their daily time thinking and acting out their answers to ‘who am I?’ questions. Jesus asked: ‘who do other people say that I am?’
In the run up to half term we ran a prayer room in one of the high schools I regularly work in in Leeds. We ran lessons for RE looking at prayer and spirituality and I was constantly overwelmed by the depth pupils were willing to share in front of a class of peers. Both staff and students commented on how much pupils had to deal with, having read their shared prayers. Their desire, a desperation even, for someone to be listening. I used the resources I found on schoolswork.co.uk with those in the 24-7 pack, which made the bringing together of activites much easier. God was in it all otherwise it just wouldn’t have happened, and I look forward to hearing the stories of answered prayer as I return to school this term. If you’re thinking of running a room, push some doors, talk to some people, visit a running prayer room in school, these guys at schoolswork and 24-7 are great support and there might even be someone doing the same local to you too!
What a great poem - James has summed up the feeling i know so well as somebody who has spent years doing Christian assemblies in both primary and secondary school…
“Well Done James”
Please don’t let your ink become dry as i am sure there are many more great odes in you that need to be put onto paper.
Rev Richard Pidgley
Discovery Church - Swindon
i work in a primary school as a TA, often there is conflict.
so my comment would be one aimed at children taking responsibility for their own actions-because it’s always someone elses fault.
“what could you do different towards someone that might prevent a falling out?”
“what good, kind or nice thing have you done today that has helped someone else?”
I never got a valentines card when I went to school. It didn’t bother me. I say its just harmless fun.
great encouragement in christian schools work. just shows how effective we can be without realising it !!!!
Sounds great. Nice one!
Amy your short course on assemblies was brilliant! My fav was the Russian doll assembly, its such a good idea
Thanks for letting us know Becky, sounds like a significant week for the school and makes all the prep you put in worthwhile! Look forward to hearing what happens from here!
I used this brilliant resource last year in the end of term services for several different year groups. I was able to use all of the resources (slightly adapted) and they provided a powerful and engaging framework for sharing the message of Easter. Thank you so much for producing this resource and the excellent value it represents. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this to anyone else.
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Does anyone know???????
I am doing some lessons in a school on some interesting subjects (genetic engineering and women) and would appreciate help! if anyone has any ideas, resources or lesson plans (maybe ideas they have used before?!) that would be great!
Assembly next week- any ideas!!
hi so yeah just got a txt from a collegue who’s been asked if we can do an assembly next week on pentecost…
Lent assembly tomorrow
Late last night I got an email from a head of year asking me to do an assembly tomorrow. This is fine, assemblies in this particular school are few and far between so I accepted gladly. In preparation for this, I took a cow’s tongue out of the freezer this morning (a normal object every schoolsworker should have in their freezer!) to use in my assembly. However, it only dawned on me this afternoon that it is in fact pancake day tomorrow. And, after all the excitement of the Lent Assembly (!), it hadn’t even occurred to me to use this assembly myself, until now.
Resources for mentoring, Any reccomendations?
Does anyone know of any good resource books or websites for activities to do when mentoring young people?
It’s Your Move
“It’s Your Move!” is a Scripture Union resource that has been used over the last few years to help those in year 6 and 7 make the transition from primary to secondary school. “It has been such a privilege to become involved in the schools in our area and this is a super way to support a large number of children as they go through a big life change”...
Lisa Simpson talks to Jesus
Read this yesterday on rejesus and thought it was kinda cool. I haven’t seen the ‘She of Little Faith’ episode, but Simpsons can work great in RE lessons. In a school I used to work in, the RE teacher would always play the episode where Bart loses his soul to every Year 7 when covering the module ‘who am I’, I could probably recite that episode off by heart! If you want to catch a specific Simpsons episdoe there’s a great site aptly called ‘Watch Simpsons Here’. So here’s the script for Lisa’s conversation with Jesus. Might work well as a discussion starter.
stop killing our children’s creativity!
It’s been reported today that there is too much of an emphasis in primary education on maths, English and science, and not enough given to music, arts and humanities. This is the biggest inquiry into primary education in 40 years looking at provision across the whole of England. Really interesting reading, I don’t have time to summarise, having a day off today and heading to a children’s holiday club (doh), but read the report on the BBC site.
give up, give out
Here’s what looks to be a cool blog to follow for Lent. It’s called give up, give out. Not sure if Lent will be a big thing for you in your schoolswork, but here’s an angle which might be useful for your students to engage with. (here’s the explanation from their blog) - ‘You provide for all you have made’ is a line from a song sung in churches all around the country. It reminds us that God has infinite resources and wants to give to his creation. We’re told this year is going to be one of the hardest economically in a long time. Anxiety levels increase as people consider how they are going to survive. But what would happen if we didn’t only sing about a mighty provider but lived out the world He imagines is possible? This blog is an attempt to stir our imaginations and give it up to God by giving out to the world.
Skaters for Christ?
Did you see this?
A different way of getting young people in church over half term.
Brit Awards Assembly
A few years ago while studying music in London I was lucky enough to get free tickets to be in the pit audience at the Brits. This is an opportunity music students in London get once a year when the email comes through that Brits tickets have arrived. The first few students to crawl out of bed, pick up the email and charge into the music department office get awarded with the free tickets. An annual tradition and one that looks probably quite similar to a Spanish bull stampede or the mass of students barging their way out of school for summer holidays! Anyway, I was just thinking back to this as I listened to the results of the Brits on my way home from work tonight. Scott Mills (or the bloke doing the news) was talking about Coldplay’s disappointing evening, not receiving any of their 4 nominated awards. However, what’s the best way to pick yourself up after losing at the Brits? The answer, obviously, is to run around the corner and assemble the world’s greatest supergroup..
