We’re all finding new ways to do pretty much everything right now and it hasn’t gone unnoticed the sheer amount of work our Church of England Schools are doing around the diocese to keep in contact with their children and community.
From the seriousness of school work, to the madcap and creative to the spirituality of collective worship, schools are pulling out all the stops to keep their pupils positive during this period.
You’ll find it hard to scroll through social media at the minute and not see something a primary school child has been up to. Painting rainbows for the NHS, baking cakes to make people smile, planting vegetables in the garden, completing challenges to design games and write stories – the list is endless.
A significant part of school-life is collective worship. Keeping our young people and their families connected with God during these uncertain times has never been more important.
With Easter taking on a fresh face this year our clergy and church families, who would usually have popped into schools for assemblies and celebrations, have been getting creative with videos and online activities instead. Like the children, they’re missing that connection and the results have been impressive.
We’ve included a few links. We think they’ll make you smile.
The first is a video by Reverend David Payne for the community of Bottesford Church of England School.
We spoke to Reverend David who had great fun at home with his family making the film. “I think it is important to try and retain contact with school communities where we can,” he explains. “We've asked a lot of our schools since the whole Covid-19 outbreak began, and it's important that churches share in the sense of discontinuity, loss and uncertainty that they've experienced. We have built up a very strong relationship with Bottesford Primary, and I want that partnership to be more valuable than ever right now.”
Reverend David says he was nervous about the video. “The essence of our relationship with the school is that we try to be open, honest and positive about our faith, and the video was, I hope, reflective of that,” he explains. “The reaction has been surprising, very positive and humbling, but I'm hoping I don't have to do anything like it again!”
In the Harborough Benefice, Reverend Alison Booker led in creating various videos and resources for use by the church schools she supports in Billesdon, Church Langton, Hallaton and Tugby. These went up on the Diocese of Leicester Board of Education website, so all schools could access them.
And over in Shepshed, Loughborough, the staff of St Botolph’s Church of England Primary School recently shared a video they’d cleverly put together of themselves dancing at home to lift the spirits of their children and families.
There really is so much happening ‘virtually’ in schools around the diocese! We also recognise that some schools may still be open, caring for children of keyworkers.
So let’s find a moment to pray, as a diocese, for all of our church schools - for the children, the teachers, the cooks, cleaners and caretakers, and everyone who make them the caring, safe and successful learning establishments they are. We see you, we hear you, and we thank God for you.