03 January 2012

IN the run up to Christmas children at St Edburg’s CofE School in Bicester were treated to a prayer space with a difference.

The staff decided to set aside space and time during the busiest part of the term to mark the Advent themes of Prophets, the Holy Family, Shepherds and Wise Men. These were used as stations in a Prayer Space, where children could read questions and respond in a practical way. The space was opened to parents who could book a space to visit with their child or children. It was also opened in the evenings when churches were invited to ‘come and see.’

This initiated several conversations about how the school can share Prayer Spaces with church groups of all ages and opened up the possibility of inviting children from other schools.

Margaret Kunzer, Deputy Head said: “This interest was unexpected and exciting and is something that we are looking to explore over the next year.”

The school bought a four metre by six metre tent which will be used for future Prayer Spaces and was given a staff release of two teaching assistants for three days to set up the project and make all of the resources. The vicar was part of the planning team for the project.

Sarah, a pupil in Year Six said: “I really liked going to the prayer space because it was peaceful and you were using all your senses– even smell. My favourite part was listening to the music. I wish the prayer space could stay.”

William, from Year Four said: “I really liked the amazing lava lamp – I did a drawing of all the interesting things in the world.”

Margaret said the school has a lot to consider for its next prayer space. She said: “We are convinced about the need for children to have this spiritual time. We also felt that enclosing the space in a tent worked really well for us because it gave us a great sense of being somewhere else. It has made us think about sharing our resources with other church communities – the prayer space should be self explanatory and accessible for all ages. It was also important to make sure that none of the spaces imposed a response but that the invitation to respond could be made at any level of commitment or none.”

She added that the school is hoping to have four prayer spaces per academic year, in September, at Christmas, Easter and the end of the summer term.