Schools and Education
Current Projects, Events and Resources for Schools
Pathways to Prayer - collects for schools and parishes
Prayers are not always easy to understand.
How were they made?
Why were they made?
This collection is a tool for working with prayer and is built
around four ‘pathways' into prayer,
- Collects
- Reflections
- Thoughts & Themes
- Activities
Of all prayers the collects are perhaps most often misunderstood. These prayers are an ancient part of the Christian heritage used either when the congregation was gathered together or used as a prayer which collectsup (sums up) the theme of a reflection. The most well known collects are those specific to a time of year andthus reflect the cycle of the church seasons.
This beautifully-presented and illustrated resource, created by Jonathan Rendall and Robins Sharples, contains a set of collects for the year, which are intended for use with children. They have not tried to make a collection of ‘children's' prayers which are just simple versions of the ‘Adult' collects but to create new prayers which can be used in Children's groups, Schools and Churches.
Pathways to Prayer comprises 76 pages and 4 CDs in a sturdy ring binder: price £25.00 + £7.00 p&p
For more information or orders contact: The Department for Children, Youth and Education, The Old Palace, Deansway, Worcester WR1 2JE Tel: 01905 732825 Email:
Open the Book
Open the Book is an excellent resource for primary schools in the Worcester Diocese with the vision that:
Children in primary schools engage with Bible stories
Worship is fun, lively, informative and life giving
Relevant worship arises from the stories
Volunteer storytellers are trained and resourced
Headteachers and inspectors are delighted!
Open the Book aims to:
> Present the Bible in an accessible, enjoyable way
> To enable every child to hear the story of the Bible in their primary years
> To encourage links between school and church in a local context
> To equip, encourage and enable adults to work with children in schools
A milestone reached! 1000 teams now going into schools with 5,000 volunteers from local churches! Open the Book Press Release June 2011.
For more information about this excellent initiative please take a look at the Open The Book website.
The National Society SIAS Toolkit
The principal objective of the Self Evaluation Toolkit for Church Schools is to evaluate the distinctiveness and effectiveness of the school as a Church school.
A Church of England school's self-evaluation will seek to judge how well the school's distinctive Christian character and values ensure the development and achievement of the whole child or young person.
Towards this objective, the school will seek answers to four key questions:
- How well does the school, through its distinctive Christian character, meet the needs of all learners?
- What is the impact of collective worship on the school community?
- How effective is the religious education?
- How effective are the leadership and management of the school as a church school?
These Key Questions are each supported by a set of supplementary questions in common with the SIAS framework. In the Toolkit these questions are extended by further detailed questions designed to stimulate reflective evaluation and thinking in the school. Please look at the documents below for useful information and guidance.
Model Toolkit SEF (This is a draft document.)
What Makes the Difference Between Good and Outstanding? (This is a draft document.)
Listening to the Voice of the Learner
The Toolkit, which is used to inform the S48 Inspection process, requires schools to place considerable emphasis on the views of pupils. Schools are also required to evaluate how various aspects of school life impact upon their pupils. Listening to the Voice of the Learner has been developed to assist schools in the task of enabling pupils to contribute effectively to this self-evaluation process and to allow the voice of the learner to be heard.
Listening to the Voice of the Learner
Listening to the Voice of the Learner - Resources Appendix
Further Useful Resources
Places of Worship - visiting Christian places of worship
Places of Worship - Worcester Cathedral
Places of Worship - Birmingham Central Mosque
Places of Worship - Singers Hill Synagogue
Places of Worship - Shree Geeta Bhawan Temple
Places of Worship - Soho Road Sikh Gurdwara
For further details contact the Department for Children, Youth and Education on 01905 732825 - email
