No Despond in Slough!Martyn Payne |
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The
theme today for all the classes was 'whose world?', but when I arrived at St
Mary's CE Primary School in Slough, I could immediately see one answer to the
workshops' question: it was clearly 'our world!' in more senses than one. This
was not only the title of their special week of activities but also on this
final day the children had all come dressed in national costume. But that
wasn't all. St Mary's is one of the most multicultural schools I have been to
so far with Barnabas. All the world
seemed to be here and what a rich and exciting mix it was. So it was before a
really colourful assembly that I stood at the start of the day, which began
with some thoughtful fun and laughter and continued in that mood, as I led
workshops with each year group in turn. Each
session was quite short and with groups of 60, but the children were very
engaged and seemed really to enjoy themselves. Another answer to the workshop
question is, of course, 'God's world!' and through some games, simple drama and
a story we explored what that meant and what sort of 'maker' God calls us to be
in order to look after his great making. This was particularly true for Years
4, 5 and 6, who thought about the brokenness of our world. Once again the
opening story in Living in a Fragile World
proved an absorbing visual focus as they wondered whether God would still say
'it's good' when he looked at the earth today? And where did it all go wrong?
And what might God want us to do about it? The
teachers were very welcoming and their feedback encouraging, including a substantial
book order, talk of a return visit and plans for INSET next year - so watch
this space. At the end of a busy week for this particular pilgrim, his progress
was graciously helped by this particular Slough, which definitely did not leave
him despondent! |
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