First, some explanation about how membership works on schoolswork.co.uk.

If you’re not a member, you can’t create a new post on the blog, but you can comment on an existing posting. However, your comment will need to be approved by one of the editors at schoolswork.co.uk before it shows up on the site. This can take anywhere between a few minutes to a few hours (or days if we’re really busy!). We do this to prevent inappropriate or offensive material being posted.

If you register as a member, you can comment on existing posts and create your own new posts, but they will need to be approved in the same way.

Members can be upgraded to authors at any time. Authors can post immediately on the site without waiting for approval. We are happy to upgrade members to authors if you’ve posted a couple of times or if you or your organisation are known to us. We hope you understand the need to have some restrictions to safeguard the site in this way.

This site will be updated regularly, with helpful resources and ideas, as well as links and events that are coming up. It would really help us if you could be our eyes and ears where you are and let us know of things we should know about.

We’d also love to see this being a place where you can connect with other schools workers near you that you didn’t even know were there before! Coming soon will be a locator map showing areas where our different members are based. If you haven’t registered yet, please click on the little glowing orange word in the top right hand corner of the page and introduce yourself to us!

really interesting site (bought to you by the makers of the ‘I am not a plastic bag’ bag and the books ‘change the world for a fiver’ and ‘change the world 9-5’

a good challenge to set people. you can sign up to the site and click on different actions that you have done to make the world a better place

------------

http://www.zeropointzero.co.uk

another cool site, a bit like we are what we do, social networking and also here you can choose to do actions too
it’s split into five areas
* fight poverty
* go green
* make peace
* cure illness
* share culture

and easy to navigate

catch you with more green stuff soon :)

check it out.
nuff said

We have found that structured sessions are sometimes very good and short activities so they don’t get bored work well some weeks, however other weeks there have obviously been other things happening outside that trigger behaviour that means even when i have something planned they would normally enjoy my role becomes crowd control.  Although I have the backing of the church there are few people with any expertise in working with children with these issues so it tends to just get left in my hands.

Does anyone have any suggestions of the type of work I could try and pursue with them, or has anyone had similar experiences so I can be reassured that my efforts are not for nothing.  Most weeks I come out feeling drained, unhappy and horse from having to try and be heard.

To quote the old poem, when they are good, they are very very good, but when they are bad they’re awful!!!

The current plan is trying to do a combination of anger management and self worth with them.  Does this seem appropriate?

As society rapidly alters, the gap between young and old threatens to become a deep fracture in the heart of families, communities - and churches.

Resisting simplistic solutions, Jason Gardner deftly analyses the reasons for the growing generation gap, including the role of the church. He provides practical steps forward for church leaders, youthworkers and parents. Underpinning this hopeful book is an unshaking belief in Christ’s burning ability to inspire a ‘whole big bad beautiful mix of people to follow him, regardless of their age.’

Jason offers a vision of an intergenerational church where people of all ages worship together, learning with and from each other...you need to read it. Jenny Baker

A compelling insight into the challenges of creating and cherishing multi-generational church. Jill Rowe

Jason has not only given us a theological and cultural critique of the church’s relationship with young people, but real world strategies for putting it right. Chris Curtis

Read more here.

So how can this help our thinking about schools work and introducing young people to a community where all generations communicate and potentially share life together? How can we introduce them to the rich diversity of ages, and the wisdom they will find there? Possibly something ordinarily inaccessible for many of them…

As many of you will know, going to University is an exciting time, but it can also be very challenging, especially for Christians.  It would be great if you could encourage any students that you know to come along to the event where they will be encouraged and challenged to live for Jesus in their new surroundings. 

Please contact me (details on flyer) for further information or to book.

You can download a flyer here.

The workshop went down a storm. We’d been donated some cool reusable shopping bags which our young people sprayed through stencils onto.

Stencils are pretty easy to make but time consuming. Here’s how we made our reusbale ones:

1. either draw designs or print off images you want to use. Remember that you need to be able to cut them out without everything falling apart so keep lots of white space.

2. I lamintated the designs ( but you don’t have to)

3. Then on the back of the designs, stick double sided tape but don’t remove the waxy paper from the second side.

4. Flip the design back over and using a craft knife cut out all of the bits of the design that you want to spray through.

5. Place a thick piece of card inside the clothing/bag you are about to decorate so that paint doesn’t bleed through. Now your ready to place the stencil.

6. Ensure the fabric is flat and peel off the waxy paper from the double sided tape. Press the stencil down firmly.

7. Mask of any areas around the stencil that you want to keep clean (the spray cans go a lot farther than you think they will.......)

8. make sure you have the right safety stuff - gloves/masks etc (we did ours outside so we weren’t in a confined space) then spray away keeping the can about 30 - 50 centimetres from the design and spraying lightly in even strokes. Keep going til your happy with the amount of coverage.

9. Wait a minute or so for the pain to dry before removing the stencil.

If you don’t want to use spray paint, fabric paint or acrylic is also fine and dandy.

Enjoy

Woowhooo!

At the end, the children are all waving palm leaves and singing “Hosanna” while the workers hover by waiting to grab the first kid who pokes someone with a palm leaf.

I am not sure when or where or even how we learn to cross the line… at what point we decide the Bible story is just for the kids. What did you teach this week? What did you hear this week? What did God teach you…or what were you so busy hoping the kids would grasp, that you forgot to grab it for yourself?

I know it can be chaotic when working with children, but He wants to speak; if we would just learn to listen

Show me Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths ~Psalm 25:4~