SATiSfaction Guaranteed

Having spent two fabulous days with Breathe at Wolverley High School today and yesterday, the day was rounded off to a treat with the FANTASTIC news that KS3 SATs have been abolished. I am so pleased for all those teenagers who can now look forward to focussing on LEARNING rather than on TESTING.

It was really good the last couple of days to watch young people as they got into the experience of Breathe and realised that there wasn't a "right answer" but an opportunity and an invitation to wonder, ponder, question and reflect.

Today one of the pupils in particular started out very sceptical about "anything religious" and came up to me at the end and thanked me because it had really made her think.

It was also cool being in school for school dinners for two days. They were yummy yet well balanced. The chocolate milkshakes were a particular fave!

So two days of Breathe have left me incredibly fired up (and with a wooden block that needs gluing, a russian doll with a squeak and in need of more string and new play-doh!)

Breathe In, Breathe Out

The blog has been rather silent lately - apologies. It has been rather a busy time. I am now looking at a rather calmer few weeks, including some leave to go to Stratford and see David Tennant in Hamlet then go to M's cousin's wedding and then a few days back down in the wilds of Buckinghamshire with my dad.

So what's all the busyness been? Well I was guest speaking at Yellow Braces (arguably the best weekend of the summer in Oxford Diocese!) and then I was running the youth stream at the Worcester Diocesan Assmebly which was AWESOME but utterly exhausting as there wasn't a spare second in the day! From Friday 2.3opm til Sunday 8pm when I pulled into the driveway at home, it really didn't feel like we stopped except when we slept. The Assembly was fabulous as I got the chance to meet a fantastic group of young people and get to know some of the youth council a lot better.

I also got to meet lots of people from the diocese which was great as I tied up lots of connections between people and churches. Unfortunately, the youth stream kept us away fromt he main business of the assembly but I've got the DVD coming soon so I can catch up on all that was said by Canon Susan Hope, Father Ken Leach and Bishop Gerry Wolfe. The teenagers did join the main group to hear Archbishop John Sentamu as he came in for a flying visit and talk on his way down to the Lambeth conference.

One of the things that, a little ironically, made the conference hectic, was setting up for Breathe, the exploration of spirituality for 16-19 year olds which Dare2Engage have produced and which the diocese has bought. It is a marvellously relaxing and centring experience for those who participate. It does, however take a little while to set up and we had to chose between missing one of the Eucharists or missing lunch to set it up. I'll let you guess which we chose.

Breathe is an absolutley wonderful resource which I will be using around the diocese in so many different contexts. I can't wait.

Me on Breathe, Breath of God

I had the great pleasure of going along to see BREATHE in action at a school last week. This is a FABULOUS opportunity for schools to get young people thinking about spirituality. It's very gentle and yet powerful. I watched two different age groups engaging with it and it was amazing to see them really getting into it very quickly. There are twelve stations some of which deal with the idea of self, the world, others and God. Most of the stations are reallt tactile or visual and others invite some really good personal reflection.

If you're looking for something spiritual rather than "religious" for some schools work I recommend this highly. You can hire it for a day with a host (or several days - at discounted rate for additional days) and timetable it into the school day and if you like it you can even buy in to the package. It takes slightly longer than a standard school period to do all the stations but the experience is not too adversely affected by doing only some. On Friday several of the pupils came back in their break and lunch hour to do some of the stations they hadn't managed. I think that's a pretty good recommendation.

If you want to know more, have a look at the site and you can even download a flier or listen to one of the tracks.

Room to Breathe

Had a fantastic if hectic two days at the cathedral with children from primary schools from across the diocese. I was leading the singing during the services and running a drama workshop which led to a dramatic presentation of a Gospel reading (Feeding of the 5,000). It was fabulous to see the cathedral buzzing with children dancing, drumming, making banners, singing and acting. I also had time to spend a short while in St Wulfstan's crypt which is an amazingly spiritual place. I do love the exciting times but those quiet times are pretty special too.

Tomorrow I should have even more time for some quiet as I'm visiting Jenny Baker's BREATHE session at one of the Church of England secondaries in Worcester. I'm really looking forward to it as it will be cool to catch up with Jenny as well as get the chance to explore this wonderful resource which the diocese is considering using more in future.