By Chris Hudson, Barnabas in Schools
I am so grateful to St Hildas Trust! Earlier this year, they awarded Barnabas in Schools a substantial grant that enabled us to take high-quality Character Education lessons into several local primary schools serving deprived areas, that might otherwise have found it very difficult to afford our workshops.
The staff were extremely pleased to see their pupils engaging in active roleplay and discussion on the themes of Respect, Resilience and Responsibility. As we retold a series of Bible stories together, children from a range of backgrounds were able to debate outcomes, offer searching questions, and puzzle over the motives of key characters such as Jesus, Jonah and Paul as they faced powerful Temptations, personal Prejudice and dangerous Adversity. All the time, we wondered about situations close to us that pose the same dilemma: Shall I do the Easy Thing, or shall I do the Right Thing?
Afterwards, teachers said:
I was so pleased with how much the children enjoyed it, and surprised at how well they grasped the concepts. Relating the concepts to the characters in the stories was fantastic.
We were really pleased at how well the children engaged and responded thoughtfully to the questions.
It was so brilliant. All took part. It was very cohesive!
