Until two years ago, all of my working life was in church schools as a teacher and then as head teacher.  When I retired from that I came to work at St Antony’s Priory for two days each week as a member of the team.  My work is about faith accompaniment, prayer and hospitality. 

When my own faith journey led me to contemplative prayer   within the very busy life I was leading as a school leader, I realised that within the context of our Catholic school there was a great deal of scope for the development of the spirituality of children and staff and to provide opportunities for them to make their own personal responses to God.  

In subsequent years I found that as our school became more a place of prayer and reflection, a place where children were able to find invitation and space to respond to God in their own way, we became a more peaceful and loving place to be.  Collective and individual prayer made a huge impact on the overall ethos of our school and pupils and staff came to respect self and others more deeply. Even the mighty Ofsted inspectors were impressed with the children’s attitudes towards prayer and worship, in the classroom and as a school.  The self-reflective process, better self-awareness and mutual respect also made discipline issues easier to resolve – no, prayer or not, they never go away in a school.

So when I began my work at St Antony’s it was suggested that perhaps I could carry on some of the work I had begun in my own school.  I contacted some of my ex-colleagues, other primary head teachers, and asked them to be guinea pigs. 

In these days when every aspect of what happens in school is under someone’s microscope, including prayer and spirituality, I found a welcome in several schools.  There is a growing awareness within UK schools that the development of the spiritual is not confined to religious education lessons or the daily assembly, but grows out of a personal response to the world and people around us and from attention to the questions that arise from this.  Within the context of a church school the personal response is extended to the person of God through prayer and reflection.  

Although teachers recognise this and want to be able to guide their children, very often they feel as though have a limited understanding and knowledge of prayer themselves. Many teachers lack confidence in their own abilities to lead children in prayer.  My work is about helping teachers to focus on their own spiritual journey and to offer resources to help them in developing an attitude of prayer in children.

Most often, I am first asked to lead a staff meeting to introduce some of my ideas.  I try to make this initial meeting as non-threatening as possible.  I talk to staff about the use of prayer in school, in class and in their life outside of school.  I give some ideas and then lead the staff in prayer using the resources we are discussing, for example, the use of stilling exercises or a guided meditation.  We also discuss the use of music and movement in prayer, as well as other cross-curricular activities such as art, drama etc.   

I find it important that this first session is at least in part experiential. This helps in formulating a common understanding of what we are working towards when introducing the concept of prayer to children. 

I also believe that we teach most effectively from our own experiences, so if I am to be alongside children in their prayer, I need to be a person of prayer myself. For some staff, this meeting may be the first time they have been given an opportunity to experience a guided meditation or to speak to each other about the place of God in their lives. Another important aspect of this first meeting is to give teachers time to reflect on what they have heard and to ask questions.

Later sessions in school have involved working one-to-one with teachers to develop their own ideas or to provide feedback after spending some time in the classroom.  Sometimes I  work directly with the children to model some of the ideas we may have discussed at the staff meeting.  One school brought all of their Key Stage 2 pupils to the Priory for the end of year celebration.

Starting points are always from the children’s own experience and may be developed from a religious education lesson or any other lesson, or from a shared experience – perhaps a school visit or celebration.  

Developing spiritual awareness allows children to explore their own feelings and experiences and those of other people. Often the first steps are around being able to be physically still and alert. We spend time developing this particular skill. Circle-time activities are often useful and offer a way into prayer, especially if situated within a prayerful context using music or candles.  

Children love ritual and I think that it is important to find the time to create a prayerful atmosphere as well as a space in the day to “practise”.  I ask teachers not to rush the introduction of guided meditations or reflective prayer – sometimes it can take weeks before the children are ready to move beyond the stilling exercises.  That’s OK – what we are providing are opportunities for the children to develop their awareness of God and of themselves in their own time and in God’s time.  

At the same time, teachers are being given the same opportunities for self development and, for some, it is the first time they have recognised the invitation to take responsibility for their own spiritual development and to begin to formulate their own response to God.

If faith accompaniment is about traveling with another on their spiritual journey, what great expeditions may just be beginning as teachers journey with their pupils towards a deepening relationship with their God?