Mike SimmondsEducation Consultant

ã Mike Simmonds, GO Ministries 2011Please email for permission to use these slides: mike@goministries.org.uk

Slides used at the Coventry Diocese Governors’

Conference on 5the March 2011

HOPE RENEWED Church Schools Leading from the Front

Mike Simmonds Education Consultant

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1833

1833

1833

Joshua Watson, Clapton

1811

2011

Logo in use by 1840

1811

Logo in use by 1860

1860

Built circa 1770

“there is nothing more vitally important than

the inculcation and the apprehension of

Religious Truth”

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The ‘hidden givers’:A study of school governing

bodies in England

PROJECT REPORT

Chris James, Steve Brammer, Michael Connolly, Miles Fertig, Jane James and Jeff Jones

UNIVERSITY OF BATH

The findings

– School governing is always changing

– The role of the chair – a significant educational and

community leadership responsibility.

– Scrutiny, scrutiny, scrutiny . . . .

– The lack of a capable governing body is a

substantial disadvantage

The ‘hidden givers’: a study of school governing bodies in England

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Canon Charles Smyth, Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, on 150th Anniversary of the Foundation of The Society, 12.10.61

“it is the task of the Church in every

century to serve its generation according

to the will of God.”

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How do we improvise our role

in the current climate of change

and as Church School Governors “according to the

will of God” ?

Deut

eron

omy

11

vers

es 1

9-20 “Teach them to your

children. Talk about them all the time -whether

you're at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up

in the morning. Write them on the door frames

of your homes and on your town gates”.

“The Holy Scriptures are story-shaped.

Reality is story-shaped. The world is

story-shaped. Our lives are story-shaped”

E Peterson Eat this Book page 62

Act One: CreationAct Two: The FallAct Three: IsraelAct Four: Jesus ChristAct Five: The Church

Scene 1: Church Begins Its Mission to the Nations Scene 2: Our Place in the Story: Church Continues ItsMission to the Nations

Act Six: New Creation

History instructs us, the law teaches us, prophecy foretells, correction punishes, morality persuades; but the book of psalms goes further than all these. It is medicine for our spiritual health. Whoever reads it will find in it a medicine to cure the wounds caused by his own particular passions. Whoever studies it deeply will find it a kind of gymnasium open for all souls to use, where the different psalms are like different exercises set out before him. In that gymnasium, in that stadium of virtue, he can choose the exercises that will train him best to win the victor’s crown. [1]

“Understanding (to the degree the Bible allows us) the

purposes of God in his world, we can align ourselves with those purposes and live in a

way that anticipates their achievement.”

FAITHFUL IMPROVISATION

in Act 5 Scene 2

History instructs us, the law teaches us, prophecy foretells, correction punishes, morality persuades; but the book of psalms goes further than all these. It is medicine for our spiritual health. Whoever reads it will find in it a medicine to cure the wounds caused by his own particular passions. Whoever studies it deeply will find it a kind of gymnasium open for all souls to use, where the different psalms are like different exercises set out before him. In that gymnasium, in that stadium of virtue, he can choose the exercises that will train him best to win the victor’s crown. [1]

R Baukman, Scripture & Authority Today Grove pg 11

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HOPE RENEWED Church Schools Leading from the Front

Churches Mission to the Nation

HOPE RENEWED Church Schools Leading from the Front

'Every Child Matters' to God and to us!

It is our pledge to make this real for all the children and young

people.

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If the curriculum constitutes the relationship between teacher and student (and of both with subject

matter), then it is first a relationship between beings. ... It is thus that the curriculum will be oriented to formation rather than

to information, to wisdom as a goal for students (and

teachers) ....”Blomberg D Wisdom and Curriculum

So how can governors encourage the building of relationships

between our staff and children?

HOPE RENEWED Church Schools Leading from the Front

The practice of hospitality

“For those involved in specifically Christian Schools .... the practice

of hospitality (..welcoming and making space for strangers ..) ...

should serve as a vital resource in the preparation of students to live

lives of human flourishing, lives that genuinely contribute to the

flourishing of everyone.

...” Bretherton, L. (2004) ‘Tolerance, Hospitality and Education: A Theological Proposal’ in Studies in Christian Ethics 17:1, 80-103

How can governors encourage the building of relationships between

staff and children?

How does ‘hospitality’ influence the ethos and practice in your

school when the gates are locked?

HOPE RENEWED Church Schools Leading from the Front

“education should embrace the

possibility of God”

Cooling T, Doing God in Education, Theos p44

“The aspiration to offer distinctively Christian

education should not be perceived as a tribal threat

but as an opportunity to enhance and enrich

education”

(5B) In reporting under subsection (5), the Chief Inspector must consider—

a) the spiritual, moral, social and cultural development of pupils at the school;

House of CommonsEducation Bill 2011

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How can governors encourage the building of relationships between

staff and children?

How does ‘hospitality’ influence the ethos and practice in your

school when the gates are locked?

How do you monitor the spiritual, moral, social and cultural

development in your school?

#HOPEGOV

HOPE RENEWED Church Schools Leading from the Front

Academy Chains

HOPE RENEWED Church Schools Leading from the Front

Training Schools

HOPE RENEWED Church Schools Leading from the Front

Local or National

Leaders

HOPE RENEWED Church Schools Leading from the Front

Standing in the gap

HOPE RENEWED

Church Schools Leading from the Front

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HOPE RENEWED Church Schools Leading from the Front

BibleImprovising 5th Act

HOPE RENEWED Church Schools Leading from the Front

Relationship Building

HOPE RENEWED Church Schools Leading from the Front

Hospitality

HOPE RENEWED Church Schools Leading from the Front

Spiritual & moral

development

HOPE RENEWED Church Schools Leading from the Front

Carpe diemSeize the day

Psal

m 2

5:5 “Guide me in your

truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all

day long”.

"And if not now, when?"

HOPE RENEWED Church Schools Leading from the Front

GOMikeS

mike@goministries.org.uk

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