Anna Shaw from CPAS reveals how prayer, gratitude, and small acts of support from Christian parents can transform classrooms and open doors to faith
When teaching my first KS2 class, back in 2004, I really struggled. I was not well-supported by the school leadership, I had been gifted the most poorly behaved class in the smallest, most dilapidated room in school and my behaviour management skills were not up to the task! But two families made a huge difference…
…the two Christian families.
They wrote me notes of encouragement. When they came in to help, I never felt judged by them. They would regularly thank me in ways that were specific and genuine, which showed they had noticed the small things. They spoke kindly of me to other parents who were inclined to moan. When they had issues that needed resolving, they approached firmly but graciously with their challenges. These were the parents who periodically sent in cake to the staffroom and displayed kindness that reached out wider into the school community. I am forever grateful to them. With their support, I lasted the year and grew to be a much better teacher.
As a Christian teacher, I needed the Christian families and the presence of the local church alongside me
Fast forward a couple of years and a new headteacher at the school set up an outside prayer space for pupils to use at playtime and introduced Collective Worship that was carefully considered to engage a largely un-churched school community more deeply with the Christian message. My class joined in enthusiastically. One pupil in particular brought endless questions. She listened carefully in assemblies, spent many of her break times in the outdoor prayer space, and genuinely wanted to live her life under God’s guidance and lordship. Her parents, though not Christians, were open to her exploring faith, but we agreed I was not the right person to support her. The classroom power imbalances made this inappropriate.
What she needed was a local church community, but the connected church was not ready to welcome children and families well.. Schools may plant seeds, but without church partnership and Christian families to help make the connections, the soil remains thin. Happily, I was able to find a Christian family to connect her with who went to church elsewhere. As a Christian teacher, I needed the Christian families and the presence of the local church alongside me.
Read more:
How a simple step of faith sparked a prayer community at school
5 ways Christian parents can build healthy relationships with their child’s school
Serving Christ through serving your local school - The benefits of Christian parents becoming school governors
Where do I find things today?
More than ever, schools are spiritually open places of wonder and curiosity. But the Christian parents seem more absent than at the start of my career. I was curious about this and so sent out a survey across various schools and churches locally, asking two questions that:
- Explored current ways in which parents participate in the life of their children’s school.
- Asked them to reflect on what some of the barriers were.
The answers were fascinating. If you are interested, follow this link to the survey. I would love for more respondents so please pass it around any Christian parents you know who have school-aged children.
What sprung out?
With regards to current engagement:
- How little we pray for our schools – either corporately or in our private times of prayer. E.g. only 2 parents (of the 50 who have responded to date) prioritise the school prayer meeting, 20% do not pray for the school at all.
- Almost half the parents answered ‘not currently’ around choosing to encourage staff.
- Only 1 respondent actively looks for ways to reflect Jesus at pick-up or drop-off.
- The Christian clubs at school are not supported by Christian parents – instead these are mainly run by paid church staff and/or retired church members.
- 25% of respondents do periodically drop cake/fruit to the staffroom (though I suspect that my organising this at our school and the secondary school may have skewed the data!)
Nowadays far more parents are doing paid work for a greater percentage of their week, meaning that many are not present at school drop-off or pick-up
Perhaps it is not surprising that the situation is different from when I began my career. Nowadays far more parents are doing paid work for a greater percentage of their week, meaning that many are not present at school drop-off or pick-up and find it harder to be physically involved in the life of the school. But this does not preclude the ministries of prayer, encouragement and blessing. In the second question, parents listed ‘time’ as their biggest barrier with ‘mental load’ coming a very close second.
Gloriously though, the survey sparked several parents to get in touch with me with new vision and desire to be more proactively invested in school life, to the extent that their diaries enabled. In the words of one WhatsApp:
“Thank you for sending out this survey. It has opened my eyes to simple ways our family might live out our faith more openly at school. Pls can you add me to the prayer group WhatsApp. Today I emailed X to thank them. I wouldn’t have done this before.”
And it isn’t just about parents…
When we disciple our children well and support them to ‘make the most of every opportunity’ they have (Ephesians 5:15), their witness is often even more profound. My second child has just left primary school. His teacher reflected to us her profound gratitude to him. There was a child in the class who had arrived from another country, disturbed by all that had been experienced and thus bringing a number of behaviours that were disruptive to learning. Our son had sat next to him all year because he was a calm and kind presence who helped this child to settle and learn. Other children came and went from their table, struggling with this child. But our son had consistently been able to stick out the challenges and gently bring good.
She was an exceptional teacher, and our child had flourished in her class. We gave her You are Special by Max Lucado as an end of year ‘thank you’ gift. It is an allegorical story that helps readers to see the impact of knowing and accepting God’s love. This teacher emailed after to tell of the impact. She is on a journey towards Jesus, in the main encouraged there by the witness of our son.
So, from Christian teacher to Christian parents… Thank you for the ways in which you already support the school through your discipleship of your children. Thank you for the ways in which you lean into the culture of the school and notice where you can bring blessing or encouragement. Thank you for the times you draw alongside other families and invite them towards faith. Thank you for your prayers. Please keep going. Schools are alive with curiosity about faith and we need you – without you the seed may be sown liberally but falls on rocky ground.
