Thank you so much for taking the time to share your experiences Hannah, so you’ve just completed your first pop up prayer space with a Remembrance theme.  Well done! 

Thank you so much!

How did you first hear of prayer spaces in schools and why did you feel it was a good idea, important or of value to do in your school?

I heard of Prayer Spaces when I went to an evening CPD session led by Prayer Spaces for Schools. My Head Teacher and I went and saw what could be created for children in schools as a way of reflecting, and we thought, ‘Yeah, we can give this a go!’ We are a church school with a Christian Ethos and want to develop children’s own spirituality and reflection on big events and times throughout the church calendar. 

How did you go about selecting the prayer activities you chose?

I used the ideas and resources on the prayer spaces in school’s website and I really liked the idea of using different coloured candles for remembering different groups of people who are and have been affected by war and suffering. However, we were already using tea lights in jars so I wanted to add a different element for children and their parents so I used the ribbon idea I saw in another suggestion and combined the two. The children could choose a ribbon and tie it to the camouflage net as they said a prayer and reflect on Remembrance Day. We also had a giant poppy where people could add their finger print in solidarity for those affected by war and suffering. 

How easy was it to set up and how long did you run the pop up prayer space for?

The prayer space was pretty simple to set up. One member of staff already had a camouflage net and so we covered a moveable board with it and wrote the wording so everyone knew what to do. The most time consuming bit was the chopping of the paper ribbons, but as teachers we are very good at watching TV and cutting things out for work. I actually over estimated how many paper ribbons we would need, so now I have enough ready for next year already! We ran the prayer station for the whole evening while we had our Remembrance reflection Evening which was open to the pupils and their families. 

Whereabout’s in the school did you place the space and how/when did the pupils access it?

Our Remembrance Evening of Reflection was held outside in our playground. We had the prayer space inside in the hall, next to the tea and coffee station so it had lots of traffic and people had a looked while they warmed up with a hot chocolate. We lit the area up with candles and tea lights. Everyone could access it throughout the evening with their families or on their own. 

How did the pupils engage with the space and is there any stories you are happy to share with us?

We had lots of families come and engage with the space. There were lots of lovely conversations about which ribbon they wanted to use and tie to the camouflage net. Our Year 6s had also written some poetry inspired by the wars so that allowed the children and their families to read and reflect as they came over to the prayer station. Some children chose a couple of ribbon colours and tied them up together as they wanted to remember more than one group of people. 

Where there any learning lessons for you and would you run another prayer space in school?

I really enjoyed running a prayer station and having conversations with the children and their families. I would definitely do one again, especially with Christmas coming up but I would also like to do one for our Collective Worship value, which is half-termly as this could also be left up for longer and allow children to think, reflect and return over a period of time. 

If someone is thinking of giving it a go for the first time too, what advice would you give them?

Do it! Give it a go and work out what works best for you and your school. We loved doing it by candlelight but the yellow text was hard to read in that light, so next time we may change that colour. You learn by doing it and giving it a go. 

You can check out or Rememberance Prayer Activities here

Below are some photos from Moreton!