About five or six years ago we did a lot at Brinkley Grove Primary School. We ran RE workshops, mentored students, produced lively assemblies and ran a yearly prayer space when their Year 6s were on residential.  Sadly all of this stopped for a number of reasons just before COVID hit. There was a long time of nothing. For me, it was a time of praying and knocking on the door until finally, the one thing the school decided to ask for, was a prayer space! Of all the things we provided before, this was the one thing that they remembered and wanted again.  

The prayer space always had a profound impact not only on the pupils but on the teachers as well. Most could not believe the transformation of the children in that space, many finding calm and peace within the activities and quiet tent.  Teachers were blown away by the profound responses to prayer and the honesty of the pupils in what they were facing in their own lives. One teacher described it like an onion, “We don’t have the time to see beyond the outer layer in class but this space helps see what is happening inside”.  

After every prayer space we create a book for the school to keep which contains photos, quotes and examples of the prayers made. To my surprise, the school even displayed this book in their visitor’s area so parents and visitors to the school could see what their students had experienced.  They loved the prayer space so much they wanted to share it openly! And this is the response of a local community school, not a CofE Church school but a normal local community school in the less affluent part of our city.  

This recent prayer space was the first in over 5 years and I am praying that it will be the stepping stone to working with the school more closely again in the near future.  Praise God for the impact it had those five years ago, that they remembered and knocked on my door asking for one again!!