Annual Report 2015/16 St Albans and Harpenden Christian Education Project

Transcription

1 Annual Report 2015/16 St Albans and Harpenden Christian Education Project Director Chris Birch-Evans 1st September 2016 Charity number Step, Forest Town Church, The Venue, Lyon Way, St Albans, Herts, AL4 0LB Page 1

2 Contents INTRODUCTION 3 5 Minutes to Summarise 5 Years 3 REVIEW OF Summary 3 New Resources 4 Workshops 4 Transition Days 4 Team Updates 5 STRATEGY, FINANCE AND LEADERSHIP 7 Strategy 7 Finances 7 Trustees 8 Charity number Step, Forest Town Church, The Venue, Lyon Way, St Albans, Herts, AL4 0LB Page 2

3 Introduction 5 MINUTES TO SUMMARISE 5 YEARS As this summer term ended I stood in front of 108 year 11 students, plus their teachers and their parents and was asked to talk for 5 minutes about what I ve been investing in them. I d reflected on all the assemblies, cafes, form times, lessons and other encounters we had shared. I concluded with Philippians 2:4-9 encouraging them to have the same mindset as Jesus Christ and to either start or continue looking to Him once they left the school. As I stood on stage gazing out names, memories, stories, experiences and prayers flooded my brain. It was a moving moment for me because over the last 5 years I d shared my life and faith with all the school gathered in that room. This isn t a lone experience. Step is currently endeavouring to have similar levels of involvement in 12 local secondary schools. Our passion is that all secondary school age students in St Albans and Harpenden should have a Christian who knows them, who is praying for them and who is desiring their lives to be changed for the better ultimately in due time choosing to follow Jesus Christ. Review of SUMMARY Distribution of Work Through a staggering 1,503 events, comprising of 969 activities and a further 534 lessons, Step has seen young lives changed for the better and provided next steps for those who are on journeys of faith. Step has achieved this through training, equipping and organising local church members to visit schools. Cafes 178 Workshops 148 CUs 119 Lessons 534 Other Activities 320 Mentoring 204 Charity number Step, Forest Town Church, The Venue, Lyon Way, St Albans, Herts, AL4 0LB Page 3

4 NEW RESOURCES Step has generated a reputation for developing creative resources to help young people learn about key areas of Christianity. Two new resources which spring to mind this year have been the development of a Narnia Resurrection Lesson and a new interactive Spacemat which looks at Stress. The Narnia Resurrection Lesson explores the question did Jesus really rise from the dead? In this lesson, the resurrection story (and why it is so important to Christians) is explained through CS Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. The students then get to put the resurrection on trial looking at both the arguments for and against it really happening. The Stress Spacemat allows up to 36 students to take an hour on their own to approach stress from 12 different perspectives, aiming to empower the user to manage stress well. Through activities, times of reflection and prayer the students are given the opportunity and skills to engage in their stress in a new and more productive way. WORKSHOPS Due to their success last year Step decided to invest more time in developing our Step Days (retreats). Through reflecting on learning styles and considering what a retreat should produce, we have overhauled the material and mechanics to produce a day that is Christian, spiritual, reflective, active and informative. The key to achieving this was to change the workshops so that they were no longer simply fun lessons. Our workshops now fit into one of four self describing categories - Be, Think, Do or Play. The photos above capture a few of the highlights of the workshops. TRANSITION DAYS Step has spent over a year experimenting with the idea of working with year 6 students exploring how best to help the transition to secondary school, whilst also introducing them to a Christian who would care and pray for them right at the beginning to this next phase of life. These Transition Days have been so successful that one of our volunteers has successfully planted it into Enfield with her old school and church with the wonderful help of n:flame. Charity number Step, Forest Town Church, The Venue, Lyon Way, St Albans, Herts, AL4 0LB Page 4

5 TEAM UPDATES The Step team has undergone some significant changes and growth this year. Many of the team have seen their roles change or increased in responsibility. Below are some of their reflections on their new roles. Geoff Sutton - This year has seen some important changes in Communication. The major development was our brand new website, which launched in September. The site now meets the needs of volunteers, supporters, churches, schools and young people, as well as looking more modern and professional. Our regular communication to supporters also saw a restructuring, with our Weekly Update changing to a Fortnightly Update, with much better links to our website; and our Termly Prayer Letter merging with our Prayer Sheet to form a much improved Quarterly Prayer Update, which has been regularly distributed among churches, and shares the stories about Step in a quality publication. Next year, we hope to continue to improve the promotional material but our focus of growth will be in 2 areas- church visits and Step Reps. This year we visited 18 churches to share about Step. We would like this to increase next year to at least 25, so more people can find out about Step and consider supporting us or volunteering. Step Reps are representatives from different churches who help Step connect with the congregation and help share information about our work. We already have numerous Step Reps but next year there will be a focus in growing this number and more importantly growing our effectiveness in supporting these valuable people. Tim Sandford - My hopes for the advancement of Formal Education at Step in the academic year are to develop our lesson material to meet the emphases of an ever-changing RE curriculum, bring our assembly portfolio up-to-date and ensure changes are communicated effectively with Schools Coordinators and volunteers. Following my research into the new GCSE RE curriculums, I hope to produce a professionally printed glossy booklet that showcases the work Step has to offer so that when a member of staff from a local secondary school picks one up, they find themselves quickly saying, Oh yes - that s perfect for what we need! Charity number Step, Forest Town Church, The Venue, Lyon Way, St Albans, Herts, AL4 0LB Page 5

6 I further hope to consolidate, streamline and improve our Formal Education material. Consolidate because there are often multiple versions of the same material available, sometimes without accompanying notes. Streamline because I would argue Step now finds itself offering such a great variety of material that it contributes to a loss of focus. Improve because there are some places where material could still meet our aims with some changes. Charlotte Barton - My hopes for the coming year are that our Informal Education work increasingly supports the spiritual and faith development of the students with a focus on follow-on work. I would love to see an increase in mentoring relationships and one-on-one support being facilitated within schools. Another hope is that cafes can become an integral part in the school calendar to enable a deepening of professional relationships with students. Terrie Bourner - Training is something that Step takes very seriously. It is important to us that our teams feel equipped to perform their roles well. The amount of freedom being afforded to Step by schools is staggering, a testament to those who pray for us. It can also be attributed to those members of our team who go into school, deliver according to expectation, with integrity, loyalty, humour, care and always walking with God. Over recent years it has become clear that our existing training needed to be updated again, to meet the growing needs of our teams and the schools they serve. After a long time investigating and learning how the world of training in business is changing due to the revolutionary thinking of Google and Apple, Step now has a new training model. This will be rolled out from September to everyone who spends any time with us. It includes some of the key elements that underpin our work and helps us to choose how we commit our time and resources. The photos below are of several team members engaging in doing what they are good at, but now in the context of school. Charity number Step, Forest Town Church, The Venue, Lyon Way, St Albans, Herts, AL4 0LB Page 6

7 Strategy, Finance and Leadership STRATEGY In the next three years Step intends to not only maintain the existing work but also invest time in supporting Christian work with all students during moments of transition. Namely special days for the top end of primary schools (Year 6) and leadership training for sixth formers. In both cases students will have Christians come alongside them in an Emmaus Road fashion, helping them make sense of the journey and see that Jesus is walking with them. The photos at the bottom of the page illustrate some of our current work with sixth formers. FINANCES Income vs Expenditure Overview Budget Income Expenditure Financially Step has done very well this year and finished with a slight surplus which providentially offset the deficit of our last academic year. This is due to the incredible generosity of 25 local churches, 164 individuals, and six grant making trusts. Our budget for the next academic year is 148,000. With this growth in mind, Step is looking to see an increase in our regular income. To help this happen Step has several fundraising initiatives planned including A Year of Challenges ; Come Dine with Step ; a Supporters Dinner ; a Barn Dance and the usual church visits. Charity number Step, Forest Town Church, The Venue, Lyon Way, St Albans, Herts, AL4 0LB Page 7

8 TRUSTEES Step is governed by a Board of Trustees who are legally accountable to the Charity Commission but equally answerable to Step s supporters, whether churches, organisations or individuals, for the proper fulfilment of its objectives. They take responsibility for the overall strategy and direction of Step, overseeing the work of Chris as Director and the team under him. In this regard Step might be compared to a ship with Chris in the role of Captain in day to day charge, with the trustees charting the overall course and ensuring that it is followed. More practically the trustees also help to support good practice in all aspects of Step. The trustees are all volunteers bringing the benefit of different backgrounds and insights into business, church, charities and schools. All are united in a love of Step and wholehearted belief in its work. Much of the trustees business is conducted in about five meetings a year with a structured agenda through an annual cycle of planning and implementation. Two meetings have a particular focus on developing the plan and budget for the following year and one has an exclusive focus on long term planning over a three year horizon and beyond. In between meetings we carry out our responsibilities to support Step. Current trustees are: - Will Treasure: Chairman and Director s line manager - Adrian Jackson-Robbins: Secretary; one of Step s founders - Richard Clarke: Treasurer - Graham Clarke: offers perspective as local church minister; pastoral support for team - Sarah Slater: offers insight as local educational professional. Within an overarching desire to see the kingdom of God grow, the trustees have four main priorities, to: - Discern and follow the Spirit s leading - Strengthen and expand the work of Step - Support Chris and the team - Be good stewards of Step Charity number Step, Forest Town Church, The Venue, Lyon Way, St Albans, Herts, AL4 0LB Page 8