In January more than 100 School Leaders and Parish Partners met in person for the first Education Department conference since 2020. Ed Gregory, Director of Education at Bath and Wells, shared his reflection on the day.
It was tremendous to see people reconnecting and making new connections, the buzz of conversation was uplifting. Our theme was ‘flourishing together’ and our keynote speakers added great contributions to the day.
Bishop Michael gave us an inspirational talk based around the parable of the sower. He also reflected a deep love and appreciation for all working in schools and parishes, educating, encouraging and caring for children and young people across our diocese. This was followed by time for incredibly wide ranging questions which Bishop Michael responded to with great openness.
Our second keynote speaker, Lucy Moore, national lead for the Church of England’s Growing faith Foundation, shared with us the aims of the Foundation and the value of looking at schools, parishes and households through the lens of children and young people. Lucy’s themes, though not planned in advance with Bishop Michael, built beautifully on some of the themes already emerging around listening, including, valuing others and sharing from the heart. Through a combination of reflections and interactive opportunities Lucy encouraged deeper thinking of why, and how, schools and parishes can work closely together. The day together included inputs around chaplaincy, outreach and engagement.
We heard about the value of Open the Book, a great number of attendees were already engaging with this. We also heard some wonderfully moving stories of impact from chaplains working with schools and colleges. Our surprise input was, in line with our environmental and sustainable aims, the revelation of a fully recyclable or reusable glue stick! It was a great day to meet, leaving us with an appetite and an enthusiasm to do more of this across the diocese and our archdeaconries.