Minutes:
Andrea Sparrow updated members on the ‘Open The Book’ initiative.
It was confirmed that Open the Book is an initiative, created in 1999 by the Bible Society, which provides a three-year rolling programme of stories designed for weekly assemblies or collective worship, based on the Lion Storyteller Bible for children. The programme involves a small group of adults, often from a church or group of churches, committing to visit a school once per week during term time to present Bible stories. The programme has robust governance with a code of practice, volunteer and team leader role descriptions and agreements, the requirement for DBS checks, initial and ongoing training provision and ongoing support.
In 2014 primary schools in the area were contacted to determine whether any would be interested in using Open the Book. Of the schools contacted, two responded - one being Lent Rise (in Burnham, South Bucks). Currently Lent Rise School has rolled out the programme to Key Stage 2, overseen by two teachers who lead on collective worship.
Starting the programme in January 2015, the team comes into the school once per week, for five weeks each half term. Feedback from Lent Rise School has so far been positive, reporting that the team that comes into the school are friendly and professional with excellent story-telling and interaction skills, as well as well-defined boundaries. As the core team is largely unchanged week-on-week, the children see familiar faces and they have become a valuable part of the wider school community. The children say they enjoy sessions very much, and look forward to them.
In addition to quality of content, the teachers appreciate that the programme needs very little forward planning on their part. Following a session, time in class is provided for discussion, questions, and for children to share their own experiences. This is seen as a key opportunity to explore similar or resonant stories from other traditions, and any connections with current events or learning across the school. Open the Book has become an important, integrated part of school life at Lent Rise, and the school would recommend the initiative.
Members thanked Ms Sparrow for the information, and were enthused about the potential for Open The Book within Slough schools. It was agreed that the clerk would forward the relevant links to all SACRE members to review.