10 years of Prayer Spaces in Schools
This time 10 years ago the schools team were getting ready for their first ever Prayer Space in School! At the time it was a brand new initiative and the team had no idea how popular the idea would be in local schools!
Our first ever Prayer Space happened at Cardinal Newman Catholic School and saw 800 students experience prayer in a new way.
Schools team manager Lizzi comments: “It took a long time to decorate the room – we’d never set up a Prayer Space before so every creative decision seemed difficult. The following morning as the team waited for the first class to arrive, I remember being really apprehensive. I had no idea how students would respond to the idea of praying in school. However by the end of day one, we’d seen 120 students and most were overwhelmingly positive about their time in the Prayer Space. I went home really excited about the rest of the week!”
Since March 2013 our schools team have run 111 Prayer Spaces in and around the Brighton area; 59 in Primary Schools, 46 in Secondary and 6 elsewhere. At the last count we’ve welcomed over 38,000 students into Prayer Spaces!
Here’s some of our favourite quotes from the last 10 years:
“We were blown away by your commitment and professionalism and the quality of your work.”
– King’s School Hove, 2014
“Students and staff are still buzzing from the experience and you have inspired us to think creatively about meeting the spiritual needs of our students.”
– Davison High School, 2017
“So great to have the students coming back so full of enthusiasm!”
– Aldrington, 2017
“It’s great for staff to see what you do – you’re an example of good practice in school.”
– St Mary’s Primary, 2018
“I hope to pray more.”
– Cardinal Newman Catholic School, 2018
“I could leave my worries outside and just be peaceful – A very safe space to be.”
– Davison High School, 2020
“Off The Fence are about as ‘good practice’ as it gets.”
– PSIS National Director, 2020