Our small ( 150 pupils) Church of England Primary school serves a low income, low employment, high needs  area of a market town in Oxfordshire.  We wanted to set aside a space and time for the children to have some quiet time in the busiest part of the term!

In the run up to Christmas we celebrate and mark the Advent themes of Prophets, Holy family, Shepherds and Wise men. Each of these gave us a ‘station’ for the Prayer Space where children could read some questions and respond in a practical way.

We opened the Prayer Space to parents who had opportunity to book a space to visit with their child or children. We also opened the Prayer space in the evening and invited our local churches to ‘come and see’. This initiated several conversations about how we could share our Prayer Spaces with church groups of all ages and also could we invite children from other schools.  This interest was unexpected and exciting and is something that we are looking to explore over the next year.

There were 5 'stations';

Prophets: - Here children could listen to a choice of 3 tracks on MP3s whilst watching the bubble tube. They sat on comfy cushions and loved just relaxing in this way! The response question was, “What is God saying to you?”

Holy Family:- Pictures of homeless people around the world – displaced by war or poverty. The children were asked to find their own home on a local map. The response question was: “Mary and Joseph were turned out in the cold. Who have you met on your journey that you might like to pray for?” The children wrote their responses on footprints.

Shepherds:- Pictures of God’s amazing world and a mirror were on this focus area. The response question was: “Suddenly a bright light appeared in the sky. The shepherds were amazed! What amazes you about God?” Children could draw a picture or write on post-its and stick them to a picture.

Wise Men: - Our creative team made an eye catching display of paper sculpted wise men. There were over sized gifts wrapped in purple paper and a tree branch with fairy lights. The response question was: - “The wise men brought gifts to Jesus. What gifts would you like to thank God for?” The children wrote or drew responses on stars which they placed on the tree.

The Crib: - When all the children had completed their time, the group gathered around a central crib. Here they were given time to ‘prepare their hearts’ for the coming Christ child by thinking of anything that they needed to say sorry for. This was done silently. Then, each child was invited to take a strip of cloth and lay it across the manger – prepare a cosy bed for the Christ child.

When you give time and space to quietness – be prepared to be amazed at the response.

"I really liked going to the prayer space because it was peaceful and you were using all your senses – even smell. My favourite part was listening to the music. I wish the prayer space could stay." Sarah, year 6

"Thank you for letting me in the prayer space. It was lovely. I especially like the bit where you could just relax and listen to music."  Amber, Year 5

"Is God here?" Year 2 pupil

Teachers were struck by how much the children responded and seemed to need this stillness:

"Emotional, still, calm and a place just to be! Watching the children listening to the music was just wonderful."

“I think you have  created a fantastic space to reflect on the real meaning of Christmas. I was inspired by the room."

So, what next?

This was our first Prayer Space in school and we have a lot to consider for next time. We are convinced about the need for children to have this spiritual time. We also felt that enclosing the space in a tent worked really well for us because it gave a great sense of being somewhere else. It has made us think about sharing our resources with other church communities – the Prayer Space should be self explanatory and accessible for all ages. It was also important to make sure that none of the spaces imposed a response but that the invitation to respond could be made at any level of commitment or none.

We have to work out with our whole school community how many times we can realistically provide such a time and space but we hope to do 4 during the academic year – one at the beginning, ones at Christmas and Easter and then a final one towards the end of the year."

Margaret Kunzer is Deputy Head at St Edburg’s Church of England School in Oxfordhshire.

Posted by Catherine

Catherine Clayton lives and works in Oxford. She has spent six years working as a primary school teacher. During this time she was the RE Coordinator and the curriculum leader for the school. She enjoys skiing and playing tennis. Since September 2010 Catherine has been developing prayer spaces in primary and secondary schools around Oxfordshire