School Visits
Churches provide rich opportunities for school visits. They can illustrate local and national history, art, geography and can contribute to the subjects of music, science, maths, geology and biology. Children develop their vocabulary, creative skills and can engage in practical activities.
However, most importantly, unlike other historic buildings, a visit to a place of worship can also pose questions about spirituality, life and death, good and evil and contribute to personal and moral development. Churches can therefore play a particularly important part in the subjects of religious education (RE) and citizenship, where pupils learn about and from different religions and their places of worship, about similarities and difference, society and identity. The non-statutory National Framework for RE makes specific reference to the desirability of visiting places of worship right through the foundation stage to Key Stage 3 (4 -14 years).
It is estimated that around one million formal visits are made by school children to churches and cathedrals each year. Most cathedrals see education as one of their core responsibilities and are able to employ professional education officers and run education centres. Most parish churches do not have sufficient volunteers or funds to support school visits in this way. But there may be someone in your parish who would like to take up the challenge of welcoming school groups. This may be done in partnership with the teacher, who may explain the history and architecture, together with someone from the parish who can talk about the Christian faith. Some dioceses provide training for volunteers as well as clergy for talking about faith to educational and tourist groups.
Likewise, the obstacles of worries about security and facilities are often exaggerated. Church insurers have shown that opening your church outside of services does not increase but, in fact, reduce the security risk. A well-planned and managed school visit is unlikely to need any special facilities, except perhaps toilets, but a preliminary discussion with the school will help identify any issues which need to be addressed.
Opening the church to school groups and visitors in general can bring benefits for the parish and the local community as well. Working with local schools can build pride in the church, enhance the life in the community and strengthen the link between the church and its neighbourhood.
November 2007
Further Information
The following resource can give you some ideas and guidance how churches can be used for school visits.
Clive Fewins, Be a Church Detective (Canterbury Press, 2005).
Virginia Johnston, Mike Corbishley and Liz Hollinshead, Exploring Churches (Churches Conservation Trust, 2004). (available from the Churches Conservation Trust)
The website of the National Society for Promoting Religious Education contains guidance for parishes preparing to host school visits.
RE Online encourages teachers to use both local and national places of worship for out-of-classroom teaching in order to give pupils first hand experiences of religious buildings and the communities they serve.
Heritage Counts 2007, English Heritage's annual survey of the state of England's historic environment, focused on learning and skills and included successful case studies of education initiatives in both cathedrals and parish churches.
