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Sanctum finished at the Sixth Form College on Friday. The overwhelming response has been positive with comments like "Very helpful. Really makes you think about life" and "Gave a good insight into who I am and who I want to be" as well as quite a few "inspirational", "beautiful" and "amazing!"
Over 225 students took part - this we know from a count up of all those who did the dressing up activity at the beginning and had a photo taken. These are now displayed on the Chaplaincy notice board:
Quite a few students came back to talk more or to do activities again and some popped in for a look without going for the whole "Journey of Life" thing.
So what have we learned?
Chaplaincy and Sanctum. The link with Chaplaincy, in the person of Kathryn who works for us, has been of immense value. Not only has her presence in the college beforehand created a positive expectation around Sanctum, but also Sanctum has enlarged her role and students' awareness of her. Each of these two aspects of our work have been enhanced and supportet by the other.
Space isn't an issue! The limited space on the concourse meant we had to consider carefully what activities we would include. Focussing around just six activities and linking them to the theme "Jouney of life" created a very unified message and an obvious path or flow to the experience. It helped that, unlike in school, we didn't have vast numbers arriving simultaneously although we did have two lesson groups of 15 which was just about the maximum capacity for Sanctum.
Other space. One of the big surprises was how many people used the quiet room which had been beautifully themed but was otherwise left for people to engage with in their own way. It helped that a number of Christians from the college helped set up the room and then made use of it throughout the week.
This was the first time the Christian students had identified the room as somewhere they could pray (it's available at any time, but is rather dull and unattractive!) and it's clear that others also ventured into the quiet room, even if some of their contributions were less than respectful. Some editorial intervention had taken place throughout the week to ensure that what was expressed was appropriate to the context of the room. There was such a strong feeling about the room remaining available in its 'prayer room' format that we extended this part of Sanctum for another week.
An obvious 'journey'. Providing an obvious starting point (the photo and the named luggage tag) and a clear end point (choosing three from the 21 character values) gave us a much stronger opportunity to talk to students about their lives, their hopes and the idea of a God who is there for them. The team, and Kathryn in particular, had some amazing and in depth conversations with students.
The flip side of all this is that once they'd had their conversation about character and completed their luggage tag it pretty much felt like they'd "done" Sanctum and didn't need to return. Some did though, and others came back with friends who they'd persuaded to do it.
The value of personal conversations. The final activity, selecting three character values that you hope to be known by in several years time, provided an awesome opportunity to talk in more depth with students. In many ways this was the most significant aspect of the week. In schools, when dealing with larger numbers, this degree of one to one conversation is much harder to provide for, but this is something we'd like to try to offer in the future.
The presence of Snactum was warmly welcomed by staff up to and including the Principal and we expect to be able to repeat this next year. This was our third year here and it felt as though we'd finally discovered the best way of running Sanctum in the college. And that's one of the fascinating challenges with Prayer Spaces in Schools, no two are the same and there's always something new to learn because each is a partnership between the school (college) and the team delivering it.
As well as another few dozen first time visits we've had quite a few people returning today to continue their 'journey', which is pretty much what we would expect at this stage in the week. Some students have been bringing friends with them who they think should experience Sanctum and we've also had a few people who came back just to chat in greater depth. There have also been a number of staff who stopped off on their way past to read the student's responses and do one or two of the activities themselves. Being in a public space that is also a through route has been an immense benefit.
Here are some quotes from students today:
We're so glad that the format this year creates an opportunity to chat to students like the one leaving the last comment. This is just one example of many today that demonstrate the huge benefit of running Sanctum where it connects with the work of Kathryn, the Chaplain.
Finally, here are some photos of our two prop box friends enjoying Sanctum activities during a quiet moment.
Squishy, the octopus, checking out the mirrors activity and Aslan listening to the forgiveness audio track.
The level of enthusiasm and involvement from students and staff continues.
On Tuesday we had lesson visits from two "Theory of Knowledge" groups from the College IB course. Both groups were moving from discussion about scientific knowledge to an exploration of the role that faith may play in understanding and knowledge. We had a great morning with these groups, talking about faith in general, our faith in particular, and introducing them to Sanctum. Kathryn, our Chaplain at the college, also shared her story of how she became a Christian from a very sceptical background and the experience of God that completely changed her life. These groups were a real privilege to connect with and some of the students subsequently came back to spend more time at Sanctum
As with Monday, the prayer space in the college quiet room continued to fill with prayers on all four walls. There is already a strong movement to keep it open in its current form beyond this week, such is the enthusiasm for a constant prayer space within the college.
On Wednesday we once again had a steady stream of visitors - we think we're getting about 50 a day. The most accurate way of gauging attendance is by counting the number of people in the photos we take of them at the beginning of their visit, though there are always others who are making a return visit. We take the photos as part of a fancy dress activity introducing them to the idea of a life journey. These photos are printed out and pinned to the Chaplaincy notice board to demonstrate that we're part of a community on a journey together. Obviously these photos are taken with permission of the students (only 4 have said no so far!) and are not for any other use, so I won't be posting them anywhere.
But here's an example, showing our Chapain, Kathryn (unrecognisable as Mickey, or is it Minnie, Mouse!) and our friend Ruth who was helping today. Also, Aslan, who is helping us for the week.
In a first for us, this Sanctum has a definite start and finish point for each visitor. The fancy dress photo is the introduction and writing your name on a luggage tag is the start. Students then circulate among the six activities (the fewest we've had, but limited here by space) before checking in with one of the team again to do the final 'value cards' activity, described on Monday. This is a guided activity and it's defintely giving Sanctum so much more depth in creating opportunities for some amazing conversations and, for some students, a kind of basic life-coaching. It feels as though we've stumbled upon something really powerful and I'm looking forward to developing this in the next Sanctum we run, which is back in a secondary school.
Sadly, the College has been rocked by the tragic death of a student in an accident on Monday, and today the whole college observed a 2 minute silence. It's been a privilege to be in the college, to be able to share in the grief, and to have team members available, Kathryn in particular, should any student (or member of staff) want to chat, even if briefly. Some have, and a few prayers have appeared in the quiet room prayer space.
Here are some of today's visitor book quotes:
What an amazing first day. This is the third year that we've run Sanctum at Colchester Sixth Form College but we've never had a response like this. Although we have a much smaller space than previously, the significant difference is that rather than being tucked away in a classroom, we're slap bang in the middle of College life on the concourse. This is what it looks like from the first floor balcony.
This year we've themed Sanctum around the idea of life's journey, with a tag line, "If life's a journey, welcome to check-in." Students 'check in' by writing their name on a luggage tag and then follow the seven activities which focus on our identity, relationships and character. Once they've done these they come back to the activity with the luggage tag to think about the sort of person they want to be in the future, choosing their top three character values from a list of 21 (things like Integrity, Love, Honesty, Compassion and Reliability) and writing these on the back of their tag to take away as a reminder. When things are less hectic and students aren't in a hurry, we've been using a series of cards with these values on them to open up conversations about what's important to them which has led to much openness and reflection on life's priorities.
With the much smaller space this year the capacity of Sanctum is much reduced. But the tradeoff, being in a public space and having a strong theme has meant we had about 75 people through during the day with a near constant stream of visitors, both students and staff. At one point a Philosophy teacher and his class of 15 turned up to try out Sanctum as part of their course on 'religious experience', leading to a brilliant time of discussion afterwards.
At 4:30 we packed away the valuable stuff and before we left, went to have a look in at the other prayer space activity that's tucked away in another part of the college. There is a multi-faith quiet room which, to be honest, is nothing more than a small room which used to have washing machines in it. For the Sanctum week the team, with help from the CU, decked it out with drapes, lights, bean bags and post-it notes. We wanted to leave it set up as a quiet prayer space and allow the students to interact with it entirely in their own way - there's no team member there during the college day.
When we walked in to see how the room had been used it took our breath away. There were honest heartfelt prayers on every wall. In one corner a girl had poured out her feelings in a blizzard of post-it notes - and nearby someone else had written a prayer for the girl. Prayers from the Christian students mingled naturally with the (maybe prayerful) hopes of others. The sense of peace and of God's nearness was tangible; it is a thin place. And all this after just one day.
Brilliant, charming, moving, in places very funny and deserving of the Oscar nominations that it has attracted.
A royal heir overcoming a stammer sounds initially like a rather thin premise for a 2 hour film. But David Seidler's sensitive story of the future King George VI and his friendship with Lionel Logue, his slightly unconventional speech therapist, brings to the fore the social and cultural setting of its time and a monarchy struggling with controversy and coming to terms with a new age of communication.
Colin Firth is amazing as George VI, but I was also moved by Geoffrey Rush's portrayal of Lionel Logue, and Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth (the Queen's mother). Timothy Spall achieves a very passable Winston Churchill, with perhaps a slight comedic twist, though if stories about Churchill are to be believed this could be a fair reflection!
The characters, the wonderful settings and the unfolding story combine to give the film just the right pace without feeling either hurried or dragging. The sense of desparation in George VI as well as the urgency of needing to overcome his stammer remain palpable right up to the final speech of the film's title, delivered at the dawn of the second world war.
George VI's dilemma, and ultimately, triumph, is summed up in his frustrated recognition of the role that he plays in national life;
"If I am King, where is my power? Can I declare war? Form a government? Levy a tax? No! And yet I am the seat of all authority because they think that when I speak, I speak for them."
And so, in his day, he did.
