During the latest Story Bag lesson (all about Psalm 8), the Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children at St Mary’s, Askham Richard had a go at writing their own version of Psalm 8, thinking about the things in the world that amaze them, and how they should treat the world. It was such an encouragement to see that they had picked up the spirit of the psalm, and were able to express that in their own way. Here it is:
Our Special Poem:
Wow! Look at this world!
I see exciting cricket and I say, “Awesome!”
I see a rolling football and I say, “Yesss!”
I see scary dinosaurs and I say, “Aaargh!”
I see a surprising duck’s nest and I say, “Shhhhh!”
‘I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from this day until now.’ Philippians 1:3
They trudged down the wet cobbled streets of York, raincoats covering their Hope Invasion hoodies, our band of Street Invaders, returning to base after an afternoon of slicing fruit and sharing faith. (There were more activities on offer than the fruit stall by the way!).
‘Do you know why we are doing this?’ one of the girls asked someone at her stand.
The person simply shook their head in response.
‘Because we want to tell people that Jesus loves them.’
The person smiled.
I was there as an eye witness.
‘I prayed with an old lady on the street today’ said another of the young people, as their confidence and conviction grew and strengthened. In just two days I saw that growth, and witnessed a transformation in our own young people. It was a privilege to be part of such a great group. Not only the fifty plus teenagers who took to the streets of York but also the youth workers and volunteers who were a part of the Hope Invasion.
Working together, being partners in sharing the gospel, the church in action, in the schools and on the streets. This was the hallmark of Hope Invasion, but also a blueprint from the Bible. You and I were never encouraged or designed to be Lone Rangers but to be a part of a body and to work together as one.
There are over seventy schools in York City, and however big a team there is at YoYo, we cannot sufficiently cover all of these amazing school communities, but together...
‘I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from this day until now.’ Philippians 1:3
We are so encouraged by how faithful you are at praying for us, both at home and at our prayer meetings. If you live in the York area and are able to come and join us at one or more of the following events, we’d love to see you there.
Monday 14th 7:30-8:30pm Prayer Meeting at St Cuthbert’s, Peasholme Green Come and hear stories of what the team has been up to and pray with us for the term ahead.
Thursday 17th 4:30-8:00pm Creative Prayer at St Cuthbert’s, Peasholme Green All ages welcome at this drop-in session, based on our Orison prayer days in schools
Friday 18th 10:30-11:45am Cake & Prayer at Elim Corner, First Floor, 47-49 Lawrence Street, York, YO10 3BU. Arrive at 10:30 for coffee & cake followed by prayer.
Whether or not you can join us in person, please click the link below for a day-by-day home prayer guide...
31 primary schools, 7000 pupils, 31 Easter assemblies, 57 Easter lessons, 8 hours hiding in PE cupboards, and one song played 155 times!
We had an incredible 3 weeks during the It’s Your Easter programme this year. Let me explain a couple of those statistics. During the Easter assembly Anna and myself had 7 costume changes between us which meant spending quite a bit of time hiding in the PE cupboard in the school halls. The song we used was played a couple of times as the children came into assembly, then we taught it, they sang it and it was usually requested to be played at the end. We certainly know it well now!
The Easter story was retold in assembly in the style of the popular TV programme Horrible Histories. This seemed to go down very well with both children and teachers alike. One Grandma emailed to say that she had been delighted to hear her 5 year old Grandson retelling all the events of Easter week: “He telephoned me after school to tell me that he knew what a 'big word 'meant. The 'big word' being resurrection. He related the story of Jesus ‘coming alive again after 3 days’.” We hope and pray that many other children will also remember the Easter story and it’s powerful message for years to come.
Alongside the assembly we also offered a Y2 lesson and a Y5 drama workshop that helped to bring the emotions and details of Easter week to life.
Here are a selction of the comments we have received on the feedback forms:
“I thought it was the best YoYo assembly I’d seen!” Teacher from Acomb primary school
“Engaged the children and did not shy away from difficult issues, thank you.” Rufforth primary school
“It was epic!” William, aged 9
“YoYo are awesome – I wish they could come every week?” Alex, aged 10, Naburn primary school
“The whole Easter assembly was outstanding” teacher, Hempland primary school
“The YoYo team are always so enthusiastic and creative, bringing all the Bible stories to life in a meaningful way. Thank you.” Teacher, Archbishop of York primary school.
“I really like YoYo coming in because there are some things I didn’t know and now I know.” Pupil, St Lawrence primary school.
“Sharing a message of hope with the young people of York in 2012”
In the run up to the Easter holidays the YoYo team will be joining youth workers from across the city to bring live bands and drama groups to many of York’s secondary schools for concerts, assemblies and RS lessons.
We’ll be bringing Manchester-based band twelve24 as well as YoYo’s This Resistance and a drama group.
Hope Invasion culminates with young people sharing their faith on the streets of York, and a huge free concert in Rowntree’s Park on 4th April from 3 ‘til 7pm.
At Archbishop of York’s Junior School, the stage was set – the two armies of children eyed each other nervously across the school hall. David had a sling and some pebbles, but towering on the other side was the giant Goliath, with a long spear and enormous shield. Goliath raised his spear and, quick as a flash, David slipped a pebble into his sling and hurled it into the air. Everyone gasped as the giant fell to the floor with a crash, not least myself and the teachers, who were worried that Tim, one of the heroic Open the Book volunteers, might not make it up again!
It was perhaps one of the most extraordinary assemblies I have ever seen, and the children were absolutely enthralled the whole time, as is the case with all the Open the Book assemblies throughout York. Over the past few weeks, Jenny, Tony and I have been privileged to go and visit the seven teams who are currently leading Open the Book assemblies in eight ofYork’s primary schools. These teams are all made up of local volunteers, often retired people or Mums, but also the odd youth worker. It is a great joy to see what great relationships are built up between the teams and their local schools.
Several other primary schools in York would love to have Open the Book assemblies too, so if you think you could spare a couple of hours a week to share Bible stories with children in your area, please do get in touch by emailing
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, or calling 01904 631148. You don’t need to be the next Lawrence Olivier; you just need lots of enthusiasm!
This half term, Jenny and Anna have had loads of fun using the Zacchaeus Story Bag with Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 in Naburn and St Mary’s Primary Schools. During the story, the classes had to remember a repeated chorus all about Zacchaeus (see above). They also made some excellent sound effects for the noisy crowd trying to see Jesus, the rustling of the tree Zacchaeus was climbing, and the clinking coins as Zacchaeus repaid the money he had stolen.
After the story, we thought about how someone might change their behaviour because of having heard this story, perhaps trying to be more kind, or to be friendly to people who are being left out. We drew pictures of these actions on leaf shapes, and then stuck them on some backing paper to make a tree collage, with Zacchaeus hiding in the branches, and Jesus at the bottom. We finished off with a fun song about ‘Little Zac’ and lots of noisy instruments!
After noting how many children in schools are struggling with a bereavement or parental separation we have decided to trial a new programme to York’s schools called ‘Lost and Found’. This is a seven week nationally run course consisting of seven 50-60 minute sessions delivered by trained YoYo workers. The course is suitable for both primary and secondary school pupils who have experienced loss through either divorce/separation or bereavement. The sessions cover the following topics:
1. What is loss? A general introduction to loss, looking wider than just loss through death. 2. What is happening to me? Looking at denial and shock. 3. It makes me so mad! A look at anger related to loss and ways to cope with it. 4. I promise… How and why we bargain when we go through big changes. 5. No way out? Sadness and how it affects us when we have lost someone close.
6. I’m just used to it now and life’s OK! Acceptance, forgiveness and hope for the future. 7. Evaluation session, and considering longer term one-to-one sessions with some pupils.
Each session also contains ‘Take a Look at the Book’ - a Christian perspective on the topic for the students to consider.
While on the surface, pupils may appear to be coping, inside they may be angry or even feel guilty. School work may suffer and behavioural changes may cause inexplicable outbursts or tears. The aim of the course is to enable students to identify feelings behind loss experiences and provide strategies to deal with and grow through such emotions.
If the trial goes well then we hope to be able to offer the Lost & Found course to York's schools throughout the year.
The primary team are busy visiting lots of schools from the 23rd January to the 10th February with the It's Your Bible programme.
This programme was written last year to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the King James Bible. However a few schools requested the Y6 lessons again this year, which consist of three one hour lessons taught over a three week period. These interactive 1 hour lessons present a memorable Bible overview. The lessons cover the following areas:
What is the Bible? How do you use the Bible? Exploring Christian beliefs about creation (RE Unit 6.5) and ‘the fall’ through Godly Play story-telling and class discussion.
Continuing to creatively go through the Bible from Noah to the prophets, including a study of the 10 commandments (RE Unit 6:3).
Continuing the story from Jesus to Revelation, exploring the hope that Jesus’ life, death and return offers to Christians (RE Unit 6:4). How do Christians apply this to their everyday lives?
We will also be doing an It’s Your Bible assembly in many schools, which show how the Bible fits together from start to finish, pulling together all the Bible stories the children have heard thus far. We will also be leading the children in our It’s Your Bible action song which you can download here.
To watch the drama we did in assembly click 'play' below:
News
We had an incredible 3 weeks during the It’s Your Easter programme this year. Let me explain a couple of those statistics. During the Easter assembly Anna and myself had 7 costume changes between us which meant spending quite a bit of time hiding in the PE cupboard in the school halls. The song we used was played a couple of times as the children came into assembly, then we taught it, they sang it and it was usually requested to be played at the end. We certainly know it well now!
across the school hall. David had a sling and some pebbles, but towering on the other side was the giant Goliath, with a long spear and enormous shield. Goliath raised his spear and, quick as a flash, David slipped a pebble into his sling and hurled it into the air. Everyone gasped as the giant fell to the floor with a crash, not least myself and the teachers, who were worried that Tim, one of the heroic Open the Book volunteers, might not make it up again!
