BID FOR STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT FUNDING ADDENDUM A: CHILDREN CHANGING PLACES 1 CONTENTS 1. Summary 4 2. Project plan changes 5 3. Issues in the letter inviting us forward 5 4. Progress or change to strategy which are relevant 7 5. Changes in cost and any change in grant requested 7 6. Description and Project plan 9 7. Discipleship Pathway 11 8. Milestone Plan – the first 100 days 12 9. Early Years and Fresh Expressions 16 10. Primary Years 18 11. Secondary Years 22 12. Stakeholder engagement - from plan to implementation 25 13. The Risk Register 27 14. Financial information 28 15. Sustainability 30 16. Evaluation – measures 31 2 APPENDICES Appendix 1 - Draft Job Descriptions 33 Appendix 2 - Maps of Toddler Groups and Messy Church in three deaneries 37 Appendix 3 – Toddler Group and Fresh Expressions Exemplars 41 Appendix 4 – Allocation of DCFW/CE Primary Schools with numbers on roll 44 Appendix 5 – CE Primary School Exemplar 51 Appendix 6 – Year 6 to Year 7 Transition Map 53 Appendix 7 – Discipleship Pathway Development 54 Appendix 8 – Years 7 to 11 – How this might look 57 Appendix 9 – Secondary Exemplars 60 Appendix 10 – Connecting Churches 61 Appendix 11 – Domestic Isonen On The Road 62 Appendix 12 – Stakeholder Engagement Feedback – from Bid to Plan 64 Appendix 13 – Schools’ Context 68 Appendix 14 – Evidence Base 69 Appendix 15 – Comparator Bid to Plan cost differentials 71 3 1. Summary Our over-arching aim is to create a discipleship pathway for children and young people in three Deaneries in the Bolton Archdeaconry covering the entire geography of Bolton Council (population 284,000), We plan to: create new (and change existing) church-based Toddler groups that are distinctively Christian and intentionally missional in their activity and relationship with the parish; simultaneously, create new expressions of church for Early Years and primary school age children and their families through the fresh expression of Messy Church, Messy Tots, Diddy Disciples, Diary of a Disciple and similar, linked to parishes and schools; as children transition from Early Years provision into CE primary schools, provide a pathway from pre-school to primary school for rising 5s; we would then create opportunities for them to develop their discipleship in our 30 CE schools1 and 22 parishes in Bolton, preparing them for the crucial transition to CE high school (over and above existing educational and worship opportunities); straddle the Year 6/Year 7 pathway of transition to high school with the authentic and consistent support of the same familiar adults; provide a ‘safe-landing’ into CE high school (the three schools in the Bishop Fraser multi academy trust) for those pupils from a wide variety and large number (30) of CE primary schools, in order that these young people will be encouraged and enabled to continue their pathway of discipleship in a secure and receptive environment – that safe-landing would also be promoted for pupils arriving from other primary schools; deliver distinctively Christian activities and opportunities in the schools in the Bishop Fraser Trust and related parishes that will enable the development, and measurement, of their Christian discipleship for a minimum of 12 engagements (over and above the norm) in each year; Chaplaincy Assistants and Deanery Children and Family Workers (DCFW) will link with, and be rooted-in, churches where there is existing missional strength and energy in children and youth work supported by the clergy; lead these young people towards a more mature understanding of their discipleship pathway as they confirm their own faith and desire to express their own leadership potential. Following consultation feedback, this now includes our only school in the Blackburn with Darwen local authority although sited in the Walmsley Deanery. 1 We have now included Turton and Edgeworth CE/Methodist Primary School which is in Blackburn with Darwen local authority, but in Walmsley Deanery 4 2. Project plan changes Chaplaincy Assistants – Bishop Fraser Trust The most significant change to the original plan is the additional proposal to appoint Chaplaincy Assistants to be attached to, and support, our existing school chaplains in the Bishop Fraser Trust of three secondary academies. Their specific role is ‘providing safe-landing’ and developing further discipleship pathways for young people, linked to our parishes and churches. Chaplaincy Assistants could be young adults who, by the nature of their age, will have much in common with the pupils in the school creating a familiar but appropriate relationship and the opportunity to be an effective Christian role model. Chaplaincy Assistants would be rooted in a local church which already has missional strength in youth work. This would also be an investment in their own vocational Christian pathway. Additional resources We have also added a modest amount of funding for recruitment costs and resource funding for Deanery Children and Family workers. The Diocese plans to provide bespoke administrative support of 0.5 of a post and has trimmed DCFW costs by making contracts term time only. 3. Issues in the letter inviting us forward The issues in the letter inviting us forward (italicised), and our responses, are set out below: The Board stressed that the proposition to engage with children and families at points of transition is key for the wider church and must be held on to as the project is developed. The ‘transition points’ are key to our theme of ‘Children Changing Places’ and the weight of our efforts and investment of staff time (hence resources) will be focussed on the Toddler Group to Reception Class transition, and from Year 6 in CE primary school to Year 7 in the Bishop Fraser Trust tri-academies, hence the enhancement of our ‘offer’ at this point with the Chaplaincy Assistants. It asked that the project plan clarify how the later stages of Children Changing Places will link to local church life, and in this context whether there is scope for investing (for example) in churches in schools where this would be beneficial. Although the focus of the work of the secondary school Chaplaincy Assistants is within the school, the involvement in the work of their link parish is equally important. Such parishes, identified in this Plan (Appendix 10), already have missional strength with young people. We will connect each Chaplaincy Assistant with their ‘home church’ that becomes not only a spiritual home for them during this two-year Chaplaincy Assistantship, but also strengthens the existing relationship between that particular parish and the school. Through regular involvement and leadership in the parish’s youth provision the opportunity arises to develop relationships further with young people who are pupils in their link school. The joint-role nature of the post-holder enhances and strengthens the relationship between the school and the church, whilst providing 5 additional leadership for the parish based youth work. ‘Church in school’ is more common in Bolton than in any other local authority in our Diocese. In three of our CE primary schools: St George’s, the Hoskers, Westhoughton; St Thomas’, Chequerbent; and St Simon and St Jude’s, Farnworth; the church and the school are the same place – two of them specifically designed and purpose-built in this way. The Church Commissioners funded a three-year research project into this development. Over time, and as more church buildings become unfit for purpose, we anticipate that church in school will become increasingly popular and synergised in local communities. This can apply to both primary and secondary school phases or to specialist, age- appropriate, worship taking place in school environments. Such worshipping communities may reflect Sunday worship as currently practised in individual churches but will also apply to Fresh Expressions gatherings which may meet at times and days other than Sunday mornings. Please refer to Appendix 2 (midweek evening service at St Catherine’s) and Appendix 9 (Café 10:10) for an example of this. Whether the ethos groups were intentionally evangelistic. Ethos/worship groups and similar groups within primary schools are not all intentionally evangelistic but most are missional as they provide children with the opportunity to explore and develop their own faith. This is achieved as they consider Christian values, look at the Bible, through prayer, and as they encourage other pupils to engage in worship. All CE schools are evangelistic in that they model the Christian faith through Christian values and collective worship, but it is not the role of the school to evangelise (‘seek to convert’) or proselytize, particularly in a town like Bolton where CE schools serve multi- faith, multi-ethnic communities. It is their role to open up discipleship pathways for pupils that wish to follow them and intentionally create the space for that development to occur. The role of CE schools is to nurture those of faith, honour those of other faiths and challenge those of no faith. This approach has been endorsed in the Archbishop’s recent publication, Re-Imagining Britain: Foundations for Hope: “In many Church of England schools in areas of high immigration, although in some almost all the children belong to a non-Christian faith community, the ethos of the school has remained Christian while respecting religious diversity. In the vast majority of cases, the incidental outcomes have included very good education and a growing capacity to relate to difference, while building genuine community. All education must be seen as a principal place confidently to develop values that are widely held. We must not be fearful of developing the narrative of who we are and why it matters.” “A primary school ethos group builds, drives and models core Christian values, impacting significantly on educational standards, school attendance, personal development and spirituality.” – Jill Pilling, Headteacher, Bishop Bridgeman CE Primary School The Board asked that the project plan includes proposals for involving the diocese’s digital and education teams.