For most children, this is the last week of the summer term, a week marked by a whole range of different emotions. There is celebration of all that has been achieved in the last academic year, recognising how children have been able to learn and grow, discover new things, and develop their skills and understanding. There may also be some sorrow at missed opportunities; not everything will have turned out as we might have hoped. Yet there is learning here too, lessons for the life that we all have to navigate in later years. There will most certainly be a sense of tiredness, perhaps even exhaustion. Learning is hard work, and teaching even harder!
Then, of course, for students and staff alike, there will be excitement and anticipation as they look forward to the summer break, with its opportunity to reset and restore, to be refreshed, whether through a different rhythm of life at home, or a trip away. As Isaiah writes: “In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.” (Isaiah 30:15).
So this week I want to begin by saying thank you: thank you to teachers, school staff, governors, parents and children, all who are involved in the life of our schools. Thank you for all you have given and all you have been over this last year. In offering that thanks, I also want to wish everyone a happy, restful and renewing holiday.
In writing this, I also want to recognise how much we demand of our schools and our teachers, and the expectations we place upon them. Just a week ago, Bishop Rachel and I met with a group of our Bishops’ Visitors to schools, volunteers whose ministry is one of pastoral care. They visit schools not to inspect or report back, but to listen, to encourage, and simply to be present in the joys and sorrows of school life.
Listening to them reflect on their visits, I was struck again by what a gift our schools are: communities in which life in all its fullness – the fullness of joy and sorrow, failure and success, consensus and conflict – is lived out daily. I was reminded of the way in which our schools are an expression of our wider Church life, both in worship and in service to the whole community.
But I was reminded also of the challenges our schools face. Some of these are difficult but (just) manageable: tight budgets and limited resources. Others are far more challenging: building community in an increasingly polarised world where, rather than seeking solutions by looking for common ground and pursuing mutually agreed resolutions, we often look instead for blame and vindication.
In this light, my prayer is that the summer break – that moment when we step back and rest – will allow all of us a chance to reset, to look again towards the wider horizon of what we seek, and to commit ourselves not simply to what I want, but to the common good and to the values of the Kingdom for which, as a Church, we are called to work.
Jesus says: “Strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well” (Matthew 6:33). I offer this verse for the summer weeks ahead, as all of us, whether of school age or not, live, I hope, a little differently. May it be an opportunity to lay before God the things that really matter; to be refreshed and renewed, restored for all that lies ahead in the year to come.
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Great letter, Bishop R,
Thank you!
As ex-schoolmaster I welcome all you say here- let’s hope your wise words are heeded!
Thank you Bishop Robert for these thoughtful and wise words .