Meeting Report
[Source: Sheenagh Burrell]
Jo and Andy Beale spoke on their first eight months living in Niassa and working on the WASH Water, Sanitation and Health) project. It was special to have Andy Brookes, General Secretary of the Diocese of London, welcome Jo and Andy and to have four A level geographers and their teacher from Lady Margaret School join us. Jo Beale has since shared recent news – highs and lows – of a well building project along the Lakeshore which will interest attendees at the meeting. Well worth reading this blog. I was fascinated to learn there is now a road to Ngofi.
a) the longstanding link between St Mary’s Hampton and Mandimba with Revd Derek Winterburn and Kel Razza sharing the history and most recent visit in September and Fiona Rowett speaking on the Goods Seeds project which involves St Mary’s in supporting orphan and vulnerable children, identified by their partner church, to attend high school by paying for fees, uniform, and books. The film is very moving and the young people so grateful for the support received.
The young people of Mandimba linked us to the main topic of the evening:
b) the preview of ALMA: RE with Soul, a new resource for teaching RE and global citizenship. This uses two ALMA Links – Twyford and Maciene School Link; and the Blair Peach Primary School/Southall Churches Lichinga link banner project as case studies. Revd John Seymour (ALMA Schools Twinning Officer and Twyford School Chaplain) and Rachel Woods (RE Consultant) introduced us to RE with Soul, a web-based resource for RE teaching at Key Stage 2 and 3, designed to deliver RE in keeping with the new National Curriculum. The ALMA links mentioned help illustrate the ‘Loving our neighbour’ module.
ALMA Reps, Link Priests, Head teachers and RE teachers came to learn about this initiative which will be formally launched in January 2015. Reactions were very positive and there was great appreciation of the help it will provide as stepping stones for schools to partner with churches in setting up their own links.
The resources open an exciting opportunity for ALMA’s growth and development: for closer working between schools and churches, a more focussed role for some ALMA reps and for increased link relationships in ALMA and Mozambique. We are very grateful to Culham St Gabriel’s Trust for making this possible.
The resources can be viewed at: www.rewithsoul.co.uk/