Anna Shaw
CPAS Schools, Youth & Children’s Specialist and author of the Grove Book: ‘Growing Faith in Schools’ (2025)
This summer my youngest child finished primary school. I don't know who was sadder - the school staff or me! My daughter, meanwhile, is excited to join her brothers at secondary school.
Over the four years we have been part of this school community, relationships have grown deep: with staff, families and pupils. School has become one of the places in my week where conversations most naturally lean God-wards.
At the end of term, I wrote a number of cards thanking staff for their investment in our children. One card I received in return particularly moved me. It reflected on the different ways our family had been a blessing to the school community. Interestingly, it wasn't the RE lessons I had supported, the assemblies I had led, or the club I had helped run that were highlighted.
It was the cakes sent in with prayers attached. It was the encouraging emails. It was the way my children had served others. In other words, the things that took the least time from me often seemed to have had the greatest impact.
In 1 Thessalonians 2:8, Paul writes:
‘Because we loved you so much, we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well.’
Perhaps that is part of what schools are looking for: not simply activities or programmes, but people willing to share their lives.
The challenge of school ministry
Through my work at CPAS, I spend a lot of time helping churches build effective partnerships with their local schools so that pupils can experience Christianity in ways that are meaningful, authentic and life-enhancing. Most church leaders understand why this matters. With relatively few children and young people regularly attending church, schools remain one of the most significant places of connection with children, families and communities.
Yet almost every conversation eventually reaches the same point. We’d love to do more but…
- The vicar is leading multiple churches.
- The children's worker (if there is one!) is stretched.
- Volunteers are busy.
The desire is there, but the capacity often isn't. So: how do we make a meaningful impact without dramatically increasing workload?
Seeing differently
This is why I began with my own story. Not because I want to suggest everyone should do more. Quite the opposite. I want to suggest that we may need to think differently.
Many of the things that consumed the most time and stress for me were not necessarily the things that left the deepest impression.
What mattered most were often the relational things: praying for staff, writing encouragements, baking cakes, noticing people, building friendships, showing kindness. These are things that almost any church member can do. They do not require theological training. They do not require standing at the front of an assembly hall. They simply require people who are attentive to others and willing to bless.
Interestingly, in the multiple schools that I have been involved with (as parent, teacher, governor and through my CPAS work), Christians have needed encouragement and support to (a) see and (b) make the most of the opportunities they have.
Mobilising the whole church
As the end of our primary school journey approached, I pondered:
- How do I encourage other Christian families to step in as we step out?
- How do we deepen a culture of prayer, encouragement and service among church families?
- How do we help teachers recognise the gifts and support available within the Christian families already in their community?
- How do we connect willing church volunteers with schools through the relationships parents already have?
- How do we ensure that prayer groups, Bible clubs and relationships continue beyond the involvement of one family?
One of the most strategic things church leaders can do is not simply engage with schools themselves, but equip and encourage others to do so.
Different people, different roles
What fascinates me is that none of this necessarily increases the workload of the vicar or children's worker in the long term.
Parents have access to conversations and relationships that church leaders often don't – I am going to miss this now that we are fully entering the secondary phase! Teachers within our congregations understand school life from the inside and are uniquely placed as doorkeepers to the school. Governors have a different perspective again. Retired members may have time available during the day that others lack.
Meanwhile, church leaders often have opportunities that parents do not, for example, relationships with Headteachers, leading collective worship, supporting staff, and helping shape the wider partnership.
We each bring something different. Together, we all form a team.
Perhaps the question is not: ‘How can I do more in my local school?’ but ‘How can I help the people God has already placed in that school community recognise the part they have to play?’
When we begin asking that question, school ministry becomes more sustainable and often more fruitful. It ceases to be the responsibility of one enthusiastic vicar, children's worker or volunteer and becomes part of the culture and shared life of the whole church.
And that matters, because the opportunity before us is enormous.
Standing in a Long Tradition
The origins of many of our Church schools can be traced back to the Sunday School movement of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
Faced with rapid social change, widespread poverty and limited educational opportunities, ordinary Christians recognised that the formation of children mattered. They taught literacy, shared the Bible, nurtured character and offered children a different story about who they were and what their lives could become. In doing so, they helped shape not only individuals but communities and, ultimately, wider society.
Today, we find ourselves in a different context, but perhaps facing a similar challenge.
The children and young people in our schools are being formed every day. As I explored in a recent CPAS article, schools inevitably help pupils answer questions such as: What kind of world is this? What should I hope for? What makes a good life?
Whether intentionally or unintentionally, stories about identity, purpose, belonging and the future are constantly being communicated.
That is why schools matter so much. They are one of the few places where an entire community gathers around these questions daily. Children, families and staff are all seeking ways to make sense of life. Few places offer such a natural opportunity for Christians to share not only the gospel, but their lives as well.
Working smarter, not harder
This is why CPAS Schools exists. We believe churches can become a richer gospel resource for their local schools, not through doing more and more activity, but through maximising the existing opportunities:
- Training that takes the partnership between church and school leaders to a much deeper level.
- Simple, clear, free resources that make existing activities, such as school residentials, more fruitful.
- Support for church leaders to unlock their congregation to catch and sustain a vision of living richly for and with Jesus in their school: pupils, parents, teachers, governors, church members, vicars, children's and youth workers... Different people, different roles, same God, shared mission.
If this excites you, we'd love to help. Join us on 16 September for our free online webinar Working Smarter, Not Harder, where we'll explore practical ways churches are building meaningful school partnerships without significantly increasing workload.
You can also find further training, resources and support at www.cpas.org.uk/schools.
Anna Shaw
CPAS Schools, Youth & Children’s Specialist and author of the Grove Book: ‘Growing Faith in Schools’ (2025)