Getting Started
Here’s where it all begins. Everything you need to get started.
You may be a parent, children’s, or youth worker. You may be a pupil, a teacher, or maybe involved in schools in some other way. Whoever you are, we’re delighted that you’re here and that you’re about to start a(nother) prayer space adventure.
Please take your time to work through these nine steps. They’re based on the experience of more than 5000 prayer spaces, so we’re pretty confident that you’ll find what you need here.
Here are a few Getting Started tips:
1. Read some stories
Stories of prayer spaces in other places will inspire you and help you to imagine your own. Read some of the recent stories on this website, and maybe send a few to the friends and colleagues you hope will help you with your prayer space.
2. Explore this website and join us on social media
If you use social media, follow these links to like our Facebook page and follow us on Instagram. These pages are suitable for connecting with others hosting prayer spaces in their local schools. Come and join in the conversations. Watch a few prayer space videos on our YouTube channel, too.
3. Go to a training workshop
Check our website regularly for upcoming workshops and training events in which the Prayer Spaces in Schools team is involved locally and internationally.
These events are always good for the training content and the opportunities to meet people who have hosted or are hosting prayer spaces in local schools.
A very fruitful opportunity is the training course in ‘Animating and Creating Prayer Spaces‘, organised by PFI and SDS. Read more about this course here.
4. Host a training workshop, or let’s have a coffee
If you can’t find a training workshop near you, we can deliver a wide range of seminar-style, discussion-based or interactive training events to fill a whole or half day, an hour session or even a coffee shop conversation, and we’d love to help you if we can. Get in touch, and let’s talk.
5. Visit a prayer space
Perhaps the best way to start your first prayer space is to see one in action. Or at least meet with someone who has hosted one near you.
One reason we try to keep track of all the prayer spaces as they happen is so that we can connect you with others who are hosting or have hosted one near you. To find out where the prayer spaces are going to be hosted, get in touch with us.
6. Pray
Lastly (or perhaps firstly?), it’s always good to pray. Talk with God about the school you’re thinking about, the one you already have connections with, and listen to what God says. Ask God to guide you into the right conversations with people at the right time. May the adventure continue.
Serving the School Community
Building a relationship that serves the whole school community.
Prayer spaces work best when there is a good relationship between the school community, the religious counsellor, the chaplain, and the parish.
- How is the connection between the school staff and the religious counsellor, who might also be the parish priest in state primary schools?
- Do pupils or parents participate in the Parishes and other religious communities?
Always start with existing relationships if possible. Arrange to meet with those you know in the school or the church to discuss the next steps.
Meeting with the School
If you are from a parish and, together with the religious counsellor, you’re scheduled to meet with one of the school’s Senior Leadership Team, it’s vital to prepare well. Think about what will be best to take with you – here are some suggestions:
- A short, single-page summary of how the prayer space could work, who would be involved, and how it could be followed up
- A couple of stories from prayer spaces in other schools, maybe with the contact details of the Headteachers
- A tablet with videos or photos of other prayer spaces
- Copies of any relevant Education Guides or Good Practice Guides
- Prayer Spaces in Schools brochures
- Connect with the National Prayer Spaces team for further information and support
If you do decide to plan a prayer space together, try and agree on some of the details – here are some questions:
- When will the prayer space open, and will it be open for a day or a week? You will need a few weeks to recruit a good team and plan everything well.
- What room/space is available? This will influence your prayer activities and the team size you’ll need. The sooner you know this, the better.
- Will the prayer space be open during lessons or break times? If classes are coming for their lessons, will the team be expected to deliver any particular content?
- Are there any key themes the school would like to include (e.g. exam stress, recovery, transition)? Are there any seasonal themes that could shape the style and content?
- What policies, guidelines, and other expectations must the team be aware of and prepared for (e.g., safeguarding and risk assessments)?
If you are from a parish, remember that you are there to serve the school community, to be ‘good news’. A well-hosted prayer space will enrich the school’s spiritual and pastoral life.
Several Benefits When You Register Your Prayer Space
Most importantly, when you register the prayer space, we can walk closely with you, connect with you, and learn and share your lessons and experiences. This way, we can encourage and inspire others to do the same. The Spiritual Development in Schools can:
- Offer support and advice.
- Provide new resources.
- Guide you with tips that are currently relevant.
- Connect you with others who are hosting prayer spaces.
Please fill in the form below with your preferred dates for your prayer space. Your details are confidential and will not be shared publicly.
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Choosing a Room
Finding a space that will work well for the school and the pupils.
Finding a location for a prayer space in a busy school is not always easy, but it’s not impossible. Somewhere in your school, there will be space at some time during the school year. Perhaps when pupils are away on a trip or study leave? Perhaps in a mobile classroom or a hall, a tent outside, or even a large cupboard?
Here are a few potential locations and the pros and cons that you need to consider:
Classroom
Most prayer spaces are in classrooms. You will want to transform the room, so check that you have permission to move furniture, cover displays, blackout windows, etc. Please take photos of the room beforehand so that you can return everything where it belongs.
Pros – Classrooms are easy to find. Pupils can usually visit during break times as well.
Cons – Re-timetabling classrooms can be challenging.
Small space/cupboard
You could use a break-out room or an unused cupboard if a classroom is unavailable. (Honestly, it has already been done a few times.)
Pros—It can be a cozy space for 3 or 4 pupils. It will only take a couple of team members to host it.
Cons – You will be limited to 3 or 4 prayer activities. Pupils will probably only visit for a few minutes.
School hall
Some prayer spaces are held in a school hall, using screens or gazebos to divide the large space into zones.
Pros – Whole classes can fit in easily. Most schools have a hall.
Cons – Halls can be difficult to ‘transform’. Halls are sometimes passageways to other parts of the school.
Outdoors
Some prayer spaces take place outdoors, again using gazebos and tents.
Pros—There are lots of great outdoor-themed prayer activities. Because the prayer space is in a different place, pupils often respond more informally.
Cons – The weather can be tricky. Electrical items are challenging to use. Security and safety issues.
Church
Some prayer spaces are set up in a nearby church building, with classes walking to and from it for their lesson times in the prayer space.
Pros – You do not have to re-timetable a school classroom. Several schools can visit the prayer space during the week. You have more time to set up and pack down. Recruiting volunteers is often easier.
Cons – It reinforces the idea that prayer belongs in ‘sacred buildings’. It is off-site, so visiting the whole school community may be harder. Re-visiting at break times can be more difficult, too.
Online
A local church building can be a good place to host your first prayer space, but if possible, host your next one in school. In our experience, prayer spaces work best in school.
Whatever location you choose for your prayer space, visit beforehand and maybe draw up a floor plan. You will need to consider things like:
- The size and shape of the room. What will fit in it?
- Plug sockets. Which prayer activities require electricity?
- Security. Will it be locked at night?
- Access (and emergency exits). How will pupils come in and out?
- Windows and lighting. What atmosphere do you want to create?
Choosing the Prayer Activities
Getting the right mix of prayer activities.
It’s important to choose and organise the prayer activities carefully so that the prayer space best serves and meets the needs of the whole school community.
Themes and Seasons
Some schools like to host prayer spaces at particular times of the year, e.g., Advent and Christmas, Lent and Easter, at the end of the year to support the transition, before exams/tests, etc.
Use a range of activities.
The UK nationwide research project (2017) into the impact of prayer spaces on the spiritual lives of children and young people reflected the findings of David Haye’s ‘Spirit of the Child’ study ten years previous – that their spiritual lives were expressed in four ways:
- Me and myself. Self-identity and self-worth
- Me and others. Relationships and reconciliation
- Me and the world. Other people and cultures. Peace and justice.
- Me and the ‘divine Other’. Faith and God
As you explore the activities in our resource library, you will find that they represent these four areas. Select a couple of prayer activities from each area for your prayer space.
Creating prayer activities
Creating your own prayer activities is easy and a good exercise for pupils. To get started, we recommend using the ‘Why they work’ guidelines on our How to use webpage.
If you create new prayer activities or adapt some of the ones from our resource library, and once you’ve tried and tested them, please send them to us so that we can share them.
Justice and injustice
We encourage every prayer space to include at least one prayer activity that focuses on an issue of local or global injustice. As pupils use these prayer activities and express their questions and hopes for things to change, some begin to consider ways that they might become part of the answer to their own prayers. Ask the school if they have an adopted charity or project. Maybe you could find or create a prayer activity that connects with it.
How much will a prayer space cost?
Borrow items if you can. Beg for them if you need to. Buy them if you must. Prayer spaces don’t need to be expensive. (You don’t have to buy a bubble tube!) Some parish communities, the Spiritual Development in Schools Unit, and school-work projects have already collected a stock of prayer space resources that they will loan out to those hosting new prayer spaces in the area.
The Spiritual Development in Schools unit within the Archdiocese of Malta has also already collected a stock of prayer space resources that they will loan to those hosting new prayer spaces in schools and who need to use them.
Create a floor plan
Using the floor plan you drew when you first visited the school, try to fit your prayer activities into your available space. Here are a few things to consider:
- Some activities can be clustered into ‘zones’, e.g. World, Friendship, Please, etc.
- Some activities work well in sequence, so you may want to position them as such.
- Activities that require pupils to sit down and listen to an MP3 narration will be best located in a corner, away from noisier, discussion-based activities.
- Some activities invite pupils to reflect on their self-image, relationships, or other things that may be difficult in their lives. Make sure that these activities are located in ‘safe’ areas where pupils won’t be interrupted or embarrassed.
- When an activity requires students to take turns, ensure there is space for a short queue.
- If you’re using an activity that requires a gazebo, think carefully about its size (and height!) and where pupils will enter/exit.
If this is your first prayer space, you may like to set up your prayer activities in a hall a couple of days before the start date just for practice. This will be a good opportunity for your team to see what the prayer activities look like, and it will allow you to rearrange them if they don’t seem to fit together as well as you imagined.
Recruiting and Training a Great Prayer Space Team
The ‘magic’ of any prayer space is not really in the prayer activities but in the people who host it. Therefore, careful recruitment and thorough preparation/training are essential.
Who will you need?
You need people who are:
- Prayerful
- Inclusive – welcoming towards pupils with differing needs, abilities, beliefs, and backgrounds.
- Reflective – able to listen, ask careful questions and be alongside the pupils.
- Professional – in the sense that you are confident they will adhere to school policies and maintain an appropriate confidentiality level.
- Safe – being a safe person and ensuring that the prayer space is safe for pupils.
Where will you find your team?
Do not advertise for volunteers. Hand-pick your ‘dream team’. Ask people who are already part of the chaplaincy team, ex-teachers, parents and especially grandparents. You can take risks with a few prayer activities that might or might not work, but you must not take any risks with your prayer space team.
How many people will you need?
Regardless of how long it lasts, you do not need a large team to host a prayer space. A team leader plus 3-4 other adults are sufficient for most prayer spaces (we recommend having an adult for every prayer activity) for Kindergarten children. Hosting a prayer space with fewer people makes it harder to be fully aware and responsive to what is happening, and the risks increase. It is possible, of course, to host a prayer space with a much bigger team, but it does not necessarily make it better – just busier. Too many team members can sometimes ‘crowd’ a prayer space and discourage pupils from participating.
Safe recruitment
All team members should have the Safeguarding clearance and be familiar with the school’s safeguarding policies and procedures.
Preparing/training your team
Your prayer space teams may include children’s workers and youth workers, church ministers and members, parents and grandparents, teaching staff and even pupils. Regardless, if they have not already been involved in a prayer space team, you must prepare and train them well. To do this, you could:
- Encourage them to explore this website and read the stories from other prayer spaces.
- Show them some of the videos from other prayer spaces.
- If possible, take them to visit another local prayer space.
- If possible, take them to one of our workshops or host one yourself.
Caring for your team
Please remember to look out for your team during the prayer space. Ask them how they’re doing now and again. It is good to pray together at the start and the end of every day.
Publicity and Preparation
Getting things (and people) ready for your prayer space.
In the build-up to your prayer space, remember that it won’t just be pupils affected by it. The school community is diverse, including pupils, teaching staff, parents and families at home, school visitors, and even local church members. And you will want to communicate with each of these groups differently. For example:
Parish
In the case of schools, communicate with the religious counsellor and let them know the dates of the prayer space. Ask them to pray, and give them a few prayer requests. If you’re hosting an open evening during the prayer space, invite them to visit – to come and see.
Parents
Some schools (primary more than secondary) like to write short letters to parents about their upcoming prayer space. You could offer to draft this letter with them, explaining what a prayer space is and how yours will work. If you’re hosting an open evening during the prayer space (which we’d recommend), invite them to visit with their child. Have refreshments available.
School Staff
You could offer to prepare a short briefing for staff to explain what a prayer space is and how theirs will work. If possible, present this to the staff team in person. If not, print it onto one sheet of A4 and include some good photos of prayer activities and your contact details. You may like to include a link to this website as well. Invite staff to visit the prayer space during a special session before it ‘officially’ opens or throughout the week.
Pupils
Some schools like pupils to know about the prayer space in advance. In this case, you could create a simple ‘coming soon’ poster or offer a short assembly on ‘What is prayer?’ to dispel some myths and stir interest.
Running your Prayer Space
Make sure that your prayer space is the Best One Ever.
In the build-up to running your prayer space, you will need to discuss the following with the school:
Setting up and packing down. If you have a team of volunteers, it usually takes about 3 hours to set up a prayer space and about 2 hours to pack it down again. When can you do this?
Invitations to parents and staff. Some schools like to schedule a session in the prayer space just for staff. Some schools invite parents to visit them when they come to pick their children up after school or during an open evening. Plan this towards the end of the prayer space.
The timetable. Which classes will visit the prayer space each day? Is the space large enough to host whole or half-class groups? If they come in half-classes, how will they be accompanied? How long will each session be? And have any of the classes visited a prayer space before?
Breaks and lunchtimes. Some schools are happy that pupils return to the prayer space during breaks to continue using the prayer activities or talk with the team. (Keep in mind that your team may also need a break. And ask which toilets they can use!)
During the week itself, there are a few things to keep in mind:
Set the scene each day. Ask your team to arrive at least 15 minutes before the first class so that you have time to check that everyone’s OK. Pray together.
Keep it tidy. After every class, restock the Post-it notes, reposition the cushions, re-lid the pens and generally restore the prayer space so that the next class will experience the best it offers. While they are tidying, ask your team to check for anything (Post-it notes, etc.) that is ‘of concern’ and give it to you.
Check if each prayer activity is working. Maybe an activity needs to move somewhere else? Perhaps an explanation isn’t clear enough? Maybe that new prayer activity you designed with the Othello board and the Star Wars figurines isn’t working as you imagined. Don’t hesitate to change things if you need to, or even remove a prayer activity altogether.
Care for your team. Again, check regularly with your team for any concerns. Sometimes, themes in a prayer space can bring things to the surface in adults’ lives, too.
Feedback and story-telling. Gather feedback, stories and essential moments throughout the week. These will help you write a good report afterwards and improve any future prayer spaces.
Photographs. It’s good to take photos of the prayer space for your report and records. However, always ask the Senior Leadership Team before taking any photos in school or asking the school to take pictures for you. If you take photos, ensure the school has checked them before you use them. If it’s inappropriate to take any pictures with pupils, photos of the prayer activities can still be very effective at the end of the prayer space.
Running a prayer space lesson
When classes visit your prayer space, use the first 10-15 minutes to talk with them about it. A good prayer space lesson will include the following:
Introduction. Tell the pupils who you are, which church you are from, and which staff member you’ve been working with.
Discussion. Ask the pupils a few questions about reflection and prayer. What is prayer? Who might pray? Where and why, and how might people pray?
Describe the prayer activities. Briefly explain the themes and a bit about how each activity works.
Disclaimer. Ensure that pupils understand that they are free to use the activities meaningfully. Or not to use them at all. (Don’t spoil it for others.)
Explore. Encourage the pupils to explore the activities on their own or with friends. In primary schools, you may want to divide the class into groups and carousel them around the activities/zones.
Summary. Gather the pupils back together for 5 minutes at the end of the lesson and ask them a few questions. Which activities did they like? Why? Which activities did they find difficult? Ask if they have any questions, too.
What Next?
Supporting the ongoing spiritual life of the school community.
Ending well
You can use exit notes to have the children write a sentence or two about their favourite prayer space and explain why they liked it.
Sometimes, the children are also encouraged to do creative prayer with them at home during the prayer space. In doing so, they can remember this simple yet profound prayer experience and share what they did during the prayer space with other family members.
Ending well is just as (or perhaps even more) important as starting well. Ending well determines how well you move on to what’s next.
What’s next?
1. Gather feedback
After saying a huge thank you to everyone who has been part of your prayer space team, ask them for feedback. Send them the following form via email, or get back to them the following week to swap feedback and stories together: https://sds.mt/ps-evaluation/
Other questions could be, for example:
- What didn’t work so well? What could be improved next time?
- What was your favourite prayer activity? Why?
- What themes or behaviours caught your attention?
- What was your favourite moment or conversation?
- What did the pupils/staff/parents say about the prayer space?
Ask some of the school staff for feedback and observations, too. Maybe send them the same email but with just three or four questions.
Ask someone to check through all of the Post-it and torn-up cardboard prayers from the prayer activities and transcribe them into a Word document (this is a big but fascinating task) so that you can identify themes and pull out a few particular quotes.
2. Write a report
Use all of the above to write a summary report, including a couple of stories, the feedback from pupils and staff, the common themes from the pupil’s responses, and a few photos of the prayer space.
At the end of this report, make some recommendations:
- How could any future prayer spaces be improved?
- In what ways could the local church(es) and parishes continue to serve the school community?
- Having seen the themes from the pupil’s responses, what further resources and services might be helpful for the school?
In our experience, prayer spaces can open new ways for churches to serve their school communities’ pastoral and spiritual lives. Here are a few examples:
- Further prayer spaces, timetabled or permanent
- After-school provision
- Lunchtime workshops
- Chaplaincy projects
- Youth groups
- Mentoring programmes
- Input into R.E. lessons and assemblies
- Prayer gardens
- … and much more.
We hope and pray that your prayer space will open up new ways for you to serve your local school community. Please stay in touch and let us know how you get on.