St George’s Church Brockworth
Have you ever thought that children in schools might be missing out on what the Bible has to show them? They could go through their entire school life without ever learning about Adam and Eve, Noah, David, Jonah ... or even the life of Jesus and the stories of the New Testament.
OPEN THE BOOK began in Bedford in 1999, where a group of Christians first started presenting Bible stories in school assemblies. They were so well received that they were asked to return - again and again. Soon the word reached other schools and other areas, and OPEN THE BOOK began to grow from a local initiative into a much bigger national enterprise.
For example, in Gloucestershire OPEN THE BOOK has grown from 6 teams in 2001 to over 160 teams in 2010 - that's more than 1000 local volunteers!
Since Open the Book became a national organisation in 2007 it has continued to grow at an encouraging rate. By 31st August 2011, our records show that 5408 volunteers are going into 1065 schools.
OPEN THE BOOK offers a programme of themed and dramatised Bible stories at no charge to the schools. Each session is around 10 minutes long and fits comfortably into assembly times.
Our teams of volunteer storytellers use drama, mime, props, costume - even the children and staff themselves - to present Bible stories in ways that are lively, engaging, informative ... and great fun for everyone involved!
So now, thanks to OPEN THE BOOK, children in schools will have the opportunity during Collective Worship to discover all the wonder and wisdom that the Bible can offer!
For example, in Gloucestershire OPEN THE BOOK has grown from 6 teams in 2001 to over 160 teams in 2010 - that's more than 1000 local volunteers!
Since Open the Book became a national organisation in 2007 it has continued to grow at an encouraging rate. By 31st August 2011, our records show that 5408 volunteers are going into 1065 schools.
OPEN THE BOOK offers a programme of themed and dramatised Bible stories at no charge to the schools. Each session is around 10 minutes long and fits comfortably into assembly times.
Our teams of volunteer storytellers use drama, mime, props, costume - even the children and staff themselves - to present Bible stories in ways that are lively, engaging, informative ... and great fun for everyone involved!
So now, thanks to OPEN THE BOOK, children in schools will have the opportunity during Collective Worship to discover all the wonder and wisdom that the Bible can offer!
For more information on Open the book click here
Our own Team
When the Head teacher of Castle Hill School, Su Broadhurst, first contacted Fr. David in 2009 and invited St. George’s to set up a team to go into school and present ‘Open the book’ assemblies, I don’t think any of us volunteers really knew what it was all about and quite what we were letting ourselves in for, we soon learnt and have gone on from strength to strength. In September 2010 we were invited into Brockworth Primary school, so we split into two teams to cover both schools, I took on the challenge of being ‘Team leader’ at Castle Hill School and Liz Curtis, ‘Team leader’ of Brockworth Primary School.
Liz Ashenden has now taken over as ‘Team leader’ at BPS, we are truly ecumenical, CHS team has a member of the RC Church, one from the URC besides four of us from St. George’s, BPS team has two from URC and four from St. George’s --- ‘Open the book’ –the three P’s -- ‘Plan, prepare, present’--- this is what we try to do to the best of our abilities, the children really seem to enjoy us dressing up and acting out stories from the bible, they really seem to enjoy our assemblies, they listen intently and when asked to help us they all vie to be chosen to be dressed up and join us and if as in some stories we ask the whole school to do actions or shout hallelluia’s or make Whooshing noises to illustrate a storm etc they do so with great gusto. We, as members of the teams feel well rewarded by their enjoyment of the various Bible stories, we often get spontaneous applause at the end and have had comments like ‘I wish you took assemblies every day !’ We are recognised out walking or at the shops and supermarkets , we are not recognised by name, its usually ‘Mum, it’s the Open the book lady’ (or man),its so rewarding that the children react in this way to us, who are telling them Bible stories, some who may never have been to church except with the school, its lovely to think that hopefully we can make a difference in stimulating the children’s interest in the bible stories in this way and who knows where it might lead them.
I’d like to finish with the prayer I discovered in an MU book and which we, the Castle Hill team have adopted as our prayer, we think it is very appropriate for our situation and also for many others.
Lord, we are only a few, but we are here.
We can’t do everything, but we can do something.
What we can do, that we ought to do,
And what we ought to do,
By the grace of God we will do.
So help us, Lord, in our endeavour, Amen.
Rona Clifford, ‘Team Leader’ for Castle Hill School ‘Open the book’ team.
If you would like to join one of our teams contact : Our Church Office or Email
When the Head teacher of Castle Hill School, Su Broadhurst, first contacted Fr. David in 2009 and invited St. George’s to set up a team to go into school and present ‘Open the book’ assemblies, I don’t think any of us volunteers really knew what it was all about and quite what we were letting ourselves in for, we soon learnt and have gone on from strength to strength. In September 2010 we were invited into Brockworth Primary school, so we split into two teams to cover both schools, I took on the challenge of being ‘Team leader’ at Castle Hill School and Liz Curtis, ‘Team leader’ of Brockworth Primary School.
Liz Ashenden has now taken over as ‘Team leader’ at BPS, we are truly ecumenical, CHS team has a member of the RC Church, one from the URC besides four of us from St. George’s, BPS team has two from URC and four from St. George’s --- ‘Open the book’ –the three P’s -- ‘Plan, prepare, present’--- this is what we try to do to the best of our abilities, the children really seem to enjoy us dressing up and acting out stories from the bible, they really seem to enjoy our assemblies, they listen intently and when asked to help us they all vie to be chosen to be dressed up and join us and if as in some stories we ask the whole school to do actions or shout hallelluia’s or make Whooshing noises to illustrate a storm etc they do so with great gusto. We, as members of the teams feel well rewarded by their enjoyment of the various Bible stories, we often get spontaneous applause at the end and have had comments like ‘I wish you took assemblies every day !’ We are recognised out walking or at the shops and supermarkets , we are not recognised by name, its usually ‘Mum, it’s the Open the book lady’ (or man),its so rewarding that the children react in this way to us, who are telling them Bible stories, some who may never have been to church except with the school, its lovely to think that hopefully we can make a difference in stimulating the children’s interest in the bible stories in this way and who knows where it might lead them.
I’d like to finish with the prayer I discovered in an MU book and which we, the Castle Hill team have adopted as our prayer, we think it is very appropriate for our situation and also for many others.
Lord, we are only a few, but we are here.
We can’t do everything, but we can do something.
What we can do, that we ought to do,
And what we ought to do,
By the grace of God we will do.
So help us, Lord, in our endeavour, Amen.
Rona Clifford, ‘Team Leader’ for Castle Hill School ‘Open the book’ team.
If you would like to join one of our teams contact : Our Church Office or Email