A message from our Chaplains

A wonderful attribute of many children is their inquisitive nature, their curiosity about the world, the questions that they ask...

As teachers, there is such delight in nurturing this natural wonder and channelling it into learning opportunities for our students.

Like many children, Jesus as a twelve year old boy, was inquisitive. There is an event from his life recorded in the Bible which tells us that he was accidentally left behind in Jerusalem after a family trip from Nazareth.  In those days people often travelled in extended family groups so we can assume his parents thought he was with the group. You can imagine their fright when they realised he wasn’t! And they rushed straight back to Jerusalem to find him.  The Bible tells us, “After three days they found (Jesus) in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions.” Luke 2:46

As a boy, Jesus asked questions.

So, in Religious Education lessons I encourage students to ask questions too!  Expressing our doubts, queries and curiosities about God engages higher-order thinking which deepens learning and listening to others’ questions helps us to understand their viewpoint and form our own. As Indira Ghandi once said, “The power to question is the basis of all human progress”. 

The problem for me is that sometimes there are simply too many questions to squeeze into one timetabled lesson! So a new Chaplaincy initiative has begun in the Prep School. Students in Years 3-6 now have the opportunity to come to ‘Question Box’ during Thursday first-half of lunch. As they eat their lunch, we chat about the questions they have about God. They can ask them directly or anonymously via the question box or just come to listen to others’ questions. Each week we will take a slightly different theme, which will be announced at Morning Assembly, so they can pick and choose what is relevant for them.

It is a joy and privilege to work with inquisitive children and I look forward to seeing where ‘Question Box’ will lead!

Kate Bracks

Prep Chaplain