11th March 2024

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Resurrection of Hereford Screen
Before I start… don’t forget…this Sunday is Mothering Sunday. It is also the less well-known ‘Refreshment Sunday’. Some argue you can take a break from your Lenten vows, just for one day. It is definitely a good day to have a breather, whether you are a mum or not, whether you do the mothering in your house or not.
 
My week has been very Ludlowcentric, which is always a joy. I do have a soft spot for Ludlow, having studied there for A levels in the late 1980s. I still love the chance to wander through some old haunts. There are so many places to discover and rediscover. The Fish House is outstanding and I wish there was a fishmongers like it in Hereford. I love the atmosphere (and the beer) at the Ludlow Brewery founded and run by a former school friend of mine, Gary Walters. Famously Archbishop Justin went there during his 2019 visit to the diocese. There was a rumour that someone actually forgot to make the booking until the last minute, potentially inviting some harsh criticism about the things we couldn’t organise in the Church of England. In fact, it was very well organised in the end and the brewery is well worth a visit at any time. You can even catch the Beefy Boys Van there occasionally. These are undoubtedly the best burgers in England, arguably the world, and the combination with a pint of Red Dawn or Ludlow Gold, is enough to tempt my two eldest back from university and my youngest daughter from absolutely anywhere.
 
I had an excellent coffee in Ludlow yesterday with Mark Burton who has been the headteacher at Ludlow CE Secondary since January. It was wonderful to hear about all the things that are developing so positively at the school which is of course one of only three Church of England secondary schools in the Diocese of Hereford and the only one outside of Hereford.
 
Talking of excellent coffee…if you have never experienced a coffee from the café inside St Laurence’s Church, you really should. I confess to being a bit of a coffee obsessive and by any standards, the coffee there is exceptional. The cakes and pastries and tea are also extremely good. Best pain au chocolat, I have found outside France, in fact better than quite a few I’ve had in France.  I was introduced to this jewel in the diocese by Archdeacon Fiona. Fiona has made a considerable contribution to the education arm of the diocese and I really appreciate the support and counsel she has given me since she took on the Chair of the Diocesan Board of Education.

I was also at St Laurence’s CE Primary unexpectedly on Wednesday thanks to their OfSTED call on Monday. I sat in the staffroom for an hour waiting for final feedback moment and had a lovely conversation with members of the governing body who were in attendance. I met with foundation governor, Peter Sell who drew a connection from Ludlow back to Hereford. Peter grew up and still evidently has close links to Hereford. He is clearly a very loyal Hereford Football Club (Forever United) supporter and spent a great deal of time in the cathedral as a boy. I loved hearing about the time he missed ‘the’ FA cup game in 1972 against Newcastle United, because he had already made a commitment to his bell ringing team.
 
Peter and Chair of Governors, Emma Small began a conversation while we were waiting which was really enlightening and well-worth sharing.
 
Had we ever visited the Victoria and Albert museum in London, and seen the prize exhibit from Hereford Cathedral?
 
I have visited the V&A but I hadn’t clocked the exhibit they were talking about, although I’m not quite sure how I missed it given how large it is. Peter remembered what it looked like while it was still in the cathedral.
 
I’ve since done some research and thought I might share the full story with you today. It sounds like a must-see for any Hereford Diocese residents who happen to be in the capital. Thank you to Peter and Emma for bringing it to my attention.
 
The Resurrection of the Hereford Screen
For years the restoration and display of George Gilbert Scott’s enormous choir screen from Hereford Cathedral seemed an impossible dream, or nightmare depending upon one's view. Initially shown at the 1862 International Exhibition, it was the premier example of Scott’s flamboyant Victorian Gothic metalwork. It was multi-coloured and leaf gilded and consisted predominantly of iron (wrought and cast), copper (painted) and brass (painted and polished), with upper sections of timber. Further embellishments included glass and marble mosaic panels, hard stone cabochons mounted in zinc settings and the significant figures of Christ and six angels electroformed in copper, finished with matt, red oxide paint to resemble terracotta. It was erected in the chancel of Hereford Cathedral with a few extra adornments and an enhanced colour scheme.
 
In 1967 it was controversially removed and saved for the Nation to be displayed in the new Museum of Industry in Coventry, which never came into existence. In 1983 it came to the V&A who had partly funded the purchase and had a duty to try and find display space, time and money to conserve it.

By  1984 it had made its way from the glory of Hereford Cathedral to a storage facility in Battersea with many of it’s filthy, corroded, tangled metal and timber components still in 1960’s packing cases. The painted and gilded surfaces at best were faded but were mostly flaking and stained with rust. The panels of mosaics had salt formation in places, with some green glass tesserae disintegrating to a powder if touched.

The appropriate conservation approach was debated and R Harris and other independent conservators produced rough estimates for the work ranging from £750,000 to £2,000,000.
 
In 1997 a bid was made to the National Heritage Memorial Lottery Fund (NHMF), for half of the lower amount and the Museum agreed to match any forthcoming amount. The bid was successful and we received the largest NHMF award for conserving an individual object. Successful fundraising was already underway and a completion date was set to coincide with the Victorian Vision exhibition in Spring 2001.
 
The culmination of this marathon project can now be seen in the Ironwork gallery in the Victoria and Albert Museum. The results are a remarkable achievement. The screen can now be seen with all the stunning effect of the reinstated colours, the subtlety of the stencil work and shading and the little quirky inconsistencies where one flower is a different colour to the others on the same panel. All faithfully followed from the original. The screen is now sound, solid and so much better understood from an art historical and technical viewpoint. The fact that this gleaming masterpiece was originally made in four months by the firm of Francis Skidmore seems remarkable.
 
From the Victoria and Albert Museum - Conservation Journal
Summer 2001 Issue 38
By Diana Heath
 
Can there be anything more satisfying than taking something very broken and bringing it back to former glory?
 
We do this in education all the time. Sometimes children who have been damaged either superficially or more deeply. Sometimes a member of staff. Sometimes an aging part of the building which may well be about the same age as the Hereford Screen. Sometimes it is the school itself that needs careful restoration, if it has lost its way somehow. Sometimes it could even be a family of schools or federation that has become problematic or even a multi-academy trust that needs to be rejuvenated and restored to strength.
 
As I write my last few bulletin messages as Diocesan Director of Education for Hereford, I would like to think that in the course of the last 5½ years there has been some of each of these educational restoration projects that we might have helped with along the way.
 
What I would really like to think is that the connections and relationships with our 78 church schools and ‘the diocese’ has become much closer and perhaps restored to a former health and strength. There is still much more to do in all sorts of ways, and I know Tim and Gemma will very ably continue the restoration (or resurrection) project after Easter.
 
Next time I’m in London, I intend to go and see the resurrected Hereford Screen. I’m sure it will be wonderful even if it isn’t still to be found in the Diocese of Hereford anymore.
 
Collect for 3rd Sunday of Lent
Eternal God,
give us insight
to discern your will for us,
to give up what harms us,
and to seek the perfection we are promised
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
 
Our prayers and best wishes for Lea CE Primary, near Ross on Wye. For Executive Headteacher, Simon Manning and the whole school community, who had a visit from SIAMS this week.
 
Also, for Stephen Matthews, the staff and governors at St Laurence’ CE Primary in lovely Ludlow who had a two-day visit from OfSTED inspectors.
 
Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is a vitally important mission and will be, for many, life changing. This includes our governors who support the work of our school by giving time and expertise voluntarily. This is a wonderful way to live out your faith in daily life just as members of many of our communities have been doing for hundreds of years.
 
Have a restful weekend and take a breath. Have a wonderful Mothering Sunday or at least a little bit of refreshment. I recommend a visit to Ludlow for that.
 
Best wishes,
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

1st March 2024

This week's message from Andrew Teale

23rd February 2024

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Our Bishop and our Bishops
I’ve delivered a few nerve-wracking speeches in my time. I’ve spoken in education conferences in London, Hereford and Nottingham events with hundreds of headteachers and senior leaders. I’ve led the spiritual reflections at CEFEL events (Church of England Foundation for Educational Leadership) and for our own Bishop’s Staff Meetings. I’ve given best man speeches (they were really terrifying). I introduced the Archbishop of Canterbury in the Cathedral at our Education Conference in 2019. These all felt like very big occasions to me.
 
Yesterday, Bishop Richard delivered his maiden speech in the House of Lords. I haven’t spoken to him since and I’m not sure how nervous he would have been. It seems like an incredibly bright spotlight to be in, but for someone who was at the very heart of the coronation, with the whole world looking on, it may have felt like much less big a deal, (although I don’t think he needed to actually say anything at the coronation).
 
I’d really recommend taking a few minutes to watch the speech which can be found on our YouTube channel here (at 1.24 min). The surroundings are a familiar ornate scene which we have all seen on our screens many times before. The burgundy leather benches and the blue and gold carpets are familiar and yet distant. There is a real juxtaposition as +Richard stands up, as such a familiar face, and tells the House of Lords all about the Diocese of Hereford.  I found it a fascinating watch to see our own Bishop describing the incredible history of this diocese, mentioning the (wait for it) 1350th anniversary of its foundation which occurs in 2026.
“We are a diocese that predates the foundation of England”.
What? I had to watch that bit back a few times.
“The earliest timbers in the episcopal residence (Bishop’s Palace) were acorns in the year 910.”
I knew that. It looks much newer from the outside but the original frame sits within the walls and can still be seen through a secret panel in the Great Hall, if you know where to look.
“Hereford is the smallest and most rural diocese in England.”
Bishop Richard talks about the challenges faced in the Diocese of Hereford and in rural communities all across the country. He raises awareness of things like the alarmingly high rates of suicides in farming communities and the disturbing truths that sometimes are hidden below the surface of statistical headlines in rural locations. These are messages I have heard before of course, but to hear the words spoken in the Houses of Lords by someone I know well, was quite a thing to see, even on YouTube. Although being one of the Bishop’s which sits in the House of Lords places a significant burden on an already busy Bishop, and therefore on our senior clergy team, from the perspective of someone who has grown up in a part of the country that most people have never heard of, it is heartening to see our own Good Shepherd standing in that place. +Richard doesn’t mention that he is the 106th person to sit in the cathedra (seat of the Bishop) of Hereford. Not that it is a competition or anything, but Archbishop Justin is only the 105th Archbishop of Canterbury.
 
Some helpful wisdom from Wikipedia on the ‘see’ or seat of a Bishop…
An episcopal see is, in a practical use of the phrase, is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with diocese. The word see is derived from Latin sedes, which in its original or proper sense denotes the seat or chair that, in the case of a bishop, is the earliest symbol of the bishop's authority. This symbolic chair is also known as the bishop's cathedra. The church in which it is placed is for that reason called the bishop's cathedral, from Latin ecclesia cathedralis, meaning the church of the cathedra.
 
I have known only a small number of the 106 Bishops of Hereford. I was confirmed by one of them. It was +John Eastaugh the 102nd Bishop of Hereford in the 1980s. I can still remember how strongly he spoke out my name while he placed his hands on my head. I was appointed as DDE and made a canon by +Richard Frith the 105th Bishop of Hereford who has now retired to York. The sacred office or seat of a bishop is at the very heart of the stability and structure of the Church of England. The seat remains even when the person moves on. The etymology of the English term bishop derives from the Greek word epískopos, meaning "overseer". It later transformed into the Latin episcopus, Old English biscop, Middle English bisshop and lastly bishop. (thanks to Wikipedia once again). I confess, I hadn’t linked the actual words ‘bishop’ and ‘episcopal’, before researching this.
 
Essentially the Bishop is the chief ‘shepherd’ of the diocese and is responsible for the Christian ministry to the flock which is the people of this place. He is assisted and supported by clergy across the parishes but his is the overarching responsibility.
 
If you would like to hear more thought-provoking theology from +Richard this week, do listen to his weekly video which is, for the next few weeks, about peacemakers. The link to the video is here but here is the transcript of opening paragraph which is very pertinent to anyone involved in school leadership:
 
“Any person in leadership will encounter conflict. I’ve been a Bishop for nearly 10 years and have observed a wide variety of conflicts and people’s response to them. Many of the international conflicts that blight our world are larger scale versions of the ones we are familiar with. Conflict is inevitable because we are all different and have different preferences. Our personality type and life experience predispose us to accept certain arguments more than others. We rarely make decisions on the basis of cold rationality.  Gut and emotions play an important role. Christians are no different from anyone else in that regard. But we have a specific vocation to be peacemakers. It’s a key characteristic that distinguishes the values of the Kingdom in Matthew Chapter 5.  This can be a very demanding calling which takes courage and emotional intelligence. We need to have insight both into ourselves and others.”
 
I felt very shepherded by these words and the rest of the video, as I worked on the wording of a few tricky e-mails yesterday attempting to help resolve some long-standing education related conflicts, I’m assisting with. I will keep trying.
 
Of course, we also have a school named after the Bishop of Hereford. In fact, the Bishop of Hereford Bluecoat School (we’ll do blue coats another time), is the largest of our 78 Church of England Schools and has around 1200 students.  It is almost double the size of our other two CE secondaries and we would need a dozen or more of our small primaries to reach that number of pupils. For those that don’t know the Hereford end of the diocese, ‘Bishop’s’ as it is usually abbreviated, is tucked away on the eastern edge of the city in ‘Tupsley’. It is very unusual, possibly unique in England, in that virtually on the same campus, there is a CE Primary (St Paul’s) and CE run nursery and a church (also St Paul’s). In 1868 there was only one school (which is still on the playground of St Paul’s).  It was Tupsley Junior School originally, but grew and split into the two schools in the 1950s with what became the secondary school being built just next door to the original 19th century building.
 
I’ve spent 2 days at Bishop’s this week as we have been working to appoint the new headteacher to replace Martin Henton who retires in August. This is a first for me, as I supported the governing body as DDE in 2019 when Martin was appointed and supported the dedicated governing body again this week. So, it is the first time I have been involved in appointing more than one headteacher in the same school.
 
Just as a Bishop has a huge influence on a diocese, so a headteacher, has a huge influence on the development and strategic direction of a school. The appointment of a head is the governing body’s most influential decision and that responsibility often weighs heavily on those making the decision. The Bishop is the lead Shepherd for ‘the flock’ that is the diocese, the headteacher of a CE school is in many ways the lead shepherd for the flock that is the school community. It is one of my most important roles therefore, to guide and support the governing body as they decide what to do and how best to proceed. Most will have never been involved with a headteacher appointment before. I’ve lost count of how many I’ve directly been involved with in the last five years but certainly with all three of our CE secondaries. Needless to say, it was a very intense few days for everyone involved including incredible candidates and a governing body, led by the chair David Morris, who left no stone unturned in making the best decision for the school community about who the new chief shepherd for the school will be. 
 
I’d like to close my ramblings today, by praying for our Bishop and our ‘Bishops’, for all those bearing new responsibilities, speaking to new audiences, delivering nerve-wracking presentations and interviews. For those successful and unsuccessful applicants for positions of incredible responsibility, who necessarily make themselves vulnerable under careful and intensive scrutiny. For those volunteers on governing bodies who take such responsible decisions with such care and professionalism to secure the transition from one good shepherd to the next. For those nearing the end of their current road as they move towards new chapters and for those who contemplate stepping up to a new microphone and delivering influential words to a new audience for the first time. To our Lord God and Heavenly Shepherd, we ask your blessing on +Bishop Richard and all his supporting clergy across the ancient diocese. We ask your blessing on the Bishop of Hereford Bluecoat School community and on the 77 smaller CE schools in this diocese.
Amen
  
Collect for The First Sunday of Lent
Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness,
and was tempted as we are, yet without sin:
give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit;
and, as you know our weakness,
so may we know your power to save;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
A little quieter on the inspection front this week than before half term, except that we know the Clehonger CE Primary will have its SIAMs inspection next week. We therefore also ask for blessings on Executive Headteacher Alison Taylor and Head of School, Grace Sage as well as the rest of the team at this precious Church of England school. Clehonger works with the Hereford Marches Federation of Academies, led by Alison and we also give thanks for this family of schools for all the work it does for schools, children and families across Herefordshire.
 
Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is a vitally important mission and will be, for many, life changing. This includes our governors who support the work of our school by giving time and expertise voluntarily. This is a wonderful way to live out your faith in daily life just as members of many of our communities have been doing for hundreds of years.
 
Have a restful weekend and take a breath as another short and ‘squashed-up’ half term is well underway. I suppose mathematically, we’ve already completed 20% of it!
 
Best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

9th February 2024

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Halfway Through Time
On the western border of Breconshire on the road from Brecon to Llandovery, there is a place call Halfway. All being well, I hope to drive through it next week on my way to spend a few days in Pembrokeshire. I always think the name is interesting and, as it happens, it seems to arrive about halfway on the long but beautiful journey from north Herefordshire to the world-class coastlines of Pembrokeshire. In fact, it might be a bit more than halfway. On any long journey, we are often comforted by the realisation that we are over ‘halfway’.
 
When I looked for a bit more information about the Welsh village of ‘Halfway’, my Google guide took me to a website called ‘A Vision of Britain, Through Time’, which offers, “A vision of Britain from 1801 to now. Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.”
 
The website surfer can search almost any place name and it will give you some information about place x, ‘through time’. Consequently, when you search for ‘Halfway in Carmarthenshire’ the reader gets taken to what sounds like an episode of Dr Who:
‘Halfway through Time’.
 
Today we have reached the halfway point of the spring term which is also the halfway point in the academic year. So, in respect of 2023-24, we are now ‘Halfway through time’. I haven’t actually counted the school days but my guess is that mathematically we may be more than halfway by now. I recognise that the swift passing of the school year is a comfort for over stretched school staff but also worrying if we think about how much progress we need to engineer for our children and young people before exam season arrives again. We’ll try not to dwell on that too much today.

If you search the internet for biblical reference to ‘halfway’ you get the most beautiful and appropriate verses from psalm 34.
 
Psalm 34:4-8
God met me more than halfway, he freed me from my anxious fears.
Look at him; give him your warmest smile. Never hide your feelings from him.
When I was desperate, I called out, and God got me out of a tight spot.
God's angel sets up a circle of protection around us while we pray.
Open your mouth and taste, open your eyes and see - how good God is. Blessed are you who run to him.
 
God met me more than half way.

By the time we get to this point in the school year, time seems to speed up. Spring and then summer lie ahead. The shortest, darkest days of winter done (although there is still time for snow disruption).
 
The half-term since Christmas has been especially short which also means jam-packed and I’m quite sure school leaders will have experienced more than one ‘tight spot’ as you tried to get through everything. Perhaps, like the Hereford CE Academy this week, you’ve had an OfSTED inspection or like Barrow 1618 or Orleton CE Primary or Worfield CE Primary, you’ve had a SIAMs inspection.
 
Passing the Halfway point is a pivotal moment (as in things seem to pivot). Last week we prayed for Candlemas which is the final full stop on the three Christmas-connected chapters of Advent, Christmas (12 days of) and then Epiphany (which ends at Candlemas). We’ve had a pivot in church calendar now away from Christmas and towards Easter.
 
Our prayer today is for the second Sunday before Lent. Tuesday in the last day before lent AKA Mardi Gras (Fat Tuesday), AKA Shrove Tuesday AKA Pancake Day, and then lent begins with Ash Wednesday on the 14th February. Then we are on the 40 day countdown to Easter. Which is, as far as the church calendar is concerned, the biggest festival of all.
 
So we have lots of signals today, that we are crossing the halfway point heading towards to sunny uplands of daffodils and some more blue skies. Lambing is already well underway in many of the farms in the Diocese.
 
On Monday morning I drove all the way to Oxford and, just when I thought my long journey to the national gathering of DDEs (my last one) was over, I discover I was only halfway to where I actually need to be.  We had the OfSTED call for The Hereford CE Academy, so I turned around and drove the 2.5 hours straight back again.  I’ve prayed very hard at times this week as I have certainly faced a ‘tight spot’. I felt God’s Angel draw a circle of protection around me as I did. The circle that formed may have been amazing school leaders (who often seem like angels to me).
 
Blessed are you who run to him. He will meet you more than halfway.
 
Collect for The Second Sunday before Lent
Almighty God,
give us reverence for all creation
and respect for every person,
that we may mirror your likeness
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
 
Prayers and best wishes to headteacher Michael Stoppard and the amazing team at The Hereford CE Academy who have had an OfSTED visit this week. Also to the three schools who went through a SIAMS: Adam Breakwell and the staff at Orleton CE Primary, Claire Gaskin and the staff at Worfield CE Primary and Anita Ward and the team at Barrow 1618 CE School.
 
Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is a vitally important mission and will be, for many, life changing. This includes our governors who support the work of our school by giving time and expertise voluntarily. This is a wonderful way to live out your faith in daily life just as members of many of our communities have been doing for hundreds of years.
 
Have a restful weekend a wonderful half term. You can begin the second half of term refreshed and in the knowledge that you are ‘over half way’.
 
Best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

2nd February 2024

This week's message from Andrew Teale

It’s OfSTED, I’m Afraid
Inspection phone call have been coming in thick and fast this week. We’ve had two OFSTEDs and three SIAMs inspections triggered in one week.
 
OfSTED in particular messed up my diary and in the end, I failed to make the 05:30 train from Hereford to Paddington via Newport yesterday for the Church of England’s annual conference. I was disappointed not to hear Archbishop Justin but, if I’m completely honest, after three days with a focus on OfSTED instead of the things I had planned to be doing, I am pleased to still be in the diocese at the end of the week.
 
Thankfully, our diocese was still very well represented at the events in London by Mark Harrington.  Recently Mark has completed an excellent ‘Let Us Pray’ project for and with the Growing Faith Foundation and he was invited to attend a special seminar for researchers with the 'Growing Faith' initiative. I haven’t caught up with Mark yet to find out it went, but I am delighted that the Diocese of Hereford has such a high profile in this work. This is thanks mainly to Mark whose work I know so many of you value very highly. The project has also involved some of our schools. It isn’t easy to find the time to do this sort of thing with so many other things going on so a big thank you to: Cradley CE Primary, Christ Church CE Primary in Cressage, Kingsland CE Primary, Lydbury North CE Primary, St Laurence CE Primary in Ludlow and Stottesdon CE Primary.
 
Mark will be presenting his findings in the weeks and months ahead and there is a great deal we can learn from the things he has uncovered about prayer. So watch this space to learn more soon.

I can’t help but talk about OfSTED, I’m afraid...
At the two OfSTED’s I’ve been involved in this week, I’ve thanked the inspectors for the work that they have done. It can’t be easy being an OfSTED inspector at the moment and there is added sensitivity about going into schools when the spotlight is still so fixed on the much-needed review of the system.
 
OfSTED now has a new HMCI (His Majesty’s Chief Inspector). Sir Martyn Oliver is a former CEO of Outwood Grange Academies Trust (Ogat) based in Wakefield, which administers 41 schools in the Midlands and the north of England.
 
We had a suspension of inspections at the start of term to all inspectors to have more mental wellbeing training. This is part of the overhaul of the system following the tragic death of headteacher, Ruth Perry.
 
This week’s education select committee report reflects that, ‘whilst there is widespread agreement on the importance of an accountability system and the role of an independent inspectorate, there are concerns around stress and anxiety experienced by school staff due to the high-stakes nature of Ofsted’s inspections. The report highlights the policy of compulsory academy orders, criticisms of how inspections are carried out and reported, the workload they generate, and the complaints system. The committee heard that relations between Ofsted and the school sector have become extremely strained and that trust in the inspectorate is worryingly low. The appointment of the new HMCI provides a crucial opportunity to reset and restore trust.’
Schools Week
 
I heard Ruth Perry’s sister responding to the select committees report and she emphasised the dangers of such a reductive process which categorises schools into single word judgements. Asked whether this was not a helpful thing for parents, she made the point that although it appears to be helpful, it is misleading and therefore in truth very unhelpful to parents.
 
I have seen some changes in inspections this week. Tuesday and Wednesday saw an inspection at Ludlow Primary School, which is in the Diocese of Hereford Multi-Academy Trust. As CEO, I felt more included in the process than in the ones in 2023. I was the named person who was responsible for the mentoring of the headteacher’s wellbeing during the process. That was new and a good thing.
 
In the final feedback at Eardisley CE Primary yesterday, we were given a phone number to ring, if we wanted to make a complaint (even though the school had done very well). That was new.
 
One thing has not yet changed, and this is the very essence of the problem for me. OfSTED is still far more important than it should be. We need to shrink its significance in the minds of school leaders and school communities. Most of the inspectors I’ve worked with are very nice people with a clear dedication to education and long track record of working in schools, but still when OfSTED are in the building it feels like there is danger around every corner.
 
Eardisley had 3 inspectors in the building for most of yesterday. It only has 4 classes. The HMI was quality assuring the processes, which I think is supposed to mean we don’t worry about them. Most schools just count the inspectors and try and work out where they all are, from the moment they enter the building until they leave.
 
Ludlow Primary is on two sites. Across the two-day inspection we had 5 OfSTED inspectors. Logistically this was definitely a challenge both for inspectors and the school.
 
How do we make OfSTED seem less important? It needs to have less power over schools. It is powerful because it makes very consequential judgements, which schools care deeply about. We all care about them far too much, given that they are decided upon by what seems to me to pretty flaky methodology sometimes.
 
For example, inspections often use pupil voice as a significant factor when making judgments. I get the logic. What do children say about the school? Have they learned what the school says they’ve learned? What do they think about a particular subject or part of the curriculum?
 
I love that we involve children in the process, but I have some very big issues with this from a scientific perspective. If you sit a group of people in a room and ask them a question, then openly consider the responses one by one. The person speaking last will be heavily influenced by what the others have said. There is great deal of research into this psychological phenomenon.  In essence it gets harder to contradict responses the more consensus has been established. If the first three speakers say they don’t like music, the fourth speaker is much less likely to say that they like it. The recent experiences of those being questioned will also be huge. For example, try giving an assembly where you tell the children that the school has become far too untidy, and then do a questionnaire where you ask the children to rate how tidy the school is.
 
Can a skilful questioner compensate for this bias. Not fully, no. Especially when they don’t know the group. One of many problems with OfSTED’s methodology is that these responses can have a very big influence on ‘cuspy’ judgments. They are also very handy tools to justify the decision the OfSTED wishes to make. Ignore responses which contradict a hypothesis but repeat and amplify those that support it.
 
My other big problem with OfSTED methodology is that is still does not recognise school contextual challenges well enough. Judging a small village primary against the same success criteria as a large urban primary is like examining a primrose and a snowdrop and saying the primrose is outstanding because it is very colourful, or the snowdrop is quick to make progress.
 
I find it very frustrating when inspectors use phrases like ‘not all subjects are equally well developed’ or ‘there are some inconsistencies in subject leadership’. Really? Show me a school where these things are not true. They are always true. It is so easy to grab an example which supports these sorts of universal hypotheses. It‘s like saying that some of the leaves on an oak tree are less well developed than other leaves. ‘There are some leaves that would still benefit from further development to reach the same size as other leaves.’ ‘When we looked at the leaves (and obviously we couldn’t look at all the leaves) we found that some were smaller than some of the really big leaves we found. Consequently, we have decided that this is a good tree, but it isn’t yet an outstanding tree. Well done, you should be very pleased!’
 
SIAMs has had major reform under the leadership of Dr Margaret James, formerly DDE in our neighbouring Worcester Diocese. SIAMs no longer uses reductive single word categorisations of schools in its inspections. The focus of a SIAMs report is the narrative. There are times when this is very inconvenient. You can’t just say how a school did in three seconds, you have to actually read the words of the report and understand more fully what the inspector is saying about it. And isn’t that the whole point? I think it is already fair to say, that most schools are much less afraid of a SIAMs inspection even though as far as I’m concerned it is looking at more important things. And ‘afraid’ is still the right word to use when it comes to OfSTED inspections. Our staff, especially our ECTs, are quite often terrified by OfSTED. More than anything, they do not want to be the one that lets the school down. In recent months, I’ve seen capable and promising new teachers, decide to leave the profession as a direct result of OfSTED experiences.
 
I can remember my first OfSTED as a headteacher, when I broke down during the feedback. It would have been in about 2005. We weren’t doing badly, but I thought we were being judged unfairly (and I still think we were robbed of that outstanding). I could not suppress the wave of emotion that came over me when the inspector passed judgment on the school, on my work and the work of my devoted staff. He didn’t know us. He’d hardly met us. How could he really know or understand, let alone pass judgment on us and then share his judgments with the whole world?
 
The devotion that teachers and leaders given to their work is a sacred thing.  I saw a teacher this week who had been on maternity leave until the day before the inspection call. She dropped off her little one at nursery for the very first time and headed into school to talk to the OfSTED inspectors about the curriculum. We make sacrifices for the work we do in schools (as in all vocational professions) and I think this needs to be reflected in the system’s accountability structures.
 
Schools are increasingly compensating for a lack of social care, child protection and other services. Has the accountability bar been lowered to reflect these additional responsibilities? On the contrary, the OfSTED bar is higher than ever.
 
Put simply, we need OfSTED to either use a much more reliable and discerning methodology which adapts to context much more effectively (big increase in resources would be needed) or we need it to matter less to schools. It needs to be kinder, clearer, more intelligent and a lot more like a SIAMs. We need continue to push for change on this important issue.
 
 
Prayer for the Presentation of Christ in the Temple
Almighty and ever-living God,
clothed in majesty,
whose beloved Son was this day presented in the Temple,
in substance of our flesh:
grant that we may be presented to you
with pure and clean hearts,
by your Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
Prayers and best wishes to the schools who have had OfSTEDs this week. Headteacher, Kate Mather and the team at Ludlow Primary and Bridget Knight and her team at Eardisley CE Primary. Prayers and best wishes too for Anna Cook and her team at Newcastle CE Primary, following their SIAMS on Tuesday.
 
Also to the three schools with a SIAMs next week Adam Breakwell and the staff at Orleton CE Primary, Claire Gaskin and the staff at Worfield CE Primary and Anita Ward and the team at Barrow 1618 CE Free School.
 
Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is a vitally important mission and will be, for many, life changing. This includes our governors who support the work of our school by giving time and expertise voluntarily. This is a wonderful way to live out your faith in daily life just as members of many of our communities have been doing for hundreds of years.
 
Have a restful weekend.
 
Best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

12th December 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Imposters and Tent Makers
We all get a sense of imposter syndrome and 2024 will throw us challenges and situations where we feel we are just not worthy enough to cope with the task ahead of us. That growing doubt that someone, somewhere has made a terrible mistake in choosing us to do the challenging task which may tragically prove well beyond our capabilities to the embarrassment of everyone. The feeling that we have somehow pretended to be something we are not and been accidentally promoted beyond our abilities. The sense of dread when we think about the discovery that we are not, in fact, up to the task and that our own limitations will at last be found out. I for one, have spent many years feeling like that and I talk to many very capable school leaders who feel the same way.
 
I’ve been asked to lead the closing prayers and a few reflective thoughts at the end of the new national network of Church of England Trusts called the Flourishing Trusts Network. CEOs and senior trust leaders gather, usually on screen but sometimes in person from all over England. Wise input from super capable people like Andy Wolfe or Nigel Genders punctuate the sessions and we have national, learned speakers like Leora Cruddas to give input on the topic of the day. For the last three or four sessions, the CEO from the Gloucester Diocese Academies Trust and former DDE of Gloucester, former HMI Rachel Howie has led the opening reflection and I have done the closing ones. Just a few minutes from me, but in front of what seems like a very esteemed audience.
Similarly, yesterday, Sian and I delivered the final session in our course for new leaders of Church Schools. They are a brilliant group of very experienced and capable leaders who are already leading their schools brilliantly often facing acute and complex challenges, doing a better job than I could ever do.
 
This feeling never goes away I’m afraid (and it might be dangerous if it did) but I have got used to it and I have learned to put my trust in God and just jump in with both feet. My trust in God in these situations has grown stronger and stronger, simply because He never lets me down and very often lends a helping hand at just the right moment.
 
Take, Wednesday for example. When I began looking through my usual sources of inspiration, I first picked up the Reflections for Daily Prayer book which lives on my desk and turned to Wednesday 11th January and read from Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (chapter 2), followed by Mark Ireland’s reflection. It was perfect for the occasion. Mark talks about how Corinth was known for its schools of rhetoric, teaching skills of oratory that could ‘spin’ a message and manipulate a crowd. Even though Paul was skilled in these ‘dark arts’, he instead presents a gospel of a humiliated, crucified Christ to a city of entrepreneurs who cherished success and loved winners. Paul fulfils his calling through his challenging work of becoming a skilled leather worker and tent maker. Mark writes, ‘His pulpit is the tanner’s workshop, not the lecture hall, and his message (to a very Roman city) is all about a condemned man crucified by the Roman authorities.’
 
In other words, Paul’s approach to mission and ministry is to connect with others through the job that he does rather than relying on argument, reasoning and oratory alone. Isn’t that what leadership in church schools is like? Most of us do not have degrees in theology and may not be confident spiritual leaders, but we are deeply immersed in our own ‘tent-making’ which is for us, the business of educating children in our different school communities. Working with families facing challenges. Overcoming tragedy and disadvantage from one day to the next. Trying to be just a little more Christlike as we do so.
 
This message seemed to me ideal for the Flourishing Trust Network, especially as the session was focussed on how we enable adults to flourish in our schools. Again, I had the sense the God hadn’t let me down to have this reflection in the book on the exact day of the conference. I looked no further, used this teaching and it seemed to work well. So well, in fact, that I thought it was a message which would be useful to use in this message to you too. The first one of 2024.
 
I only realised this morning, that I had in fact picked up the wrong book of reflections when I began my search. Wednesday was not the 11th but the 10th of January. Was it ‘lucky’ that I picked up last year’s book and found the perfect message from God. Perhaps. A nudge from the divine to light my way and my work, is the way I prefer to see it.
 
Prayer for the Baptism of Jesus
Eternal Father,
who at the baptism of Jesus
revealed him to be your Son,
anointing him with the Holy Spirit:
grant to us, who are born again by water and the Spirit,
that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
Please pray for St Leonard’s CE Primary and their community as they grieve the sudden loss of, a much-loved teaching assistant in recent days. We pray for Luke Bridges, headteacher, as he holds the community together in the face of such a sad start to the term. We send the love of the whole diocesan family to Racheal’s family and give thanks for the blessing that was her life and work with countless children in school.
 
A prayer for the chair of Ludlow CE School local governing board, Barbara Ball, who lost her beloved mum on Christmas Eve.
 

`Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted’.

 
We pray too for your loyal servant and dedicated school governor, Trevor Hayes who has been so poorly over Christmas. For Chris and the family who are caring for Trevor with such love.
 
We pray for Anna Gittins, headteacher at Bishop Hooper CE Primary who has been ill for a long time and who is recovering steadily. We pray for Anna’s school community and family and pray that she will return to greater strength in the year ahead.
 
We also pray for all those who found Christmas particularly difficult this year. For those who spent their first Christmas without loved ones. May the light of this new season of Epiphany, lighten the darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord. We pray for Lisa Tromans in the offices at the Diocese of Hereford Multi-Academy Trust.
 
I am conscious that, as I write these lines, there will be many stories of personal tragedy and challenge that will not have reached me and so we pray too for all those in need. Those who have lost someone. Those who are battling health problems or other personal challenges as they continue to pursue their vocation in our schools in 2024.
 
Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is a vitally important mission and will be, for many, life changing. This includes our governors who support the work of our school by giving time and expertise voluntarily. This is a wonderful way to live out your faith in daily life just as members of many of our communities have been doing for hundreds of years.
 
On behalf of everyone working within the diocesan education team to support the schools within the diocese, we do wish you a happy and healthy 2024 in schools, colleges and nurseries.
 
To end on a happy note. A very happy birthday to our friend and colleague Mark Harrington. It is a big one but because I’ve told him it is ‘the new 40’ he is OK with it.
 
Best wishes,
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale
Diocesan Director of Education

15th December 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Sit Down
I’ve been drawn to today’s Bible reading all week. Matthew chapter 15 (vs 29 onwards), takes us to the edges of the Sea of Galilee where huge crowds have gathered to hear Jesus speak.
 
He evidently has a very busy day. He healed the sick, the lame, cured those who could not speak. He performed a miracle with seven loaves of bread and two small fish, managing to feed the thousands of people. However, this passage does not describe Jesus as rushing around.
 
‘After Jesus had left that place, he passed along the Sea of Galilee and He went up the mountain, where He sat down.’
 
This is one of many times where we hear of Jesus having a rest. He is not restless. He is not always ‘on the go’. He sleeps, sometimes in a storm. He sits down. He settles. He remains.
 
It is really difficult to convey, the intensity of school life to those who haven’t worked in one. Hundreds of conversations every day, most are important and need acting upon. So many people to listen to. So much to hold together. This time of year is the best time in school and also the most challenging in terms of intensity. Many children find it hard as the routines breakdown and the Christmas jumpers come out. We try so hard to give children a special run up to Christmas. Each of our schools probably has a dozen or more events in the final weeks that it wouldn’t normally be doing. Many involve lots of parents. Chairs need putting in the right places. Microphones need setting up. Catering needs sorting. Visits to pantomimes. Christmas lunches (sometimes with crackers). The Nativity play. Many of these things do not take place in the school day but are in the evenings. Our time perception can be effected by how busy we are and the final days of term can feel like a month.

For most school staff, the idea of ‘having a sit down’ is a bit challenging in itself. ‘There just isn’t time!’

For some people in the diocese, their time to sit down, in a career sense, arrives at the end of term. Paula Hearle is the headteacher at Ludlow CE School. Phil Poulton is Assistant Headteacher and former headteacher. Both are incredibly hard working and busy school professionals who have dedicated their working lives to supporting the education of countless children and young people. They retire next week. On behalf of the Diocese, I would like to thank them for their dedicated service to Ludlow CE School.
 
There may well be other staff in schools across the diocese who have reached their ‘sit down’ moment. I thank them too.
 
I was at Leintwardine CE Primary yesterday on the second day of their OfSTED inspection. I sat down with David Willis, their wonderful Chair of Governors and Nicola Gorry their hard-working Headteacher and also Liz Farr from Herefordshire LA. David retired from headship a few years ago and now gives hours of his time to supporting his local school along with a team of dedicated governors. David also gives more time by sitting on the Diocesan Board of Education. We were waiting for the final feedback with a much-needed cup of tea. We breathed a collective sigh and spent a few minutes together, all of us busy in different ways. I think we drew a little strength from each other as we spoke words of support and encouragement and reassurance. It was the day of the Christmas lunch and I felt pleased to learn that the inspector had managed to enjoy some roast turkey along with everyone else. I’m not sure whether a party hat would have been appropriate, but it is a nice image. Incredibly, once the inspector had left, the staff regrouped and headed into the Christmas Play with parents. I really hope they all manage an ECI day today (Educational Colouring In).
 
Earlier in the day, I managed to sit down with headteachers from the three CE secondary schools in the diocese. David Smith is a headteacher of Bluecoat CE Academy in Walsall and he came to Hereford to meet Martin Henton (Bishop of Hereford Bluecoat School) Michael Stoppard (The Hereford CE Academy) and Mark Burton (new headteacher for Ludlow CE School). It was really helpful to talk together about connecting with other CE secondaries. Most dioceses only have two or three. We hope to be working with the Church of England Foundation for Educational Leadership Secondary Network from next term. It was tricky for all of them to take time out of school, but I think they gained some strength from each other as they connected and talked about the complexities of Church of England secondary schools.
 
By the end of the day, I found myself sitting down with a thousand other people in Hereford Cathedral School’s beautiful carol service. Hundreds of children and young people, hundreds of adults, The Lord-Lieutenant for Herefordshire. Fabulous music and wonderful choirs.
 
 Jane Steen writes in her reflection on today’s reading, “Regardless of when the school term ends, there are still two weeks of Advent left to us. ‘You have made for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you’ wrote Augustine. We renounce our restlessness, resolving to remain with the Lord.”
 
Please try to ‘sit down’ in the days ahead and in the weeks before Christmas. Remain there for a while, with God and with people who give you comfort and strength.
 
 
Collect for the Second Sunday of Advent
O Lord, raise up, we pray, your power
and come among us,
and with great might succour us;
that whereas, through our sins and wickedness
we are grievously hindered
in running the race that is set before us,
your bountiful grace and mercy
may speedily help and deliver us;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit,
be honour and glory, now and for ever.
Amen
 
OfSTED were also at Brampton Abbots CE Primary this week. I spoke with headteacher Dan Breary on our Heads and Chairs Briefing (also yesterday). I asked whether he had been tempted to defer the inspection, as this was an option given to schools receiving the call this week. He said he considered it for about 30 seconds but made the choice to get it done and to therefore go into Christmas knowing that it was no longer hanging over the school. Nicola said much the same at Leintwardine.
 
We pray together for the resilience of those two church schools, their leaders and amazing staff who added ‘OfSTED inspection’ to the list of December special events this week.
 
There are about 200 schools in our diocese, if you consider all of them. Most I guess, don’t read my bulletin messages, but occasionally I hear that one or two do. So, in case any of them are listening today, this week we give thanks for every single school in the diocese. We pray for our dedicated colleagues in our Catholic schools and our community schools, nurseries and colleges. We pray for independent schools as well as state schools. We give thanks for everyone who works so hard in the field of education to enable children and young people to flourish and we pray that they will have a blessed Christmas season and a moment or two to ‘sit down’ with family and friends.
 
We also pray for those for whom Christmas will be difficult this year. For those who will spend their first Christmas without loved ones. We pray for comfort and love around those in pain at this time.
 
Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is a vitally important mission and will be, for many, life changing. This includes our governors who support the work of our school by giving time and expertise voluntarily. This is a wonderful way to live out your faith in daily life.
 
This is one of those terms when the end arrives at a different time for different schools.
 
For our Shropshire schools, this is the last Friday of term as they break up on Wed 20th December. Herefordshire schools don’t break up until the 22nd December so have one more Friday left. Tenbury CE Primary is our only school in Worcestershire and there too, term ends on Friday 22nd December. Our two schools in Telford & Wrekin local authority are John Fletcher of Madeley and Coalbrookdale & Ironbridge CE Primary. They also break up on Friday 22nd December.
 
Have a restful and restorative Advent weekend, everyone and, for those who break up before next Friday, have a wonderful Christmas holiday.
 
Blessing and best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

8th December 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

1st December 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

What’s In A Name?
Yesterday, was St Andrew’s Day and I read the reflection by Sally Rowland-Jones at our online training for governors. I’ve since been thinking about my name and where it came from. Some time spent with Google as well as the Gospel of John, has taught me some things about my name that I knew little about until this morning.
 
Our own name, is something that is always with us. We grow up with it. We might like it or dislike it. We don’t choose it ourselves, of course. It is one of the very first choices our parent make for us. Most of us will live our entire lives with carrying the choice our parents made for us, with us. When we die it dictates the letters that will be carved on our headstone.
 
Choices of names will be influenced by the country in which we are born as well as the fashion at the time when we were born.
 
In some countries, historically, the choice of names has been legally quite limited. In France, for example, the choice of given names, originally limited only by the tradition of naming children after a small number of popular saints, was restricted by law at the end of the 18th century. Much later, actually in 1966, a new law permitted a limited number of mythological, regional or foreign names, substantives (Olive, Violette), diminutives (Olivia), and alternative spellings.  I think it is amazing that is wasn’t until 1993 that French parents were given the freedom to name their child without any constraint whatsoever. That is why there are quite a lot of people who have the same Christian name in France and why you won’t find any French 35 year olds with more modern names.

My mum and dad chose my name ‘Andrew’ for me in the early 1970s.  They wanted something biblical, and they wanted something that worked with a single syllable surname. They steered clear of anything alliterative. They seriously considered something very Christmassy as I was a Christmas baby, but eventually rejected both ‘Noel’ and ‘Joseph’.  It apparently took a few days before they finally settled upon ‘Andrew’ and so that is the name I have therefore used every day of my life, for half a century. I am very pleased with the choice they made for me. Not sure I would have been quite so grateful, had they chosen, ‘Noel Teale’.
 
The biblical Andrew who I was named after, was a Galilean fisherman and Apostle of Christ. He is sometimes known as the first disciple, because in biblical chronology he was, the first to make the decision to follow Jesus, closely followed by his brother Simon Peter (Peter).
 
Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland and many other places and causes. Legend has it that he was crucified on an X shaped cross. That is why the scimitar is used on flags associated with St Andrew, including Scotland’s. Wikipedia tells us that Andrew is also the patron saint of: fishermen, fishmongers, rope-makers, textile workers, singers, miners, pregnant women, butchers, farm workers, protection against sore throats, protection against convulsions, protection against fever, protection against whooping cough, Russian Navy. I have no idea what the connection is with most of those things, and I’m not sure I really want to know.
 
The feast of St Andrew falls on the 30th November, as one Church year ends and another begins. So, Sally’s reflection suggests the Andrew is a helpful saint for new beginnings and for those encouraging Christian beginnings in others.
 
We meet Andrew in John 12 v 20-32
 
Now there were some Greeks among those who went up to worship at the festival. They came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, with a request. “Sir,” they said, “we would like to see Jesus.” Philip went to tell Andrew; Andrew and Philip in turn told Jesus. Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.
 
Sally encourages us to recognise both Andrew and Philip as ‘living signposts’ to Jesus, visibly citizens of Christ’s kingdom.
 
We don’t really know why Philip felt the need to go to Andrew rather than straight to Jesus. There could be lots of reasons.
 
It is interesting that Andrew, a Galilean fisherman, wasn’t given a Hebrew name. Andrew is a Greek name. I think it would have therefore sounded more like ‘Andreas’. Some people think it was really only his nickname and that he might have also had a Hebrew name (but, if he did, there is no reference to it in scripture). Alternatively, given that ‘Andreas’ was a commonly used name in Galilean culture at the time, it is possible that Andrew’s parents made a choice to give their son a name which was familiar in both Greek and Hebrew, a bit like choosing a name which works well in English and French. I would love to think, that perhaps that had something to do with why Philip went to Andrew, after he was approached by the Greeks in the Bible passage?  (I have a feeling that one of our more learned theologians will put me right on that one later).
 
I am actually quite moved to discover (today) that in a way Andrew is a name which has a connection and an association with Christmas…
 
The feast day of St Andrew is a doorway to the new beginning that is Advent and the new year in the church. It is also an opportunity for a new beginning in our own lives.  Many Catholics participate in an Advent ‘devotion’ known as the St Andrew Christmas Novena, in which a specific prayer is recited 15 times a day from his feast day on November 30 until Christmas Day.
 
A novena is a form of worship consisting of special prayers or services, usually on nine successive days, but the St Andrew Christmas Novena, requires quite a bit more devotion as it lasts for 25 days.
 
This very seasonal prayer is believed to be over 100 years old and is traditionally prayed 15 times every day (though not necessarily all at once). 

It is a simple and beautiful Advent prayer of preparation and petition by opening our hearts to both seek and to receive the Christ Child, and the salvation He brings on that cold, silent night, while asking God, with humble confidence, to grant our deepest longings.

The prayer itself is directed toward God (not Saint Andrew) and zeros in on that sacred moment when Christ, through His Blessed Mother, entered human history, and we were forever changed.  The Word became Flesh and dwelt among us! 
 

St Andrew Christmas Novena

 Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold.

In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother.
Amen.

 
As the first doors of countless advent calendars begin opening today one by one, during the ever increasing noise and distractions of the Advent season, perhaps this prayer… which seems especially resonant on this frosty morning…can help keep our minds and hearts fixed on Jesus, so as to be more ready to receive Him on Christmas Day, and when He comes again.
 
Collect for the Feast of Saint Andrew
Almighty God,
who gave such grace to your apostle Saint Andrew
that he readily obeyed the call of your Son Jesus Christ and brought his brother with him:
call us by your holy word,
and give us grace to follow you without delay and to tell the good news of your kingdom;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is a vitally important mission and will be, for many, life changing. This includes our governors who support the work of our school by giving time and expertise voluntarily. This is a wonderful way to live out your faith in daily life.
 
Whatever the name your parents chose for you, have a restful and restorative Advent weekend, everyone.
 
Blessing and best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

17th November 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

An Advent Gift to Yourself
This week, I ordered my new copy of ‘Reflections for Daily Prayer’, published by Church House Publishing, from Amazon (also available from other booksellers, including the Cathedral shop). It cost me £15.55 and it arrived the day after I ordered it (which I still find amazing).
 
I recommend this as one for the toolkit of any church school headteacher, deputy headteacher, assistant headteacher, head of school, religious education lead, teacher and anyone else that leads reflections or prayers in one of our wonderful schools.  I wish I had known about it when I was a headteacher, but only discovered it as a DDE.
 
Now, is the very best time to buy this book, because it can be used as the compass that guides you through the whole of the church year. The new church year begins, when? At the start of Advent, which is (believe it or not) only a few weeks away. The very first reflection in this year’s book is for Monday 4th December. Perhaps you could buy it for yourself or a colleague as an advent gift?
 
Each page in this helpful book gives you the daily reading (from Monday to Saturday) in the CE liturgical cycle. This is the passage that everyone will be reading on that particular day. If you go to morning worship in the cathedral or any CE cathedral, you will likely hear the same reading. It isn’t just a random choice, they are based on the Common Worship Lectionary. I don’t think we use this enough in schools and it saves quite a lot of leg work.

“After the reading, a short, (very readable) reflection is provided on either the Old or New Testament reading. Popular writers, experienced ministers, biblical scholars and theologians all contribute to the series, bringing with them their own emphasises, enthusiasm and approaches to biblical interpretation.”
 
These are serious and enlightening thinkers about scripture. Regular listeners to Radio 4’s Thought for the Day, will recognise some regular contributors, like Angela Tilby and Lucy Winkett. Many are absolutely brilliant reflections, which make you think more deeply about the Bible passage, but which can also be used by super busy leaders of CE schools for when they need something reflective at the start of a meeting or in an assembly. It really doesn’t take long to read the Bible reading and then follow up with the reflection. I did just that, today (Thursday) for our education team meeting. Sometimes the fit isn’t quite right but, more often than not, it fits absolutely perfectly. I find it helps everyone to settle into the meeting and put away the myriad of distractions.
 
The thing I really like, is that you know you are reading and using a ‘Church of England approved’, interpretation. Not everything you find online is that safe to use in the context of CE schools.
 
Is that all? No! There’s more…
If you turn to the inside cover of the book there is a simple to follow, order of service for Morning Prayer and page 326 has an order of service for Compline (or Night Prayer) which is one for the very end of the day. You just slot the reading for the day into the right part of the service and you are away. A ready-to-roll, elegant, simple service. No tambourines required. No fuss. Everything you need (assuming you have a bible).
 
Page 322 has some Seasonal Prayers of Thanksgiving which can be used in any way you want. You can slot them into the order of services, but you could use them in a staff meeting or on a weekly newsletter or bulletin message.
 
Is that all? No! There’s more…
At the bottom of each page, is the collect for the day. Once again, this is a prayer you can use for all sorts of things and know that it is pertinent and well suited to the reading of that particular day.
 
Is that all? No! There’s more…
The reflections for Holy Week this year are from Steven Cottrell who is the Archbishop of York. He spoke at the annual conference for CE Foundation of Educational Leadership and he was brilliant.
 
This book can help you achieve a spiritual rhythm to daily life that is as good for your mental well-being as going to the gym.
 
I am not on commission, but I do think this is the gift you can give yourself, preferably next week, that will keep on giving for the next year of your school life.
 
Is that all? No! There’s more…
This book, will help you spend more time with God. I’m not sure we can ask for any more than that.
  
Collect for the 3rd Sunday before Advent
God, our refuge and strength,
bring near the day when wars shall cease
and poverty and pain shall end,
that earth may know the peace of heaven
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
 
We pray together for Executive Headteacher Claire Gaskin and the team at St Mary’s Bluecoat CE Primary in Bridgnorth, who have had a two-day OfSTED visit this week. I know they will be breathing a sigh of relief when the weekend finally arrives.

Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is a vitally important mission and will be, for many, life changing.
 
Have a restful and restorative weekend.
 
Blessing and best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

10th November 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Impossible? Difficult? Done
Archdeacon Fiona, in her sermon at the Bishop’s Staff Eucharist this week used a very powerful quotation that I had not heard before from someone called James Hudson Taylor. He said,
 “There are three stages to every great work of God; first it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.”
I have since read a little about who Hudson Taylor was and the extent to which he had license to make such an observation. I have concluded that he definitely did!
James Hudson Taylor was born in 1832 in Barnsley, Yorkshire. He became a British Protestant Christian missionary to China, and founder of the China Inland Mission. In total he spent more than 50 years of his life in China.
We might struggle to imagine a more complex and seemingly insurmountable challenge than even scratching the surface of a meaningful evangelistic mission to China for a boy from Barnsley who had never set foot there.
So, I thought I’d take you away from the shire this week, where we face many challenges in the business of educating children in 2023. Sometimes, in our schools those challenges (like finding science teachers) make our own mission to nurture a flourishing school system, seem simply impossible, just as his did.

So how did the boy from Barnsley actually get on? Did he manage to even scratch the surface of such an intimidating challenge?

First it is impossible…
Taylor left England on 19 September 1853 as an agent of the Chinese Evangelisation Society before completing his medical studies, departing from Liverpool and arriving in Shanghai on 1 March 1854. The nearly disastrous voyage aboard the clipper Dumfries through an easterly passage near Buru Island lasted about five months. In China, he was immediately faced with civil war, throwing his first year there into turmoil.
 
…then it is difficult,
Taylor made 18 preaching tours in the vicinity of Shanghai starting in 1855 and was often poorly received by the people, even though he brought with him medical supplies and skills. He made a decision to adopt the native Chinese clothes and wore a traditional pigtail or ‘queue’ with shaven forehead and was then able to gain an audience without creating a disturbance. Previous to this, Taylor realised that wherever he went he was being referred to as a "black devil" because of the overcoat he wore.
 
In 1858 the Taylors took over all of the operations at the hospital in Ningbo that had been run by William Parker. In a letter to his sister Amelia Hudson Taylor, James wrote on 14 February 1860,
 
If I had a thousand pounds China should have it—if I had a thousand lives, China should have them. No! Not China, but Christ. Can we do too much for Him? Can we do enough for such a precious Saviour?
 
…then it is done.
In 1905 Taylor returned to China for the eleventh and final time. There he visited Yangzhou and Zhenjiang and other cities, before he died in 1905 while reading at home in Changsha. He was buried next to his wife, Maria, in Zhenjiang, in the small English Cemetery near the Yangtze River.
 
After his death, China Inland Mission gained the notable distinction of being the largest Protestant mission agency in the world. The biographies of Hudson Taylor inspired generations of Christians to follow his example of service and sacrifice. Notable examples are: Olympic Gold Medalist Eric Liddell (made more famous In Chariots of Fire), as well as international evangelists like Billy Graham.
 
Descendants of James Hudson Taylor continued his full-time ministry into the 21st century in Chinese communities in East Asia.
 
Hudson Taylor was, ...one of the greatest missionaries of all time, and... one of the four or five most influential foreigners who came to China in the nineteenth century for any purpose... —Kenneth Scott Latourette
 
The society that he began was responsible for bringing over 800 missionaries to the country who began 125 schools and directly resulted in 18,000 Christian conversions, as well as the establishment of more than 300 stations of work with more than 500 local helpers in all eighteen provinces.
Good Reads Website
 
Historian Ruth Tucker summarises the theme of his life:

No other missionary in the nineteen centuries since the Apostle Paul has had a wider vision and has carried out a more systematised plan of evangelising a broad geographical area than Hudson Taylor. Taylor was able to preach in several varieties of Chinese, including Mandarin, Chaozhou, and the Wu dialects of Shanghai and Ningbo. The last of these he knew well enough to help prepare a colloquial edition of the New Testament written in it.
 
Today Chinese tourists have started visiting his home town of Barnsley to see where their hero grew up, and the town developed a trail to guide visitors to landmarks around the town.
 
First it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.
 
We pray that as we dedicate our own lifetimes to helping to realise the great and the small works of God, that we will be heartened and inspired by those people like James Hudson Taylor who moved from what seemed impossible, through such difficult challenges to a place where God’s work was truly done.
 
 
Collect for the 4th Sunday before Advent
Almighty and eternal God,
you have kindled the flame of love
in the hearts of the saints:
grant to us the same faith and power of love,
that, as we rejoice in their triumphs,
we may be sustained by their example and fellowship;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
 
On Remembrance Sunday, we honour those who made the ultimate sacrifice to protect the freedom we enjoy today. In all conflicts since the 1914 to 1918 war those who have fought and died to protect our values and beliefs, deserve to be forever remembered. It falls to us to ensure, in our schools and in our churches, that their sacrifice is not forgotten.
 
We pray together for all at Barrow 1618, near Broseley, who have had a two-day OfSTED visit this week. As the name suggests, incredibly, there has been a school in Barrow for over 400 years. It is one of only two Church of England Free Schools, in our diocese. Our thanks and best wishes to headteacher, Anita Ward and her dedicated team.
 
My thanks to Wikipedia, whose text I have drawn from heavily this week, in sharing the life and story of James Hudson Taylor.
 
Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is a vitally important mission and will be, for many, life changing.
 
Have a restful and restorative weekend. Can anyone else hear the sound of distant bells? I think they might be getting closer.
 
Blessing and best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

27th October 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Five Loaves, Two Fish Fingers and the Ark
On 6th October, we thought about Harvest though the lens of the sheaves of wheat I had seen at Bitterley CE Primary School, just outside Ludlow. I’d like to take you back to Bitterley this week too.
 
Exactly a week ago, storm Babette was flooding half of Shropshire and the lanes surrounding the school in Bitterley were filling up fast. Most children made it into school but by 10:30 staff were wondering whether anyone would actually make it home again. We called emergency services at one point, but understandably they were swamped with calls and given that the children were completely safe and warm they prioritised those people that were neither of those things. The children were safe and warm, but they were also getting hungry.  Ordinarily, lunches are brought in from the kitchens at Ludlow, but their vans couldn’t make it through the country lanes. School staff began to consider, what they could feed the 90 odd children whose tummies were starting to rumble as the rain continued to fall.
 
The school told me later that all they could find was…you’ve guessed it… five loaves of bread and two fish fingers. Well, it was a church school after all, but in the absence of a miracle, we were going to need another plan. Karen in the office, rang a local farmer for some help and he came up trumps. He drove his huge tractor, with a suitable trailer attached, through the flood waters, into Ludlow School car park, to the kitchens. He collected the food for the Bitterley children and then drove the tractor back through the rising flood waters and back to Bitterley CE Primary.  I’m not sure there is a story that better sums up rural school life than this one. Not quite a miracle but our own Shropshire Ark, all the same.

Thankfully a few hours later, the waters showed signs of receding. It wasn’t a dove with an olive branch who brought, some better news, but an Amazon delivery driver, who casually walked into the office having made it through at about 14:00. The 4x4s could then spring into action and we were able to get all the children and finally the staff through the water and back home for the weekend.
 
Imagine how delighted the school were to then receive their OfSTED call on Monday morning, for a two day inspection on Tuesday and Wednesday. Bramble, the school dog was in full support mode to get everyone through the ordeal and out the other side safely. I’m sad to say that it was the unanimous view that staff preferred the visitation from Storm Babette.
 
OfSTEDs are intense processes for any school at the best of times and we all expect them to be. They have a particular intensity in small schools that sometimes feels wrong. Imagine being an ECT in a small school, going through your very first OfSTED inspection and going straight from being observed in geography by one inspector into a second PE observation by another. You teach in one of only four of the schools classrooms. Lesson observations are supposedly not as high-stakes as they used to be in inspections, but any teacher is going to feel the burden of responsibility heavily in that situation. It is very unlikely that this would have happened in a larger school, but I fear it is quite common in small school inspections. Quality of Education judgments are formed in section 5 inspections through deep dives in several subjects which includes lesson observations, examination of planning and discussions with subject leaders. Many of our small school leaders will be wearing many of the hats that are put them in the spotlight for this process. Sometimes the choices made over which subjects to suggest deep dives in, are based on how easy it will be to free up the necessary staff, rather than the subjects that are the strongest suit. In some small school inspections I’ve been involved with, the inspectors know quite a number of the children’s names after two days of scrutiny because they have seen them so many times.
 
It must have been a similar picture for the team at Brockton CE Primary this week, who have also had an OfSTED visit, hot on the heels of the flooding challenges.
 
I am pleased to be able to tell you all, that you have (just about) made it to the end of this first half of the Autumn Term. If you work in a school, you don’t need me to tell you that we are coming to the end of the eighth week since we left the summer holidays behind for another year. Some parts of the country are coming to the end of their half term holiday while in the Hereford Diocese, it is yet to start.
 
We often comment in education, that the last holiday seems a very long time ago. Usually, we say that after about three days of intensive work with children (even though there is lots to love about it). By the time we get to the eighth week in a row, I can see a different look in the eyes of teachers and leaders. The batteries are as topped up as they are ever going to be as we start the autumn term, but eight weeks later the people working in schools are definitely ready for a recharge.
 
So, this is the eighth bulletin of the academic year and in case it helps you remember what we’ve been through since the summer, here are the titles since the 8th September.
 

1. When the Nile Floods and the Concrete Crumbles: 8th September
2. No Casinos & No Children: 15th September
3. Flourishing: 22nd September
4. Angels and Digestive Biscuits: 29th September
5. Three Sheaves of Wheat: 6th October
6. Teachers, The Next Generation: 13th October
7. From a House in Hertfordshire to the Holy Land: 20th October
8. Five Loaves, two Fish Fingers and an Ark: 27th October

When we feel the strain building beyond the point we can cope with it, turning to God can really help in a very practical way. I’ve done that more than once this week. I’m sure many will be familiar with the Footprints in the Sand poem, but for those that aren’t and because walking in the sand sounds good after all this rain, here it is:
 
Footprints in the Sand
One night I dreamed a dream.
As I was walking along the beach with my Lord.
Across the dark sky flashed scenes from my life.
For each scene, I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand,
One belonging to me and one to my Lord.
After the last scene of my life flashed before me,
I looked back at the footprints in the sand.
I noticed that at many times along the path of my life,
especially at the very lowest and saddest times,
there was only one set of footprints.
This really troubled me, so I asked the Lord about it.
"Lord, you said once I decided to follow you,
You'd walk with me all the way.
But I noticed that during the saddest and most troublesome times of my life,
there was only one set of footprints.
I don't understand why, when I needed You the most, You would leave me."
He whispered, "My precious child, I love you and will never leave you
Never, ever, during your trials and testings.
When you saw only one set of footprints,
It was then that I carried you."
 
 
Collect for the 20th Sunday after Trinity
God, the giver of life,
whose Holy Spirit wells up within your Church:
by the Spirit’s gifts equip us to live the gospel of Christ
and make us eager to do your will,
that we may share with the whole creation
the joys of eternal life;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
 
Prayers and best wishes to Bitterley’s Executive Headteacher, Kerrie Lewis and Head of School Jill France. Thank you to Karen too, for inspiring my bulletin this week.
 
Also, best wishes to Executive Headteacher, Marilyn Hunt and her team at Brockton CE Primary who have also had an OfSTED inspection.
 
I also invited to attend an inspiring awards evening at The Hereford CE Academy, meticulously organised by Assistant Headteacher, Ed Snelgrove. Pupil’s achievements were recognised and treasured and it was a privilege to be a part of the special evening on Thursday.
 
Your work in all our schools over the last eight weeks, to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
Have a restful and restorative half term holiday, with thanks from a grateful diocese.
 
Blessing and best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

20th October 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

From a House in Hertfordshire to the Holy Land
In the early nineties, I was studying for a psychology degree in Hatfield, Hertfordshire. For my second and third years, I lived in a student house with 4 other students, a few miles from the university. One of my housemates, James, lived with me for two years. He was also studying psychology. We were good friends and spent an unhealthy amount of time playing John Madden’s, American Football game on the Playstation. He was from Manchester, I was from Herefordshire, but we had similar interests, a similar sense of humour and enjoyed each other’s company. I guess, for a few short years, we grew up together. We had similar family backgrounds and although we enjoyed Uni, we both liked going back home too.
 
I clearly remember a difficult and completely unexpected moment of confusion in the house, through which I learned a great deal. One of the other people in our house made friends with a young guy, that none of the rest of us knew. He came back to the house a few times. He seemed nice but was a little more outspoken and assertive in his political views than the rest of us. I was still trying hard not to be the ‘boy from the shire’ who was not really familiar with any kind of diversity. I pretended not to notice that he wore very different clothes and it clearly didn’t matter that he wasn’t white. I enjoyed the sense of getting to know someone who was clearly from a very different background. He was called Samir. We were all young and we all probably thought we knew a great deal more about life that, in reality we really did. Only now, when I see my own children at university, do I realise just how young we still were.

After Samir had made a few visits to the house. James spoke up and said he wasn’t comfortable to have him visiting any more. I didn’t understand. I knew James was open minded, intelligent, inclusive, kind and friendly. It seemed out of character that he would feel strongly enough about anyone to come out and say he didn’t want them to come into to our house.
 
Through a very delicate but enlightening discussion, I came to understand and learned a great deal more about the world in the process.
 
Samir was a politically active young man, from a Palestinian background. He attended political protests supporting the Palestinian cause. He had very strong opinions when it came to the treatment of Palestinian people and he was very outspoken in his criticism of Israel. He talked about the times he had been involved in some strong protest actions outside the Israeli Embassy. He was clearly passionate. He has a very clear views and he seemed to be willing to take strong actions in support of those beliefs.
 
This all seemed a little alien to me but was fascinating, even admirable. He was a really interesting person and seemed prepared to fight hard for what he believed in. I’d never really felt like that, about anything.
 
The reason, James felt so uncomfortable, that he eventually spoke up, was because he was Jewish. He felt very uncomfortable about some of the rhetoric that Samir had been using and in the end felt he needed to say something.

Through this small, personal difficulty, the complexity and gravity of the political situation in the middle east, really came home to me. I knew next to nothing about it other than some names. I’d seen Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Shamir on the news meeting various politicians. What little I knew about the Holy Land, I’d learned from Bible stories.
 
In recent days, once again, the complexity and fragility of relationships in the middle east have come to everyone’s attention in the most violent and horrific ways imaginable. The heinous actions of a terrorist group, has taken human life at level and in a manner which has shocked the whole world. The military response has been and will be devastating. Things seem to be going from bad to worse each day, at present. The Israel Defence Forces says it is investigating the attack on the Anglican-run Ahli Arab Hospital, in northern Gaza. Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby called for hospitals to be protected after it was hit on Saturday, because patients couldn't "be safely evacuated". More than 500 people have died in this single event.
 
For many of us here in the Diocese of Hereford, who watch unfolding events from afar, we might ask… ‘What the hell, is going on?!?’ It may seem a very long way from our country lanes, but for some, this is a global development which has direct and immediate consequences on personal circumstances and on their own families. In all likelihood, it will have an indirect impact on all of us.
 
We know that is has already had a disturbing effect on UK schools and other organisations which have a strong identity that can be connected with events. Jewish schools here in the UK have been closed because of a steep rise in violence and hate crimes directed towards Jews. Prominent members of the Jewish and Palestinian communities here, are caught up in discussions on every form of media. Tensions have risen and opinions increasingly polarised. Communities very clearly feel threatened.
 
This is a conflict that is about land, but also about religion. If like many, you are unclear about the history and long prologue to the current crisis, I would strongly recommend listening to the BBC’s podcasts by the amazing Katya Adler, called Israel and the Palestinians. I feel that as educators in 2023, we need to have an understanding of this conflict, perhaps more than any other in our recent history. Our involvement as a country, is more direct in this story, than many might realise.
 
A few days ago, the Archbishop of Canterbury was joined by Muslim and Jewish leaders at Lambeth Palace to condemn the sharp rise in anti-semitic incidents over the past 10 days, and to call for unity between British faith communities against the backdrop of war between Israel and Hamas.
 
The Church of England website reports on the meeting, forgive me for quoting at some length but I think these words are important for all to hear and might perhaps be useful for a classroom discussion. There is a YouTube clip of the speeches too:
 
Archbishop Justin Welby, Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra and Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg stood together outside Lambeth Palace and delivered statements calling for solidarity and unity between communities in the UK, and rejecting any form of hatred or discrimination. Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra is a scholar and imam from Leicester, and a former Assistant Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain. Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg is the Senior Rabbi of Masorti Judaism UK, and Rabbi of the New North London Synagogue.
 
Archbishop Justin said:
“I know that all of us are profoundly concerned by what is happening in Israel and Gaza – and here at Lambeth Palace we are praying constantly for all those who are caught up in this war that has already brought so much suffering to so many people. But today we have come together out of shared concern for our communities and neighbourhoods here in the UK, and to stand together against any form of hatred or violence against Jewish people or any other community.”
 
Sheikh Ibrahim Mogra, responded:
“I stand before you in my capacity as an imam alongside my dear friend Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg. We are all deeply pained by what is happening in Palestine and Israel. We have found some comfort and a lot of hope in our friendships that have been built over many years. We stand together to express our shared commitment to protecting the relationship between our communities. British Muslims and Jews have much in common and there are many personal ties between us. We have celebrated happy times together, and stood together in solidarity during difficult and challenging times. We have, and will sometimes be on opposite sides, but we live together as neighbours in peace and harmony, disagreeing with each other respectfully, without resorting to hate or violence.
At this critical time, we share deep concern for the welfare of everyone. We are determined to do our utmost to prevent violence and intimidation across our country, whether on the streets, in places of worship, in schools, in universities, or in any other institutions.
It is deplorable and wrong that our Jewish community here has been the target of hate crimes. It is unacceptable that synagogues and Jewish centres have been targeted. There has been a 500% rise in antisemitism. I condemn these attacks and call on all fellow citizens to stand up and speak out against all and every form of hate.
I pray for an end to this war and all wars, I pray for the innocent caught up in the carnage, I pray for the safety of everyone, wherever they are, āmīn.”
 
Rabbi Jonathan Wittenberg’s comments followed: 
“Thank you, my friend, Shaykh Ibrahim Mogra, for your important statement. As you have said, over the last week there has been a five-fold rise in incidents of antisemitism. Your solidarity in standing up and speaking out clearly against all forms of antisemitism and antisemitic intimidation at this most deeply painful time means a great deal.
 
The Jewish community, led by the Board of Deputies, the Jewish Leadership Council and the Community Security Trust has long condemned and continues to condemn all racism directed against Muslims, from whatever source.
As leaders in the British Jewish and Muslim communities we affirm the importance of maintaining our relationships even, and especially, in troubled times.
We have so much in common; there are many friendships between us, and we have stood together through both peaceful and challenging days. As you say, we will sometimes have different loyalties, yet it is essential that we live together across the United Kingdom as neighbours and fellow citizens in peace and with respect.
I share your prayers for an ultimate end to war. My prayers, too, are with all the innocent people caught up in this horror, for all those who are hurt and grieve, and all who long for the safety and wellbeing of their loved ones.
We are both on the side of life. We share deep concern for the welfare of everyone and pray for a better future for all.”
 
Archbishop Justin closed the joint statement:
“I add my own prayers to yours for the welfare of all our communities. And I offer my prayers, as the whole of the Anglican world is doing today, for all the people of the Holy Land.
Amen.”
 
Here in the education community of the Hereford Diocese, I would urge everyone to join with the rest of the Anglican world, and pray for the people of the Holy Land and for all who are connected to it. We pray together for the discovery of a pathway to lasting peace.
  
Collect for the 19th Sunday after Trinity
O God, forasmuch as without you
we are not able to please you;
mercifully grant that your Holy Spirit
may in all things direct and rule our hearts;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
 
Prayers and best wishes to everyone at Lea CE Primary, Longden CE Primary and Orleton CE Primary schools. All of whom have had a visit from OfSTED inspectors this week. After such an intensive week for inspections in our schools, I give thanks that, as far as I know, no one has any inspectors in school today.
 
We do have torrential rain across the diocese today and I am sad to say that the buckets will be out in many of our school buildings, that do not always fair well in heavy storms. These can be really challenging days for some of our schools, when they are trying to get on with the business of teaching our children. As an education system, we are challenged to provide buildings which allow for comfortable and dependable, environments for learning. On days like today, we realise we have a lot more work to do with, what feels like, a shrinking pot of capital finance with which to do it.
 
Your work to keep our schools as places of (dry) sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
Have a restful and restorative weekend.
 
Blessing and best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

13th October 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Teachers, The Next Generation
 Given the horrifying events in the news this week, I feel drawn to messages of hope. Sometimes in the darkest moments, the light of hope can be easiest to see.
 
Schools are wonderful places to find hope, even when things aren’t easy. There is so much to love about the school environment. The children themselves for a start, but also the inspiration craftmanship and devotion, shown by exceptional teachers.
 
Yesterday morning, I watched most of the 650 pupils arrive for school at The Hereford CE Academy. A sea of purple blazers formed up from their various directions into order and calm as they crossed the threshold to another day in school, full of potential and positivity with lots of smiles. I sat in on the senior leadership team meeting and listened to the discussion about the things that needed attention, and the important developments of recent days. I have now come to terms with the fact that it isn’t only new teachers that seem much younger than they used to. Leadership teams do too.

At the Hereford CE Academy, we have a wonderful team who clearly care deeply for the students the school. There was an abundance of positivity and good dose of humour as well as a determination to create the best climate possible for young people to flourish. It isn’t easy work. The pandemic has left a legacy of challenges around attendance and mental health difficulties for far more young people that we saw pre-2020. Recruitment to teaching posts sometimes feels impossible, especially if you need a scientist, a mathematician or a linguist.
 
We had a governors meeting later in the morning, which included a presentation from our SENDCO, Poppy Hinklin. Special Educational Needs provision is another area within our education system which is under incredible strain and schools are having to do more and more creative things to help fill the gaps in external provision. But Poppy’s presentation was filled with hope and positivity and aspiration and high expectation for what we can achieve. More than anything, I felt grateful that there are still professionals with the dedication and strong vocation to create the climate for flourishing we need in our schools.
 
So, I enjoyed a very uplifting morning, before travelling north to Bishop’s Castle Primary for day 2 of their OfSTED inspection. This was an equally uplifting experience. I really hope they won’t mind me saying this, but if you would like to visit a staffroom that makes you feel old, this is the one. There is a high proportion of teachers in the first years of their careers in teaching and they are an inspirational team.  Are the teachers of today just as dedicated and devoted to their work as the teachers of twenty years ago? Yes, they certainly are. I saw the nerves, perhaps even fear of facing their very first OfSTED inspection on Wednesday (I see that look far too often for my liking) but such dedicated and skilled practitioners, who run fabulous classrooms, day in, day out,  in truth have nothing to fear from anyone sitting at the back taking notes. Incidentally, even the inspectors seem to be getting younger too!
 
We now have a new generation of early career teachers in our classrooms. Some things are certainly very different about being a new teacher in 2023, compared with 1993. However, the spark of human flourishing that a brilliant teacher in a secondary or primary school classroom can create, is still very much alive in our schools. Seeing teachers and leaders supporting and encouraging each other is a heartening and hopeful thing to witness too.
 
In a number of schools, I now see the children of my generation taking up roles as early career teachers. It is fascinating to observe their development, as literally the next generation of the teaching profession. I felt different about teaching when I became a parent. Being the parents-of-teachers generation, adds another enlightening perspective on the role. As the shapers and system-leaders within the education system, there is a responsibility to create a climate for teachers to succeed and grow professionally into the experienced teachers and school leaders of the future.
 
I thought is was truly wonderful that a lovely mum of one of the ECTs at Bishop’s Castle, sent in a lovely message of encouragement to the teachers and support staff at the start of the inspection, along with some fabulous cakes containing an energising abundance of chocolate and fresh raspberries. Definitely outstanding.
 
We know that flourishing schools cannot exist without flourishing adults. Our responsibility is to ensure that our precious early career teachers are given every opportunity to flourish themselves. To learn their craft. Week by week. Term by term. Year by year. The children will continue to cross the threshold of our schools and we must ensure that the excellent teachers do too.
 
Collect for the 17th Sunday after Trinity
Almighty and everlasting God,
increase in us your gift of faith
that, forsaking what lies behind
and reaching out to that which is before,
we may run the way of your commandments
and win the crown of everlasting joy;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
 
Prayers and best wishes to everyone at John Fletcher of Madeley Primary who received their SIAMS inspection yesterday, the first in the diocese under the new inspection framework.
 
Prayers and blessings to the team at Bishop’s Castle Primary School, in the Diocese of Hereford Multi-Academy Trust, who had their two-day OfSTED inspection this week.
 
Blessings and best wishes for Anna Cook and the team at Bucknell St Mary’s CE Primary School, who have their SIAMs inspection next week.

Thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese.
 
A special thank you to all the early career teachers in the diocese and those in their first years of teaching. Thank you for choosing this profession and for your dedication to the role in schools across the Hereford Diocese.
 
Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
Have a restful and restorative weekend.
 
Blessing and best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

6th October 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Three Sheaves of Wheat
On the way back from the gathering of the Bishop’s Staff in Malvern this week, I counted 12 tractors on the road to Leominster. Harvest time has reached its crescendo in the Shire and many of our farmers and agricultural workers are burning the midnight oil and tractor fuel to get everything done before the growing season comes to an end.
 
Many of our schools and churches are now in Harvest Festival season. Interesting that there is no fixed date for this. Different parishes will have their celebrations on different days. Yesterday, I visited Bitterley CE Primary School, not far from Ludlow. They had held a harvest festival in St Mary’s Church, which is a 12th Century building, not far from the school. Rev Justin Parker kindly ran proceedings and staff told me how much they enjoyed the service. They showed me the pictures of the children standing in church making their contributions to the service. For the first time, the nursery children had also attended.
 
As I was walking through the school hall, I noticed that on the floor next to the cross at the front were three sheaves of wheat. They were neatly tied and beautifully dry. As I expected, they were left over from the harvest service, but I wasn’t quite prepared for just how significant they were. Head of School, Jill France told me the story, which almost sounded like a modern-day parable…

A Shropshire farmer had three children, who he loved very much. On his farm he had fields of wheat which he had carefully planted and cultivated and cared for as it grew from green shoots to waves of golden stalks which was watered by the rain and eventually ripened in the late summer sun. When it was time to harvest the wheat, he gathered it all in carefully, ready to sell to market. But before his fields were all fully cut, he stopped. He left just enough golden wheat to make three sheaves. He then carefully cut the last of the wheat by hand and carefully tied them up neatly with string until he had three beautiful sheaves of corn, one for each of his three children. The farmer’s children all attended the primary school in the village and he had heard that they would soon be going to church together for the harvest festival. As part of the service, many of the children brought food as a harvest gift to say thank you now that all was safely gathered in. The farmer took the three sheaves of wheat to the church and put them with the other lovely gifts. He wanted to give thanks to God for the harvest and also for his three wonderful children. The three sheaves took pride of place at the front of the church and they helped all the children to give thanks to God. They also helped the children to appreciate where our food comes from and to better understand what happens in the fields that surround the school. The vicar led the worship in a full church. The children and grown-ups sang and prayed with all their heart, including the farmer’s three children. The church was filled with love and the smell of dried wheat.
 
For me nothing better symbolises life in the Diocese of Hereford, than a harvest festival service in a parish church, preferably filled with school children. These combined school & church services have been happening for as long as our schools have existed, which in many cases is for over 200 years. They have been happening in our local churches for much longer than that and we know that harvest celebrations are one of the oldest traditions we have.
 
In the 1800s when many of our schools were founded, they were fledgling organisations that were literally put there by the local church communities. A piece of land was donated by someone, and often very significant funds were raised to build a school for the children of the local community. The church community put all its might into supporting and growing the school from its first handful of children until it was fully established in service of the whole community. If you read school log books (as I enjoy doing) they are often filled with entries of when the vicar or churchwardens come to school to help the teachers and help the children. Across England and Wales this happened in 12,000 places at a time well before there was state education. Up until the 1940s these schools were known as ‘voluntary’ church schools.
 
These days it often seems like the shoe is on the other foot. It is often the school that is flourishing with abundant youth and energy and vitality, while the church community is much smaller. In many of our village churches we have just a handful of people left to try to maintain the worshiping community. My dad was church warden for 30 years but stepped down and handed over the role a decade ago. A few months ago, he volunteered again, essentially because there was no one else who had the time or inclination to take it on.
 
Many of our rural communities contain few people who visit church on a Sunday morning, but I still believe they contain many who will miss them when they are gone. And go they will, unless we can find new ways to reenergise them and give them strength. I think one way we might do that, is to think about the support a school gives its church rather than the other way round. We need to make the bridge between schools and churches stronger. We have some great examples of that already, but we are going need to go much further if we are to keep our church communities going for many more years. The tale of the three sheeves is a wonderful example of how home-life and school-life and church-life can come together.
 
Jesus cautions about looking back as we push the plough. We must not simply seek to wallow in nostalgia for days past, but focus our energies on building God’s Kingdom for the future of our rural communities, for those generations yet to come. The farmer’s work is not over at harvest time. If he wants to cut the wheat next year, he is going to have to plant some more.
 
Collect for the 17th Sunday after Trinity
Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,
and so bring us at last to your heavenly city
where we shall see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
 
Prayers and best wishes to everyone at John Fletcher of Madeley who have received their SIAMS call for an inspection, the first in the diocese under the new inspection framework next week.
 
Thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
Have a restful and restorative weekend.
 
Blessing and best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

29th September 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Angels and Digestive Biscuits
In Acts chapter 12, we read about Peter’s escape from the murderous King Herod. He had been imprisoned, chained up and guarded by four squads of soldiers. Herod had received a positive reaction from the local population when James had been killed and his plan was to bring Peter out before them after Passover. Had that happened we would have no basilica in Rome, no Vatican, no Pope and no church. Peter was the rock upon which the church was built and he was destined for execution at the hands of an increasingly desperate tyrant.  While Peter was being held, we hear that the early members of the church, prayed fervently for him.
 
In verse 7 we hear the vivid account how those prayers were answered:

“7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.
8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 
 
10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”
 
Angels are represented throughout the bible as spiritual beings which are intermediate between God and humanity: "For thou hast made him [man] a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour" (Psalms 8:4–5).
 
Christians believe that angels are created beings, based on (Psalms 148:2–5; Colossians 1:16). Greek translations of the Hebrew Bible refer to intermediary beings as angels, instead of daimons, thus giving raise to a distinction between demons and angels.  In the Old Testament, both benevolent and fierce angels are mentioned, but never called demons.
 
In the New Testament, the existence of angels, just like that of demons, is taken for granted. They can intervene and intercede on behalf of humans. Angels protect the righteous (Matthew 4:6, Luke 4:11). They dwell in the heavens (Matthew 28:2, John 1:51), act as God's warriors (Matthew 26:53) and worship God (Luke 2:13).
 
There are other, perhaps more familiar passages in the Bible where we hear of the sudden appearance of angels. The resurrection of Jesus features angels, telling the woman that Jesus is no longer in the tomb, but has risen from the dead. Three cases of angelic interaction deal with the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. In Luke 1:11, an angel appears to Zechariah to inform him that he will have a child despite his old age, therefore proclaiming the birth of John the Baptist. In Luke 1:26 Gabriel visits Mary to foretell the birth of Jesus. Angels proclaim the birth of Jesus in in Luke 2:10.
 
According to Matthew 4:11, after Jesus spent 40 days in the desert, "...the Devil left him and, behold, angels came and ministered to him." In Luke 22:43 an angel comforts Jesus in the Garden. In Matthew 28:5 an angel speaks at the empty tomb, following the Resurrection of Jesus and the rolling back of the stone by angels.
(thanks to Wikipedia for the help with all these angelic references).
 
Christianity certainly does not have the monopoly on angels. For example, the Angel Gabriel is considered the most important of all the angels in Islam. In the Quran, the angel is actually called Jibreel or the Holy Spirit. I remember teaching about Islam in RE, when I was working at a school in Nottingham and we were considering the lines from the Quaran where we can read about the Angel Gabriel.
 
I asked the class whether anyone had have heard of the Angel Gabriel before. After lots of blank looks, I open a window to help wake everyone up. I asked again with increased (and slightly frustrated) urgency as to whether anyone in the year 5 and 6 class, had ever in their lives come across any mention whatsoever, of ‘the Angel Gabriel’. One boy put his hand up slowly.
‘Was he in Eastenders?’
 
Today is the feast day of St Michael and All Angels and in the Christian church we continue to celebrate these exceptional and extraordinary encounters with Angels. Angels are an enduring image and feature in art and music throughout the ages. Everyone from Michelangelo to Robbie Williams have been inspired by them.
 
Peter’s rescue is unusual in that the angel does not come to deliver a message but acts as an agent of deliverance. The importance of prayer in the story, is made clear (…the church prayed fervently for him.) and we know that Jesus taught His disciples to pray on a daily basis including and perhaps especially, in times of trial.
 
I am a fickle Christian, I fear. I pray regularly, but the times I have prayed most fervently have been in those times of great trial in my life. Driving behind my 2 year old daughter’s ambulance when the blue lights rushed her into hospital after a high temperature induced febrile convulsions and unconsciousness. That was fervent prayer. There are many other times I can recount and they do say there is no such thing as an atheist on a battlefield.
 
Have you ever actually seen an angel? I couldn’t swear to it, although I’m not absolutely sure I haven’t either.
 
Sometimes we come across people in those times of crisis who seem like angels. People who in their daily work bring deliverance from adversity or pain.
 
When I awoke after an appendectomy some years ago, I felt dehydrated and bewildered and a tad vulnerable. The day before I had come down with a bout of what felt like stomach ache and the next thing I know I’m having to squeeze my legs into surgical stockings and was taken into theatre.
A moment or two after coming around from the aesthetic, in the middle of the night, a nurse appeared with a cup of tea and three digestive biscuits. For a second, like Peter, I thought I was seeing a vision. ‘Hello, Mr Teale. How are you feeling?’ He spoke quietly.
‘I’m OK thank you…..You seem familiar?’
‘Yes, I was in your class at Pembridge. You taught me and my twin sister.’ He said. Coincidence? Perhaps, but for me in that moment, he felt heaven sent and those three digestive biscuits, washed down with a cup of tea, were the best I have ever tasted.
 
Often the angels of deliverance we meet, work in hospitals or hospices. Sometimes they work in schools.
 
Steven Croft writes in his reflection on this feast day,
“There are times in most lives when we experience a particular sense of grace and help from heaven…Sometimes deliverance comes in the form of grace or resilience to bear suffering. But today we remember and give thanks that sometimes that deliverance will come in real and expected ways in answer to the prayers of the church."
 
Collect for the Feast of St Michael and All Angels
Everlasting God,
you have ordained and constituted
the ministries of angels and mortals in a wonderful order:
grant that as your holy angels always serve you in heaven,
so, at your command,
they may help and defend us on earth;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
 
This week, we pray for headteacher, Mandy Dhaliwhal, deputy Adam Wheeler, assistant head, Louise Postance and everyone at Coalbrookdale and Ironbridge CE Primary who have had a two-day visit from OfSTED this week. As is often the case, the timing of the OfSTED call could have been easier. Mandy very bravely came from hospital to school with a great determination to represent the school and talk to inspectors about the school’s progress journey. Louise’s brother was visiting from Australia for just a week and Adam only joined the school at the start of term. It was a privilege to be onsite on Wednesday and see this new school leadership team pulling together so strongly for the good of the school.
 
It was great to meet with headteachers, clergy and governors from all across the diocese in our two briefing sessions yesterday. It was good to gather, albeit online, for an hour of reflection and information sharing on training opportunities, courageous advocacy, carbon footprint, academisation and enabling a flourishing schools system.
 
 
Thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing. All that extra work you are doing to give the children a happy send off to the next year or the next school is so important and greatly appreciated too.
 
Have a restful and restorative weekend.
 
 
Blessing and best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

22nd September 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Flourishing
In the summer, the Church of England released a landmark publication, entitled:

Our Hope for a Flourishing Schools System: Deeply Christian, Serving the Common Good.
 
In the forward, Bishop Paul Butler, lead Bishop for education writes: 
‘The Church of England’s Vision for Education, ‘Deeply Christian, Serving the Common Good’, published in 2016, sets out the core principles that underpin our commitment to education. This vision has anchored and underpinned all of our collective work since then. It will do so for years to come as we continue to play our role in serving the children, young people, families and communities of this nation through our schools.
The outworking of this vision is grounded in the desire to lead education for ‘life in all its fullness’ (John 10.10). This means the flourishing of all children and adults in institutions that themselves work together in a vibrant ecology focused on the flourishing of all. One of the four central pillars of this vision is Educating for Hope and Aspiration. The hope that we now seek to articulate in this document for a flourishing schools system is both an encouragement to church schools to continue to deepen this focus, and a call to the wider sector, to practically embody this hope together in partnership, dialogue, debate and mutual encouragement.’
 
Within the document itself there is a carefully articulated definition of ‘flourishing’ which includes a reference to a Zulu word ‘Ubuntu’.

‘UBUNTU’ – this word, drawn from the Zulu language is best translated – ‘I am because we are’. It says that flourishing is never an individual pursuit, but a collective endeavour, released in relationship and communities that live well together. In an era where division and polarised culture wars seem to have become politically normative, this vision of flourishing together, not alone, is crucial for a flourishing schools system. Indeed, our hope is for an ecology of flourishing (both within and between the ‘levels’ of the sector that we outline in this document). This means children flourishing with other children, adults with other adults, schools with other schools – and also between each level where the interaction between children-adults, adults-schools, school trusts- dioceses etc. is fundamental to the flourishing of the system as a whole.
 
As I discussed last week, it takes a village to raise a child. It is a collective endeavour just as our education system is a collective endeavour. Schools have been driven over many years into silos of increasing isolation. Some of the networks and systems that connected them in years gone by have weakened to the point where some schools work in a bubble with little in the way of oversight, partnership or support. There have been forces which have encouraged a ‘survival of the fittest’ mentality and unhealthy competition between schools.
 
In the five years I have been DDE, we have tried to build better bridges. To encourage a stronger communication and partnership with and between schools across the Diocese of Hereford. As a national network of Diocesan Directors, we worked with the Church of England Education Office team to shape the language and emphasis of this document. I welcome its message of hope and firm encouragement for schools to become more closely interconnected and collaborative. It is not enough for any school or any trust to flourish while another withers away. We need to work together to ensure that they all flourish because unless they do not all children can flourish. We must not be content to leave anyone or any school behind.
 
On Wednesday, I was at the Royal Foundation of St Katharine’s, London for the launch of the ‘Flourishing Trusts Network’ which is a new network led by the Church of England’s Foundation for Educational Leadership. I heard thought provoking keynotes from:

• Leora Cruddas, CEO, Confederation of School Trusts
• Andrew Warren, Regional Director (and national lead for faith-based schools), Department for Education
• Andy Wolfe, Executive Director of Education

In the afternoon, I led the spiritual reflection in the chapel, on the theme of hope, for trust leaders from across the country. I ended with a gift from Hereford and played a 2012 recording of Jesus Christ the Apple Tree sung by Hereford Cathedral Choir.
 
The end of my week will be spent with Diocesan Directors from the West Midlands who are gathering at Launde Abbey to explore further opportunities for collaboration and partnership as our education system continues to evolve. The urgency to find new forms of collaboration affects all parts of the school system.
 
I recommend that anyone with an interest in education takes to time to read ‘Our Hope for a Flouishing School System’. It asks questions about children, adults, academy trusts and dioceses as we see our education ecosystem continuing to change. One speaker said on Wednesday, there is no cavalry coming to help us face the educational challenges awaiting us in the years ahead. Our best hope it to work together and find new ways to collaborate for the good of every child we serve.
 

Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.

 1 Corinthians 12: 27

  
Closing words from Bishop Paul
As our ‘Deeply Christian, Serving the Common Good’ vision continues to anchor and underpin all of our collective work, may we view the current challenges we face with a deepening hope for all that can released in our nation through schools focused on the flourishing of all.
Amen
  
Thank you for the kind messages I sometimes receive in response to my bulletin messages. It is so encouraging to know that people read my weekly missal and find them helpful. I was particularly honoured to learn that friends from the Priory in Leominster, sometimes read them together. My heartfelt thanks and blessings to you all, if this is still the case.
 
Prayers and blessings for those young people now settling into their new lives at university. We miss you at home and pray hard for your continued flourishing. We’ll probably all feel better once freshers weeks are over for another year!
 
Have a restful and restorative weekend.

Blessing and best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

15th September 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

No Casinos & No Children
I was listening to the Sunshine Radio on the A49 this week. The was an advert for Viking Cruises which proudly announced, “No casinos and no children”. It stopped me in my tracks and made me question whether I had heard it correctly. Just to be clear, it wasn’t a notice of prohibition, like ‘no dogs’ or ‘no walking on the grass’. This was a sales pitch which was essentially saying, ‘Come along on one of our idyllic cruise ships, safe in the knowledge that there won’t be any of those tacky casinos and that you won’t be disturbed by any noisy, irritating children.’
 
I don’t mean to be too judgy about this. I’ve never been on a cruise and I can imagine that there might be times when a quiet and calm environment is what people are seeking for their holiday and perhaps that might be more difficult to find with lots of families with young children. I get that. I just found something mildly shocking about categorising children along with casinos in the ‘things that some people don’t like to have near them on cruises’ box. I wonder what else would be in the box with the casinos and the children? Karaoke? Line dancing? Rugby Supporters? Are there any other groups of people that we could reassure potential customers, won’t be there? Old people? Unhappy people? Buskers? People from Milton Keynes? Unthinkable that an advert would name those groups of people. In fact I can’t imagine any advert bragging about the exclusion of any other group of people in modern Britain. So, I wonder why it is socially acceptable to talk about children in that way. Perhaps it is because theirs is a voice that we do not listen to enough. A minority that often has no voice at all.

“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” Jesus said.
 
It doesn’t seem right therefore to talk about children alongside casinos as ‘the things we know you won’t want around’. Jesus very clearly wanted them around.
 
I’m probably being a touch over-sensitive this week as, we are preparing to take our daughter to university for the first time this weekend. Another one of those milestones. First day at nursery. First day at primary school. First day at secondary school. Sixth form. Now, the first day of university. This feels like a big one. The others didn’t need a car full of supplies and for us to move her into her new accommodation. Is she leaving home? I tell myself she isn’t. She isn’t that far away. She can come back easily. Her room will still be waiting for her when she does. But it feels like a big step for the family, almost as much as for her. For the first time in 19 years, she won’t be with us for most of the time. Next week there will be only three around the dinner table and it will become a special occasion when she comes home, rather than the norm.  Hmm. Not looking forward to that at all.
 
It reminds me of how precious those days with our children are. Raising children can be tough. Hard work. Testing. They make noise. They run around in quiet places. They annoy people on cruises (apparently). Yet there is no doubt in my mind that absolutely nothing in my life has been more rewarding, fulfilling, enriching, that seeing my children grow up from one big milestone to the next. Every day you get to spend with them is a blessing to be treasured. Even those ones where you have to stay up late to fetch them from a party in the back end of beyond.
 
This is also a moment to appreciate the full arc of education and the difference it makes. The teachers who taught my daughter to read in reception at Pembridge may not be aware that she is off to university this weekend to begin a BA in Modern Languages (hopefully they will read this and will find out). They helped her to get there just as much as her A level teachers did. So many people have played a part in her education and there will be many more yet. Not only her brilliant schools, teachers and support staff, but those who taught her swimming and violin and gymnastics and netball. The family members who taught her to be kind and loving and polite and generous. The Sunday school teachers and clergy who made her feel at home in the Cathedral and in her village church. The doctors who treated her when she was unwell. The casual encounters with good people who encouraged her and paid her compliments and built her confidence. Hundreds of people have contributed to the flourishing of this one person from childhood to adulthood for almost two decades.
 
It is often said in many cultures that it ‘takes a village to raise a child’ and I recommend reading the ‘perspective’ article on the Frontiers website, from March 2022 which is sharply focussed on ‘Understanding and Expanding the Concept of the “Village”’. Having grown up and raised my own children in a Herefordshire village, I have a clear sense of the literal meaning of that word but in truth everyone who has interactions with a child or teenager for better or worse, is part of that village. As schools, we are most definitely part of ‘the village’.
 
The interactions we have with children and young people, be they our own or those of others, are precious and important. Each conversation can help them along the way. The chance to make a small difference to the life of a young person is a gift to be appreciated. Our children are only borrowed, after all. They won’t be with us forever.
 
Thankfully, our nest isn’t empty yet. I am very glad we have one more precious person in our house who has yet to join her brother and sister at university. Not sure she is too keen on having all the attention from mum and dad though.
 
I do hope that the childless cruises are everything the passengers hope they will be and I also hope that even in my years of quiet retreat, I never reach a point where I will feel the need to purposefully seek out a place where there will be no children.
 
Collect (14th Sunday after Trinity)
Almighty God,
whose only Son has opened for us
a new and living way into your presence:
give us pure hearts and steadfast wills
to worship you in spirit and in truth;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
  
Whether you are a governor, a lunchtime supervisor, a business manager, a teacher, a teaching assistant or a school leader, your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
Each single interaction, everyday makes a difference and helps each child to flourish in way which builds towards the arc of their whole education. These interactions are also as much of an expression of your Christian faith, as singing hymns on a Sunday morning.
 
Prayers for anyone involved in interviews this week. They are big moments for people on both sides of the table and we ask for God’s wisdom in abundance wherever these are taking place.
 
Have a restful and restorative weekend. Prayers and blessings for those taking children to university in the coming days. Hopefully the tears won’t flow too much and they will soon be home again… probably with a bag full of washing.
 
Blessing and best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

11th September 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

When the Nile Floods and the Concrete Crumbles
In September 1995, I began my second year as a primary school teacher. I was at Wigmore Primary School and my classroom was a portacabin, located in between the primary and secondary school. Temporary educational accommodation until something more permanent could be put in place. It is still there and I believe, still being used as a classroom.
 
As I started the new school year, it was my first experience of the reset that takes place in September in schools. New children. New routines. New approaches to classroom management. Inevitably, in my first year there were many things I didn’t get right. Lessons that I learned about how I could be a better teacher and run a more effective (year 4 ) classroom. I got myself organised with a new markbook which I had created on my computer. All the names were printed in place and the headings were just as I needed them to be. I had a reading routine set out, my book corner looked immaculate and I had some great ideas about how to teach times table and get a practise routine going. I was going to be a much better teacher because I was going to correct all the mistakes I made in year one (like flooding the classroom when trying to demonstrate why the Egyptian only planted crops near the banks of the Nile). This year I was going to get it right.
 
28 years later, I am still trying to get it right and still often getting it wrong, just as I did in my first year of teaching.

Education is not one of those computer games where, when you fail to complete a level, everything stays the same on your second attempt. In the game, the trap you fell into the first time, will be in the same place when you try again. You can avoid it and make more progress, perhaps even completing the level and going on to the next one. In teaching, the variables are far more complicated and the traps are not always in the same place twice. This year’s groups of children will be very different from last year. They will have different needs, different strengths, different personalities, different parents. I think in my second year I became the subject lead for information technology (it may have been called something else). As a reasonably techy twenty something teacher, I seemed like a good bet to lead on this area of the curriculum, but back then my main role seemed to be fixing printers for teachers who desperately needed them to work within the next few minutes, consequently the final minutes before the children arrived may not have been spent in my own classroom. In my second year, I made just as many mistakes as in my first year. Not exactly the same ones, but just as many. For example, I learned that the experiment to test how fire resistant a piece of rubber glove was, could have done with a more thorough risk assessment and trying to cook chimichangas with year 4s as part of our topic on Mexico, might have been a little ambitious (especially the deep-frying bit).
 
No two academic years are the same. Heaven knows we have learned that in recent years. I know many a headteacher is praying for a more ‘normal’ year this year. Less disrupted. More settled. More predictable. Staff in classrooms. Everything working as it should.
 
I can only imagine what a nightmare it must have been to discover that the  Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC) you discovered was present in your school, meant you had to take whole buildings out of use. For those who aren’t clear on what RAAC actually is, if you imagine a concrete Aero, with lots of bubbles inside, you are on the right lines. Difficult enough for one school to deal with if they had months or even weeks to respond, but in only a few days with another 150 schools across the country all looking to get hold of some temporary accommodation? Impossibly difficult. Schools are innovative so in many parts of the country (though thankfully none in the Hereford Diocese), we have begun the new academic year with classes being taught in marquees and dance studios and school halls and dining rooms. Even worse, some schools have had to close year groups or even close the school. Hardly the disruption free year they were hoping for.
 
Every year in education, we ‘take arms against a sea of troubles’. I doubt very much this will be the year we get everything right, but we will try our hardest. We will make progress. We will avoid a few pitfalls, thanks to our growing experience. We will take steps forward and we will support and help children and young people to learn and to grow in the care of our schools. We will make an important difference and know that our time has been well-spent. We know that God’s love for us is eternal and that we can turn to him when the Nile floods and when the concrete crumbles.
 
Collect (13th Sunday after Trinity)
 Almighty God,
who called your Church to bear witness
that you were in Christ reconciling the world to yourself:
help us to proclaim the good news of your love,
that all who hear it may be drawn to you;
through him who was lifted up on the cross,
and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
I hope you enjoyed a restful and restorative summer holiday and have managed to recharge the batteries a bit. Whether you love or hate the strangely warm weather, it won’t be here for much longer.
 
Thank you all for everything you and your staff have done over the summer to get things ready for the new school year. The secondaries and colleges were busy with GCSE and A level results, weeks ago. Caretakers, cleaners and contractors, have been busy too. Headteachers and senior leaders will have breathed a small sigh of relief when the first teaching of the year finally got underway, and the preparations and training sessions had been done.
 
Whether you are a governor, a lunchtime supervisor, a business manager, a teacher, a teaching assistant or a school leader, your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
Blessing and best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

14th July 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Abusing the Helpers
2022-23 academic year…the penultimate reflection.
 
I had a fascinating meeting with senior NHS Executives this week. It was to explore possibilities for collaboration across the sectors and we began to uncover some exciting possibilities around training and recruitment. More on those another time.
 
We began talking about challenges for staff in schools and hospitals. It was fascinating to learn that until relatively recently, Hereford County Hospital was one of very few who did not have an onsite security operation. It didn’t need one. That has changed in recent years and, like almost all hospitals these days, they can now ‘call security’ and get an instant response from on-site security officers very quickly.

Nurses in some departments now routinely wear body cameras. These are more likely to be needed in A&E and…wait for it…maternity departments.
 
The NHS England website, has a violence protection page:
 
“The vast majority of patients and the public show nothing but respect and thanks for the skilled care they receive, but the unacceptable actions of a small minority have a massive impact on the professional and personal lives of our …. colleagues.”  Amanda Pritchard, NHS Chief Executive (February 2022).
 
The 2021 NHS Staff survey, of which there were nearly 600,000 responses from 220 NHS trusts, found that:

• 14.3% of NHS staff have experienced at least one incident of physical violence from patients, service users, relatives or other members of the public in the last 12 months. In the ambulance sector, our paramedics have experienced a much higher volume of abuse (31.4%).

• The impact on staff is significant, with violent attacks contributing to 46.8% of staff feeling unwell as a result of work-related stress in the last 12 months, with 31.1% said thinking about leaving the organisation.”

Abusive and aggressive behaviour directed towards school staff is a problem too. I have experienced that in various forms over the years, as have staff in my schools. It doesn’t happen often, thankfully, but it happens. Headteachers seem to be reporting an increase in the frequency of upsetting behaviour from parents and carers directed towards staff.
 
School staff also sometimes experience abuse or even violence from pupils as well as parents.
 
On Monday, Maths teacher Jamie Sansom suffered a single stab wound in the incident in a corridor at Tewkesbury School. He was taken to Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and later discharged. Thank God, he was said to be "recovering well".
 
Echoes of violence towards staff in previous decades returned. Philip Lawrence, was the headteacher who was stabbed to death on the 8th December 1995, outside the gates of his school in London, when he went to the aid of a pupil who was being attacked by a gang.
 
Wikipedia comments on the aftermath of this tragic case:
The case increased the level of concern expressed about levels of violence involving school-age youths, and the safety of pupils and staff while in school, which were beginning to become public issues in the United Kingdom in the early 1990s. This followed the fatal stabbing of 12-year-old Nikki Conroy by a mentally ill intruder at her Middlesbrough school in March 1994.In March 1996, 16 young children and their teacher were shot dead by intruder Thomas Hamilton at their school in Dunblane, Scotland. In July 1996, nursery nurse Lisa Potts and several toddlers were wounded by machete-wielding intruder Horrett Campbell at a nursery school in Wolverhampton. These incidents all contributed to major improvements in security at schools across Britain.
 
I remember visiting an elementary school in Washington DC in 2013. It was just a few miles from the White House and we had to get past the armed security guard before we could get into the building. It felt like a fortress from the outside.
 
Actually, once we got past the guard, on the inside the school felt much less secure than most I know in the Hereford Diocese. The school principal began the tour, but left us to find our own way after about 5 minutes.  We had our two girls with us aged about 8 and 6 and I can remember them gripping our hands quite tightly as we walked around.  I think they thought we were considering a change of school. Was daddy going for a new job? Part of me would have loved to work there. The pupils seemed great, although they weren’t quite sure about the digeridoo demonstration in the hall. I wasn’t either. No one seemed to be listening properly. I so wanted to stand at the front and take control of the 300 pupils that weren’t really interested. I didn’t.
 
In education as in all public institutions we are now having to think the unthinkable and take measures to deter abusive and even violent behaviour and to protect staff, when it does occur.
 
One of the fascinating things I heard from the NHS executives, when I started asking about the body cams was that they are more than just evidence gathering devices, they are also a very powerful deterrent. Sometimes, we think a member of the public is ‘out of control’ as they shout in the face of a nurse or a teacher who is trying to help them. Apparently, a gently pointed finger towards the body camera is very often enough to trigger an instant calming of the ‘out of control’ behaviour from members of the public. Not so out of control, after all.
 
This is all a bit depressing and seems a million miles away from the lived experience of the vast majority of our schools. I was at Eastnor CE Primary School on Thursday and the behaviour of everyone I met was fabulous, including Jess, the therapy dog who was meeting the reception children at the time. No one needed a body camera.
 
And where is God in all of this? How does our vision guide us in this policy making? We try to be motivated by a need to offer grace and service to all families no matter what they have done or how they behave. What about removing permission to enter the school site as schools sometimes do, if staff feel intimidated? Is this the Christlike way? I think of Jesus turning the tables over in the temple. When Jesus thought something was unacceptable, he refused to accept it and He let us know about it.
 
My feeling is that we need to think carefully and make a little clearer that any abusive or aggressive behaviour shown towards staff will not be tolerated in our schools, even though we know that parents and carers themselves will sometimes be facing incredible challenges. I would have no problem with teachers like nurses wearing body cameras as a preventative measure against abusive behaviour. If this helps members of the public to control their behaviour a little more, then perhaps we are protecting them as well.
 
Collect (5th Sunday after Trinity)
 Almighty God,
send down upon your Church
the riches of your Spirit,
and kindle in all who minister the gospel
your countless gifts of grace;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

There could still be an inspection or two in the final full week of term, I know. It would be very nice for everyone in the Hereford Diocese, if there wasn’t.
 
Thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing. All that extra work you are doing to give the children a happy send off to the next year or the next school is so important and greatly appreciated too.
 
Have a restful and restorative weekend. Only one more bulletin message to read and the academic year will be done.
 
Blessing and best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

7th July 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Fellowship of the Broken
The Church of England’s website has a Values and Principles page.  Under ‘Empathy’ it says:
 
“…In the true meaning of ‘compassion’, we get alongside others in their situation, stand or sit shoulder to shoulder, and act as allies. Doing with not for others. This requires care to be based on empathy not sympathy. It requires a deep knowledge and understanding of the other, their hopes, their aspirations, the things they enjoy and the gifts they bring.”
 
In my first classroom at Wigmore Primary School, I used to turn the radio on after the children had left. I can still remember the chill I felt as the news broke of the tragedy at Dunblane Primary School in 1996 where 16 pupils and a teacher died on what seemed like an ordinary day in school.
 
I felt the same chill when I looked at my news app yesterday and read about the tragedy at The Study Preparatory school in Wimbledon. We don’t yet know the full extent of what has happened there. But we do know that an eight year old girl died when a Range Rover crashed into their end of term party, being held outside.

I know the whole of the education community in Hereford Diocese will join me in prayer for this school community who must be experiencing unimaginable grief this morning. Except in truth, those who work in schools can imagine it... So, we pray hard with deepest empathy, for the bereaved family, for staff, for all those that have been injured and for the emergency services who have been helping. We pray for clarity over what has happened. We pray a heartfelt blessing for the memory of the little girl, lost to us but safe in your arms. Amen
 
Sadly, the news is always so full of suffering and I suppose it is part of a psychological defense mechanism to shut much of it out in order to dial down our empathetic, emotional response to avoid being overwhelmed. That is perhaps easier when events seem distant and removed from our daily lives. It is harder to do when the circumstances seem more similar to our own. For me the news stories that seem to hit hardest are always when events take place in a school. We know and understand how a school community works and fits together. We can imagine what a horrific event will do to that community. We think of the headteacher. The staffroom. The playground. The parents. The children.
 
There can be happier empathy too and we had such a joyful gathering at the Bishop’s Palace yesterday and the Great Hall (which is the oldest ecclesiastical building still in use in the whole of the church of England) was filled with headteachers and Chairs of Governors form all over the diocese. We were joined by Bishop Richard, Archdeacon Fiona and the Diocesan Board of Education. We said some ‘thank you’s especially to chairs of governors and headteachers who are stepping down at the end of the school year. We talked about the new publication from the Church of England Education Office, called ‘Our Hope for a Flourishing School System’.
 
“Underpinned by the Church’s 2016 Vision for Education, the new document makes recommendations including a once-in-a-generation re-imagination of Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) funding, provision, training and development, wise and compassionate accountability systems for school inspections and performance measures and steps to ensure teaching is again regarded as a vocation in which adults can truly flourish and commit long-term.
The document sets out the importance of collaboration in different local contexts, particularly between schools in smaller rural areas, to ensure every child in every community receives an effective provision.
 
It concludes with recommendations for four leadership levels: Schools, School Trusts, Dioceses and Government, and invites dialogue and engagement across the sector to develop flourishing partnerships.”
 
Each Diocesan Director was consulted on the wording of this document, which builds helpfully on the 2016 Vision and makes its application clearer for the education system as it looks in 2023 and how it may look in the years ahead.
 
We didn’t talk for very long, but allowed some quality time for networking and hopefully a sanctuary in the late summer term diary to meet with colleagues and have a catch up over a cuppa and some home made cakes. Bishop Richard kindly opened his garden and we talked and walked around this stunning spot in Hereford in the shadow of the Cathedral. I hope everyone enjoyed it. I certainly did.
 
The reason the networking at these events is so valuable, is because we are spending time with those who understand and can fully empathise with our own challenges. Even if their context isn’t exactly the same as our own, so many of our school challenges are universal and found in every school in all corners of our diocese. We draw strength from one another. We can gain understanding more easily than with those who do not work in and with our schools. We feel better by just talking things through with someone who ‘gets it’.
 
Henri Nouwen said:
“ Those who can sit with their fellow man, not knowing what to say but knowing that they should be there, can bring new life into a dying heart. Those who are not afraid to hold a hand in gratitude, to shed tears of grief, and to let a sigh of distress arise straight from the heart can break through paralyzing boundaries and witness the birth of a new fellowship, the fellowship of the broken.”
 
"Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was." - Job 2: 13
 
 
Collect (4th Sunday after Trinity)
 O God, the protector of all who trust in you,
without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy:
increase and multiply upon us your mercy;
that with you as our ruler and guide
we may so pass through things temporal
that we lose not our hold on things eternal;
grant this, heavenly Father,
for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
There was joy at Burley Gate CE Primary School on Monday when Bishop Richard went to visit in person to answer the questions the children had submitted about the coronation. Children (and Bishop Richard) seemed to me to be having a wonderful time. As well as answering the excellent questions, they named the very special coronation teddy bear (now called George) and looked at the designs the children had made for a special crash helmet for +Richard (who loves his Harley Davidson). We also saw some beautiful crowns made by some of the youngest children and Bishop Richard joined the whole school for assembly. Do take a look at the video of the excellent questions being answered about exactly what it was like to be so closely involved in such an historic event. It might be a nice 6-minute watch with the children too, if you have time before the summer break.
 
I guessed there might be an OfSTED call somewhere in the diocese this week, but I didn’t expect it to be made last Friday. Blessings and best wishes to Tracey Cansdale and the team at Christ Church Cressage CE Primary School who (unusually) had an inspection on Monday and Tuesday. I sincerely hope that you all have a more restful weekend this week than last week!
 
Thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing. All that extra work you are doing to give the children a happy send off to the next year or the next school is so important and greatly appreciated too.
 
Have a restful and restorative weekend. I think it is now OK to count the days.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

30th June 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Spiritual Dehydration
 …and there goes June. First of July tomorrow. Everyone working in schools knows that July is the bridge to the summer break and from tomorrow we will be on that bridge. It seems quite a long bridge this year, however, with many schools not breaking up until the 25th , but it is nevertheless, the final chapter of the school year.
 
The ‘end of term’ is sometimes problematic and challenging for a number of reasons. Schools work well with routine. The rhythmic pattern of the weekly timetable helps the wheels turn smoothly. It is this particular time, on this particular day so we must be doing this particular thing…because we always do. In the final weeks of term, these patterns often fall apart for various reasons. Each day becomes less predictable for teachers and pupils. I’d love to know how many school trips and residentials we’ve had across the diocese. It must be hundreds and hundreds. I’ve heard about trips and residentials in London and York and Manchester and Oxford. Red Ridge in Pembrokeshire was always a favourite. These will be fabulous for children but they definitely, along with sports days and plays and leavers services, blow apart the weekly pattern.

Incidentally, I hope that the 43 schools who joined us in the Cathedral last week, enjoyed the experience. I was a little worried about the hundreds of paper airplanes flying across the cathedral, carrying prayers across the nave, but I needn’t have worried and I suspect it was the bit most of the children will have remembered. I really do appreciate that some schools had to make a very long journey to be with us, but I very much hope that the specialness of being in Hereford Cathedral made it a precious moment of transition for them as well as for staff. It was wonderful that pupils from The Bishop of Hereford Bluecoat School and The Hereford CE Academy were with us too. I really like the bit where they welcome the children (on behalf of all secondary schools) to their new schools. Thanks again to everyone involved in the services, especially our senior clergy, the cathedral team and Mark, who stitched it all together so well… and I still don’t know how he did the trick with the chair!
 
It isn’t just the school timetable that loses its pattern. The work-life balance often goes out of the window in schools at this time of year too. How many times have teachers and headteachers said to loved ones in recent days, “I’m going to be late back tonight’? That will have happened many times already this term and sometimes the final weeks are the most difficult. If you don’t get home until late in the evening for two or three or four times a week, it does inevitably start to take its toll. The batteries start to run very low and it then starts to feel even more challenging to get over the line. Not that anyone wants to wish their life away, but we do inevitably start to count the days. We justify to ourselves that neglecting family life for a while will be OK, because it will soon be August when we can restore the balance and put things back to normal. I’m not sure it works like that in reality, but we all do it in that ‘feast and famine’ kind of way.
 
Once the routines have gone and the evening events and longer working days kick in, time seems to slow down in schools, and it can feel like the ‘end of term’ is going on for months. By the time the ‘thank you for everything’ chocolates appear on teachers’ desks in the final days, the whole sector is completely exhausted. Children will be over-tired. Staff will be over-tired. Parents will be over-tired. This exhaustion sometimes leads to more problems with relationships than at other times of year, which in turn makes things more difficult. It is at these moments that our school leaders are often most severely tested.
 
I’ve seen some headteachers attempt to delay the breakdown of the normal classroom pattern by restricting end of term events to the closing week or two. I never managed to get that to work, especially in summer. There is just too much to get done. The end of the summer term is also different because it is also the end of the whole school year. Nothing will be the same in September when classes have moved on or teachers have moved years groups or even to different schools or into retirement (congratulations to those people).
 
My days are particularly hectic at present and I feel like I’m whizzing around a bit and kicking quite hard to keep my head above water. Challenging for sure, but not comparable to the stretch I felt in school at this time of year. So many jobs are hugely busy and stressful. Teachers certainly aren’t the only ones who work hard…but I think there is something quite unique about the amount of energy you need to give to work with a class full of children. It is psychologically, physically and emotionally demanding work. Experienced practitioners build stamina and conserve energy through increased efficiency. I’ve often wished to convey to people who have never done that kind of work, how exhausting it feels. My brother still remembers how shattered he felt helping me to make a promotional school video at Wigmore Primary School in about 1996. We called it ‘Why Wigmore?’ He was falling asleep on the sofa as soon as he got home every afternoon, after spending the day with the year 3s and 4s on the production of the short film.
 
I’ve learned through the years, how best to cope when I feel like Bilbo Baggins when he said he was like butter spread too thinly on a piece of bread. I turn to the Holy Spirit. I recognise now when I need to plug in to the spiritual mains and ask Jesus to take the strain from me. I experienced this familiar sense last week when those initial danger signs of being overwhelmed started to appear. I took myself into the cathedral for 10 minutes on my way past. I found a quiet spot, I knelt down and I asked for some help. I just put it all down for a moment. It did the trick, as it always does.
 
Although working with children can undoubtedly be exhausting, it can also be as spiritually nourishing as a visit to the cathedral; the other thing I used to do as a head sometimes was to turn away from the e-mails, documents, meetings and phone calls and just found a way to spend some time with some children who needed a bit of help with something.  Read a story with them or hear them read or explain something they don’t understand yet. At its heart, that is the essence of teaching and the engine of our vocation, but in today’s education system it is super easy to lose the connection to that golden thread.
 
I’ve also discovered that the outdoors is a cathedral all of its own. There is a spirituality to the outdoors which can be nourishing too. I was delighted to discover this week that Ludlow Primary School organises a session, as a part of their comprehensive enrichment programme, where children sit and watch a sunset together to fully appreciate its full and freely available, magnificence. How great is that?
 
I’m increasingly of the view, that to neglect our own spiritual wellbeing, is like allowing ourselves to become dehydrated. We simply cannot function in the same way. I think that the busier and more hectic the job becomes, the more we need the spiritual nourishment to cope. I have written many times about how easy it is to become de-spiritualised (I may have just made up that phrase) in today’s world and I think we now have to be more intentional about building in these moments into our lives.
 
So, the last day of term is still a long way off but the ‘end of term’ is already here. We pray together for balance, for nourishment, for refreshment and for the moments of joy that keep us energised and passionate about all the work we do in our wonderful schools.
 
Collect (3nd Sunday after Trinity)
 Almighty God,
you have broken the tyranny of sin
and have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts
whereby we call you Father:
give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service,
that we and all creation may be brought
to the glorious liberty of the children of God;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
We give thanks that this year’s tests and exams are now in the rear-view mirror for most if not all our children and young people.
 
Thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
Have a restful and restorative weekend. Try and find some time to spiritually re-hydrate, if you can.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

23rd June 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

From Now On, You’re On Your Own
Unusually, I’m writing this on Wednesday because the end of the week doesn’t look like it has much spare time available. I know that will be true for most of you in schools too. It is definitely that time of year again!
 
Thursday is the day dedicated to our Year 6 children who are coming to the end of their time at primary school and preparing to the move to their new secondary school. 43 of our 78 CE schools will be coming to Hereford Cathedral either in the morning or the afternoon. I think that is absolutely brilliant. I know it isn’t possible for everyone, but it will be great to see so many of our schools gathered together to worship and celebrate.

The Cathedral will be filled with children who have spent their first years (perhaps all 7) in a Church of England Primary School. Most of those children will not be heading to a Church of England Secondary School. Remember one in every four primary schools in England is a Church of England School, while only one in twenty of the secondary schools are CE.  There are only three in our whole diocese, so unless they are heading to Ludlow CE School or The Bishop of Hereford Bluecoat School or The Hereford (CE) Academy, they will be going to a community secondary school. Many of these are also wonderful establishments where children will still flourish into young adults and gain a great education.  However, there will, I think it is fair to say, be less emphasis on the development of spiritual wellbeing and routes to personal faith.
 
We are seeing our society become ever more secular and more materialistic with less value placed on spirituality. We are also seeing a growing rise in mental health problems. I’m not sure how strong the empirical evidence is yet for the link between these trends, but my guess is that they are linked. I believe that, partly because when I attend to my own spiritual wellbeing, I feel better psychologically, much as I do when I’ve had some exercise.
 
We once had a TomTom Sat Nav device, which gave us directions in the voice of John Cleese. It wasn’t a poor impersonation of his. It was definitely him. Whenever you got to where you were heading, he would say, (sounding very much like Basil Fawlty)
“You have reached your destination. You may get out now, but I am not going to carry your bags.”
 
When it comes to the spiritual development of our children and our support for their development as the next generation of Christians, are we saying to our Year 6 children, ‘you have reached your destination. You can get out now, but we are not going to give you any more help with growing faith or your spiritual well-being’?
 
Of course, we are not quite saying that, but it does get a bit more tricky once they have left one of 78 CE primary schools. We are hopeful and I am hopeful, that by the end of Year 6, we will have given them just enough navigation and guidance to find their way from this point onwards.
 
Our three Church secondaries think very carefully about their distinctive and inclusive Church School ethos. The recent SIAMs at The Hereford (CE) Academy, was a really intense process of scrutiny which examined the difference that the ethos and distinctive culture makes for the young people who attend. How well developed is the worship and prayer-life of the school? Only the CE secondary schools in the diocese go through that process. OfSTED do think about spiritual development but in nowhere near as much detail. Do you know any schools that have had a ‘deep dive’ into spirituality?
 
We have so few Church secondary schools, that the ‘growing faith’ work, which aims to combine teaching and experiences at home, in church and at school, loses one of its key anchor points. The reliance from Year 7 therefore often falls upon church and home to a large extent. Yet most of young people are not in church and have no connection to one (unless they maintain one they built while at primary school). That just leaves the option to grow faith in the home environment alone.
 
We don’t expect our Year 6 children to have developed a fully matured faith by the time they leave primary or perhaps even secondary school, but we do aim to have given them some experience and opportunities to have an encounter with God and to gain some sense of what that feels like. They will have regularly sung songs of praise with their friends. They will have regularly prayed together. They will have been quiet together and been joyful together. They will have been called to and sent away from worship with reverence and respect. They will have enjoyed fellowship as a diverse group from different faith backgrounds and learned that they are all known and loved by God, just as they are.
 
I hope and pray that I can still grow in faith in my 50s, that you will through your connections to schools and I hope that our young people will continue to grow in their faith journeys as they leave their primary schools behind and move into Year 7. We will be praying for that tomorrow, I know.
 
I am very much looking forward to seeing most of our CE schools in one place tomorrow (I don’t get to say that very often). Our senior clergy will all be in attendance in the morning or the afternoon, as well as the whole of the education team. Our friends from iSing pop will be with us all too, and they will bring joy in abundance, as always. I look forward to seeing lots of you there.
 
Collect (2nd Sunday after Trinity)
Lord, you have taught us
that all our doings without love are nothing worth:
send your Holy Spirit
and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love,
the true bond of peace and of all virtues,
without which whoever lives is counted dead before you.
Grant this for your only Son Jesus Christ’s sake,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
We give quiet thanks, that this week was inspection free in our Church of England Schools this week. I said that last week, so next week feels a bit ominous.
 
We pray for continued blessing on all those children and young people sitting their last few exams at the moment. We ask that they feel your calming presence, that they might see more clearly and be at peace. We pray for the staff in schools who support them so skilfully and make all the difference each and every day. Most exams (including A levels) will be over by the time this gets published.
 
Wednesday was national “Thank a Teacher Day’ and so a sincere, thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
Have a restful and restorative weekend.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

16th June 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

From Hereford to Rome
 
As a Christian and an Anglican, I’ve always had an interest in the Roman Catholic Church. As the largest branch on the Christian Tree, it had been interesting over the years to discover where the similarities and differences are between Roman Catholic and Church of England doctrine. I still haven’t worked it all out yet. It is still Jesus, so how different can they really be?

Twenty odd years ago, my wife and I visited Rome. We headed to the Vatican and by chance there was an open-air installation service for a new crop of cardinals. Our bags were checked in airport fashion, and we were allowed in to see the service taking place. There were thousands of people, and the vestments of different religious orders were visible everywhere. Monks and nuns and priests and lay people. Lots of crosses and every flavour of Christianity, probably from all corners of the globe. At the front the bright red robes of the new and existing cardinals were clearly visible. Even from the very back we could clearly see the white robe of His Holiness Pope John Paul II. He was very frail by then, but we could clearly see him and hear the liturgy spoken mainly in Latin and Italian. We still have a cross (that is the one behind me when you see me online) and the very special order of service. It was an incredible day. We still managed to visit St Peter’s Basilica, which is so enormous it makes Hereford Cathedral seem like a village chapel. Inside, underneath the altar, you can visit the shrine and tomb of St Peter. That’s right…The St Peter. If you ever get a chance to go to Rome, don’t miss out on that bit!
 
Years later, one of the boys at St Paul’s CE Primary (Toby) joined the Hereford Cathedral Choir. He was a little late to the party for a chorister and joined in year 6. Ordinarily, because of the timing of rehearsals and services, choristers always join Hereford Cathedral School. In essence, this was the original purpose of the school and is why it is one of the oldest schools in England (about 800 years old). Because Toby only had a few terms to go at primary school, an exception was made and he stayed at St Paul’s until he moved into year 7. So very unusually, we had a serving cathedral chorister in our school and we adapted and adjusted things, so that he could fulfil all his commitments and be where he needed to be for his choral duties each day. While he was still with us, the choir went to Rome and sang at the Vatican in a Papal Mass. I believe it was one of the first times a Church of England Cathedral Choir had done so. I was very proud of the photograph that came back of Toby, the Hereford Cathedral Choir and His Holiness Pope Francis. In fact, I still have it up in my office. It was a lovely story to tell the SIAMS inspector who arrived in school a few weeks later! I was very excited when Toby also brought me a souvenir back and, as I unwrapped it, I had visions of an olive wood cross which I could put up in my office. However, the choice of a slightly mischievous boy in year 6 was instead to go for the wobby-head pope instead. It was a funnier choice, but not something I felt comfortable having on the shelf in the Headteacher’s Office in a Church of England School, so it stayed tucked out of sight.
 
I was transported from the Hereford Diocese back to Rome again this week. As I was heading to Ludlow, I flicked the radio channel to Radio 2, hoping for some light musical relief from the fairly depressing news on Radio 4. Instead, I heard Zoe Ball introduce Archbishop Stephen Cottrell who was giving a daily reflection in ‘Pause for Thought’. He talked about his recent and very first visit to Rome and how surprised he was to be given a full and quite extended audience with Pope Francis. Far more than just a handshake. They sat and talked, lamented, laughed and prayed together. Archbishop Stephen went on to consider how much more all people from all faith backgrounds and traditions have in common than we have differences. He brought these thoughts, together with the Lord’s Prayer and pointed out that the first word is ‘Our’ not ‘my’.
‘Our Father, who art in heaven.’
God is our God, the God of everyone, whether we know him well or not. In fact, Pope Francis made clear a few years ago that, as far as he is concerned, the `God of Christianity and the God of Islam, is the same God. This statement didn’t seem to make many headlines, but I thought it was quite important. As it happened, the following day, at the same time, I heard a Pause for Thought again. This time from an Islamic Theologian. I’m afraid I missed the beginning and didn’t catch her name, but it was and she was brilliant. Neither of these have appeared on the BBC website yet but I will try and share the link when they do.
 
I’m very much looking forward to the next connection between Hereford and Rome.
 
Collect (1st Sunday after Trinity)
 O God,
the strength of all those who put their trust in you,
mercifully accept our prayers
and, because through the weakness of our mortal nature
we can do no good thing without you,
grant us the help of your grace,
that in the keeping of your commandments
we may please you both in will and deed;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
  
We give quiet thanks, that this week was inspection free in our Church of England Schools this week.
 
We pray for continued blessing on all those children and young people sitting exams at the moment. We ask that they feel your calming presence, that they might see more clearly and be at peace. We pray for the staff in schools who support them so skilfully and make all the difference each and every day. Almost there now!
 
A regularly repeated but sincere, thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
Have a restful and restorative weekend in this beautiful diocese.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

9th June 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

DDE or not DDE. No longer a question.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Whitsun and that you have recovered from the shock of realising we are in June, once again. There are only about six weeks of the academic year left, but arguably the second biggest crescendo in the educational year is still ahead of us.

I had a great catch-up with Tom Lowrie-Herz, who is the Acting Headteacher at Pontesbury CE Primary School yesterday (Tuesday). We were reflecting on all the challenges within headship in the year so far, but also thinking about the many events which will happen before the end of the year. Tom was full of enthusiasm and positivity about the myriad of things which take place in the final half term. Some of the most important are those that help to signify a rite of passage or a transition from one way of being to another. Leaving primary school after seven years or the last days of secondary education in year 11. Proms and parties are all important aspects of our school culture that help to signify the closing of one chapter and the opening of another. It is the energy and dedication of the next generation of school leaders, like Tom, that truly inspires confidence in a bright future for our education system, in spite of all its complex challenges.

Since September 2018, I have had the huge honour of being the Diocesan Director of Education for the Hereford Diocese and I have absolutely loved it. For the first nine months, I remained as the Executive Headteacher at St Paul’s CE Primary School, although Liz Vautier-Thomas and the rest of the senior leadership team took much of the leadership responsibility and burden, continuing to run the school brilliantly while I began to fathom how a diocese worked, especially from January 2019, when I became the CEO for the Diocesan Multi-Academy Trust and began to work out how a multi-academy trust worked.

Since January 2019, I have been both DDE and CEO, but this is now changing.

The trust has transformed significantly and, although there is always more to be done, it is flourishing. We are delighted that five new primary schools will be joining our trust next term. Two of these are Shropshire schools (Lydbury North and Onny CE Primary Schools) and three are Herefordshire schools (Whitchurch CE Primary School, Weston-under-Penyard CE Primary and Goodrich CE Primary). We expect many more to join this collaborative family as the rest of the decade continues to turn.
 
In light of the growing trust and increasing numbers of schools wishing to join, it has been made clear that a condition of Regional Director approval is for the trust to have a full-time Chief Executive. We have therefore decided that now is the time to begin to ‘decouple’ (separate) the DDE and trust CEO roles. I will step down as the DDE for the Diocese of Hereford at Christmas time (or thereabouts), but will continue to work as the Chief Executive of the Diocesan trust for (hopefully) many years to come.
 
In the five years as DDE, I’ve got to know and work with many of the DDEs from other dioceses and it has been great to be the voice of Hereford, from time to time at national meetings. It is always useful to remind people that, although a small diocese in many ways, we have had more Bishops of Hereford than there have been in Canterbury. Not that it is a competition of anything…or more importantly that we know a thing or two about education in rural areas that do not have a large urban metropolis (unless you count Ludlow).
 
I have a few more months to go as DDE but I wanted to let you know that we will now begin the process to seek new leadership for education within the Diocese of Hereford. There will be more communication about that in the coming weeks.
 
I am very grateful to the education team I work with, who have a very rare set of skills (I hope I haven’t just made them sound like Liam Neeson). I have worked especially closely with Mark, Toni and Sian and they do a huge amount within a relatively small number of waking hours. Senior Diocesan Staff are wonderful to work with too and I am especially grateful to Sam Pratley our Diocesan Secretary (probably still the youngest in England) who has been a huge part of the education landscape in our diocese alongside a myriad of other responsibilities. The Ven Fiona Gibson is an excellent and dedicated Chair of our Diocesan Board of Education and gives hours and hours to the work of education, also alongside the smorgasbord of other responsibilities she carries as Archdeacon. In Bishop Richard, we have an outstanding theologian and true good shepherd, who takes a huge interest in all educational matters, even when he is very busy, with the coronation. I rely hugely on support and guidance from Sam and Fiona and Bishop Richard, and I wanted to say thank you for all that support, here and now.
 
I have said many times at Bishop’s Staff and in other parts of the diocesan structure, that I have not yet found another diocese that comes close to the Diocese of Hereford. Every corner of it, from Ironbridge to Ivington, Whitchurch to Worthern, Longden to Ledbury, Hanwood to Hereford, has wonderful qualities, churches and especially 78, dedicated, distinctive and devoted Church of England schools who serve their communities, every day from the first day of September to the end of the summer term, each and every year.
 
I don’t mean this to be a sentimental message at all. I’m not really going anywhere, and nothing much will change until the end of the year, but there will now be further communication about the way forward and so I needed to share this news with everyone today. I hope that is OK?
 
So back to the rest of the exams and sports days and summer plays and end of year reports. Not all of these always feel as directly linked to the flourishing of our children as we would ideally like, but they are, and the summer term conveyor belt does stop eventually.
 
I’m heading to Market Bosworth in Leicester Diocese on Thursday (also lovely) for a gathering of DDEs from all over England to consider and contribute to the discussion on how our Church schools can continue to flourish within a challenged and fragmented education system. I suspect you may hear more about that next week…
 

Henri Neuwan's reflection from 7^th June read at a recent meeting of the Diocese of Hereford Educational Trust:
 
The joy that Jesus offers his disciples is his own joy, which flows from his intimate communion with the One who sent him. It is a joy that does not separate happy days from sad days, successful moments from moments of failure, experiences of honour from experiences of dishonour, and passion from resurrection. This joy is a divine gift that does not leave us during times of illness, poverty, oppression, or persecution. It is present even when the world laughs or tortures, robs or maims, fights or kills. It is truly ecstatic, always moving us away from the house of fear into the house of love, and always proclaiming that death no longer has the final say, though its noise remains loud and its devastation visible. The joy of Jesus lifts up life to be celebrated.

Amen
 
Blessings and best wishes to headteacher Ben Caldicott, and everyone at St James’ CE Primary School in Hereford, who welcomed OfSTED visitors this week.
 
A regularly repeated but sincere, thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
We pray for continued blessing on all those children and young people still sitting exams. We ask that they feel your calming presence so that they might see more clearly and be at peace. We pray for the staff in schools who support them so skilfully and make all the difference each and every day.

Have a restful and restorative weekend in this beautiful diocese.

Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

26th May 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Tamil makes it Twenty
‘Tamil is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore and the Indian Union territory of Puducherry. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in the four other South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.’
Wikipedia
 
Wikipedia does not know that, as of this week, Tamil is the twentieth language spoken by children and families at St Thomas Cantilupe CE Primary School in Hereford. Most of our children who speak English as an additional language, rather than their first one, are learning their English almost entirely, from interactions in school. Conversations in the family home take place in the 20 other languages rather than the 21st (English). Many arrive with only a few words of English and learn really, really fast. The dining hall at lunchtime is the same as any other school dining hall I know. Full of energy. Smiling children who are enjoying one of their favourite parts of the day. The conversations are abundant, energetic and unstifled.  
 
The acquisition of a second or third language by young children who are immersed into a school environment is one of the most beautiful pieces of ‘education’ you could ever wish to see. It is more life changing than the mastery of any mathematical process could ever hope to be. What an incredible gift our schools can bestow on a young person. Come through these doors for a few months and you will eventually walk out of them with an ability to communicate with millions of people who you couldn’t talk to before. It is like giving away a superpower.
The Day of Pentecost marks fifty days since Easter Day and brings the Easter season to an end (the word comes from the Greek word for ‘fiftieth’). It is a major feast of the Church’s year when Christians recall how God’s Holy Spirit was given to the disciples after Jesus’ ascension, empowering them to begin the work of making disciples of all nations.
 
Jesus had promised his followers that, although they would not see him after his Ascension, they would receive the Holy Spirit to guide and inspire them.
The Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2 Chapter 2) describes how the crowds gathered in Jerusalem – representing many nationalities and speaking many languages – were able to hear the disciples preaching in their own language.
 
In his Pentecost message from 2021, the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell said, “Pentecost isn’t quite what we’d expect.
The power and presence of Jesus is available to everyone everywhere, but, let’s be honest, if you were planning a worldwide mission - and had this sort of power at your disposal - surely getting everyone to speak the same language would have been the best way forward? It’s almost certainly what we’d have done if left in charge.
But the Holy Spirit does the opposite. Not us speaking one language, but the Church speaking every language.”
 
Why is God making a better choice than homogenising spoken language, do you think? Well, language learning, changes the way you think. Every language has subtleties and capabilities that are different from every other one. They almost never map neatly onto another one. You can’t simply interchange every French word for an English word and convey the same meaning. When I say, ‘Je suis désolé’ after bumping into someone in a French supermarket, I am often left with the impression that the depth of regret I am expressing, seems to be much deeper that the word ‘sorry’ conveys in English. I might be wrong about that, as I am certainly not a proficient linguist, but the French word ‘pardon’ seems to more regularly elicit the reaction I would expect after a minor ‘no big deal’ collision near the Perrier. But if you try and translate the French word ‘pardon’ back into English, you’d probably go for the phrase ‘pardon me’ yet you wouldn’t expect someone in Morrisons to say ‘pardon me’ if they hit you with their trolley. You’d expect, ‘sorry’. Therein lies the wonderful complexity and subtlety of language. The infinite different shades of meaning allows for a powerful expression of ideas and culture that can’t be simply decoded with a linguistic enigma machine.
 
Archbishop Stephen, went on to say,
“God doesn’t reverse the astonishing human variety of language and culture. God blesses it.  We shouldn’t really be surprised. You only need to glance out of the window to see that God delights in variety.
We human beings – each and every one of us - are made in God’s image – with all our differences. What Jesus has done in his dying and rising is make that into a new community, the Church, which is like a body, made up of lots of different, but equally important, members….. But when other people are invited in – as happened on the first Pentecost - the Church is expanded: not just in size, but in beauty and variety; and we even learn more about the beauty of God. For the God we worship is the one God who is known in the three persons of Father, Son and Holy Spirit: unity and diversity together.”
 
Many would not imagine that the far corners of the earth could be so beautifully condensed into such a happy and harmonious microcosm, as a primary school in the centre of Hereford. Little wonder, that Jesus tells us to be more like children in the way we live our own lives.
 
Prayer
(From the confirmation service, which often take place at Pentecost)
 
Defend, O Lord, these your servants with your heavenly grace,
that they may continue yours for ever,
and daily increase in your Holy Spirit more and more
until they come to your everlasting kingdom. 
Amen
  
Another bushel-busting story from Tenbury CE Primary this week, who are set to be featured as Sunshine Radio’s very first ‘School of the Week’ with Chris Blumer. Children have already been interviewed and the feature will be broadcast during the first week after half term.
 
Best wishes to Executive Headteacher Alex Davies and the team at Canon Pyon CE Academy, who’ve had a (two-day) OfSTED this week. Nice to have next week to recover, I should think!
 
A regularly repeated but sincere, thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
We pray for continued blessing on all those children and young people sitting exams at the moment. We ask that they feel your calming presence, that they might see more clearly and be at peace. We pray for the staff in schools who support them so skilfully and make all the difference each and every day.
 
I heard from the governing body yesterday, that Coalbrookdale and Ironbridge CE Primary School held a beautiful Pentecost service in school for children and parents. It is great that such a significant moment in the calendar (ie the birthday of the Christian Church) is marked and celebrated in our CE schools. In fact, we should really mark it with a school holiday... Of course, we really do because Pentecost is also referred to as Whit Sunday (or Whitsun). It is believed that the name comes from Pentecost being a day for baptisms, when participants would dress in white. 'Whitsun' is also thought to derive from the Anglo-Saxon word 'wit', meaning 'understanding', to celebrate the disciples being filled with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit.
 
Have a restful and restorative half term break whether you are dressing in white or getting baptised, learning and new language or just lighting up with the Holy Spirit and a carefully-managed barbecue in the sun.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

19th May 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Look Up
 
Yesterday was Ascension Day. As Bishop Richard explains in this week’s video:
 
It is time when we celebrate that all authority in heaven and earth has been given to Jesus Christ. But Jesus’ power and authority is always ambivalent.  The most utterly transforming moment in history is a man crucified on a cross.  The resurrection was done to Jesus from outside, not something he did for himself. We always (after this pattern) move in his authority from a place of weakness and inadequacy. Sometimes it seems like the time we most need Jesus is the time he pushes off!  That was certainly the disciples’ experience at the Ascension. But the absence and the waiting were only for a brief time.  Pentecost was coming and with it the experience of a genuinely empowered life. 
 
It is that power that transforms the world.  It is that power we have been praying to be poured out afresh on our diocese to renew us, that we might be agents of renewal in a broken and hurting world.
 
As +Richard reports, there have been numerous services across our diocese recently at some of the very highest points. From the Shropshire Hills to the edges of Bannau Brycheiniog. Small gatherings of Christian people, taking communion together amid breath taking views of our diocese.
I’ve spent quite a lot of time in rural France over the years and although I’ve noticed much in common with rural England, the contrasts are far more evident. The population of France is roughly the same as ours but within a significantly larger land mass. As a result, there is more space, more wilderness. The area I know well, is in the Languedoc towards Montpellier. Very beautiful countryside. Terracotta rooved houses and lots of vineyards. Lots of high places too and I have noticed that it is quite common to see a cross installed at the very top of some of the hills. Given that modern France is, in many ways more secular than England, I’m not sure why this practice has been more common in France than here. Is it something to do with it being a catholic country?  I do not know how old the crosses are or anything at all about how they got there. Did they need planning permission? I do know that they have an impact on me. On countless occasions, bustling from place to place, mind on what is ahead or on a journey into town, it is quite arresting to look up and see the cross in the distance on the hillside. Just there. All the time. No matter what. In an instant a connection to my own faith is illuminated.
 
+Richard also says this week:
 
“Celebrating communion is a way of declaring – as the psalmist said, “the earth is the Lord’s and everything in it.” There is something powerful about looking out over the parishes of our deaneries from on high and praying for God’s blessing.”
 
Today’s reading from Galatians, Chapter 5 teaches about using our freedom to follow the spirit.
 
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.
 
As we look up to the high places, whether near or far, at home or abroad, crossed or not, perhaps they can serve as a reminder. A beacon even, of God’s blessing upon us and encouragement to walk each day in the footsteps of Jesus. To be agents of renewal in a broken and hurting world.
 
 
Collect
(Ascension Day)
 
Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that as we believe your only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ
to have ascended into the heavens,
so we in heart and mind may also ascend
and with him continually dwell;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.

Amen
 
Great to see some light shining brightly from our schools this week. Do read the article about Christchurch CE Primary and their work with the Archbishop’s Young Leaders Award (formerly the Archbishop of York YLA) in this week diocesan newsletter.
 
I spent quite a bit of time at Morville CE Primary this week as they had a two day OfSTED inspection. Thanks to Executive Head , Claire Gaskin,  Head of School Lizzie Doherty and the lovely team who worked so hard to show off the school in the best possible light.
 
Thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
We pray for continued blessing on all those children and young people sitting exams at the moment. We ask that they feel your calming presence, that they might see more clearly and be at peace. We pray for the staff in schools who support them so skilfully and make all the difference each and every day.
 
You can be certain, that your work each day, is known and loved by God, as are you.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

12th May 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

The Light Hiding Habit
Who decides what makes the news?
 
Sometimes we might imagine that if we do something exceptional in our schools, the phone will ring and the journalist will say, “I have heard (through my extensive network of sources) that you have done something truly exceptional. Please can I find out more, so that I can share the interesting news with my readers / viewers / Tik Tokers?”
 
For example, to play an active and significant role within the first coronation in 70 years and to be featured repeatedly in TV pictures, broadcast across the entire planet…is quite big deal and surely is certainly ‘newsworthy’. In this case, the journalist really did call, and Bishop Richard had to do quite a round of media coverage from the moment the service at Westminster Abbey was complete.
 
…By the way, we would like to give some children from our schools the chance to directly ask Bishop Richard what it was actually like to work so closely with the Royal family before and during the Coronation. Please send in your children’s questions (primary and secondary) and we will record Bishop Richard’s answers to the best ones, so that we can all gain an insight into the inner workings of such a complex national occasion. We might even be able to have one or two children who can conduct the interview with Bishop Richard for the recording. So do please have a think about what the children would like to know about +Richard’s experiences last week. We aim to have the answers available for you by the end of the summer term. Click here for more information on how your school can be included in this wonderful opportunity.
 
In reality, most of what we do in schools is not quite at a coronation level of newsworthiness. In reality, even though great things happen in our schools each and every day, the phone call never comes from the journalist and there seems to be no interest at all beyond the school’s own community. Sometimes not even that.

In fact, these days, we can be very reluctant to talk to the journalist who is interested in what a school has been doing or to publicise our work in any way. No comment. No conversation. No call back.
 
So, our friends in local media, often with much smaller teams these days, have very little comment or narrative to use from schools themselves. When they talk about schools, very often they will lean heavily on the information that exists in the public domain. Usually inspection reports. Usually, OfSTED inspection reports. Usually, just the summary judgment from OfSTED inspection reports. “Outstanding school, plants a tree”.
 
The other observation I would make is that many of our schools, doing fabulous things every day, do not have a particular want or need to publicise what they are doing, and so they keep their light hidden under a school-gate-sized bushel. I fully understand why, but perhaps that sometimes creates a vacuum that gets filled in ways that are less palatable.
 
I once played the piano (as an adult) in a rather intimidating concert of very accomplished musicians and some much less accomplished ones, like me. I practised very hard, knocked off some rust from my younger years, and played a half-decent rendition of one of the movements from Beethoven’s Sonata Pathetique. Someone, who knew me (but didn’t know I could play at all) said, ‘You clearly hide your light under a bushel.’ Initially, I took it as a compliment, but thinking it through and hearing the words from scripture, I realised that hiding our light is not really a good thing. We are not supposed to hide it, but let it shine brightly as it really comes from God, not simply ourselves. We might not be the best and it doesn’t matter. We should perhaps be more emboldened to push past our inhibitions every now and again and show people what we have learned or have managed to achieve. We can certainly do that as schools, even if we all struggle a bit as individuals.
 
So much of what I see in our schools needs celebrating and publicising and amplifying. It isn’t necessarily for the direct benefit of the school responsible, but it can help balance a wider narrative. It might help make those inspection voices just a touch less dominant within all forms of news. In short, I think we should try to say more and share more about the rich and skilful work of our schools. It isn’t about trying to be better than the school next door. It is about collectively, as a family of schools, pulling together, sharing together and celebrating each other.
 
So, I have asked the education team to seek out the myriad of things to celebrate in our schools we see, week in and week out. We are going to be a little more intentional about asking schools to share their stories. We might try and amplify the stories in social media, or local press or The Church Times or regional TV news or even on the hallowed pages of the weekly bulletins. We are producing some templates (with the kind help of Diocesan Press Officer – Sarah Whitelock) for different types of press releases and we are going to give a few more nudges, here and there to try and flood the news, now and again, with more of the wonderful stories from our schools. These stories may not quite be at coronation level, but they are lights that are well worth shining, nevertheless. If you have something to share, something you think we might like to know about, please do not be shy, let us know about the great work you are doing.
 
Collect
(5th Sunday of Easter)
 
Risen Christ,
your wounds declare your love for the world
and the wonder of your risen life:
give us compassion and courage
to risk ourselves for those we serve,
to the glory of God the Father.
Amen
 
Assessments from Art A levels, to KS2 SATs have been under way this week and have been quite a contrast to last weekend’s festivities. We continue to pray for calming comfort for all those pupils who write their name on the front of a paper in the weeks ahead and try so hard to demonstrate how much they have learned in their wonderful schools and colleges.
 
I am delighted that none of our schools has had to combine SATs week with an inspection, this year. Thank goodness for that.
 
Thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
You can be certain, that your work each day, is known and loved by God, as are you.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

5th May 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Hereford at the Heart of the Coronation
King Charles III will be crowned tomorrow, the 6th May 2023 and it will be an international occasion which will draw the attention of the world. Prayers for Their Majesties will be abundant, as they continue in service to the nation and as the new head of the Church of England.
 
It has been 70 years since anyone has seen a coronation in this country and few now remember the last one in 1953. I spoke to the Chair of Governors at Ludlow CE School, Barbara Ball, yesterday who (I hope she doesn’t mind me saying) does remember the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II very well. She made a wonderful scrapbook, but wasn’t able to watch the event on television as the broadcast network had not, by then, reached Norfolk where she then lived. Even so, she remembers the excitement of the occasion and how the story of the young Princess Elizabeth, seemed like a real life, fairy tale.
 
I was at Tenbury CE Primary on Tuesday, and it was great to see the printed coronation bookmarks arriving in school. One for every pupil. A memento of the historic occasion.
 
Working for the Church of England is fascinating at any time, but our role within the coronation tomorrow is clearly central and the history and theology of this connection to this crowning moment is particularly interesting. Coronations have been held in Westminster Abbey for 900 years. 900 years! How many other traditions have been kept in the same place for that long?  The CE website comments:

The Coronation will be a historic moment in the life of our nation, a time to reflect on our history, celebrate who we are and look to our future.
At its centre is a Christian service in which His Majesty will be anointed as King. It will be rooted in longstanding tradition and Christian symbolism. We offer our prayers for King Charles III and the Royal Family for this important occasion.
We hope that this might be a moment for the nation and many around the world to encounter the person of Jesus Christ, the servant King, and hear His call to each of us to serve others.
 
I felt a particular sense of pride when I learned that our own Bishop Richard, the 106th Bishop of Hereford, would be playing a significant role within the coronation service itself and I’ve been telling everyone who wants to know (as well as a few who probably don’t).
 
Following the announcement earlier in the week he said: “It is an immense honour and privilege to be part of The Coronation Service of Their Majesties, The King and Queen Consort. There are several other Bishops taking part in the service at Westminster Abbey. I will be serving as a Bishop Assistant to Her Majesty The Queen during the service.
 
“Like most people in this country and beyond, I have no memory of the last Coronation.  This is a momentous occasion in the history of our Nation and a time to come together in celebration. The Coronation Service at Westminster Abbey is a deeply Christian ceremony rooted in the Bible and tradition. 
 
Along with many other Christians in this country and beyond, as well as those of other faiths, I continue to pray for Their Majesties as they prepare for Their Coronation.”
 
I think that is a really wonderful thing that in every school, I’ve visited in recent days, the red, white and blue union jacks are everywhere, and the sense of occasion is being built, so that the event will be memorable, for children and young people of all ages, for many years to come.
 
I was at Kinlet CE Primary, late yesterday afternoon and, even though they had an OfSTED inspection to contend with, the preparations for today’s events and celebrations, continued anyway. The party will certainly go ahead as planned today.
 
My attention has also been drawn to all those playing a part, however small, in the pageantry and ceremony of the complex occasion. The clergy who will preside and guide our prayers. The military who will march with such precision. The musicians who lift the occasion so wonderfully. Those magnificent horses who will command the London streets as if they were a paddock in The Shire.
 
So, a very happy Coronation Day to you all. I hope you enjoy watching the historic events unfold from wherever you are tomorrow and that events in school today are a great success.
 
Coronation Prayer
(from Collective Worship Resource Pack for Schools)
Dear God,
We thank you for your teaching and example through Jesus.
We pray for the King as he prepares for his Coronation.
May you help him to be a peacemaker, pure in heart, merciful and hungry for righteousness.
We pray that you will also help us to shine brightly in the world around us, and ‘be’ who you have called us to be
as we all work together for a hopeful future in which all creation can flourish.
Amen
 
Blessings and best wishes for Headteacher, Alison Davies and the team at Kinlet CE Primary as well as Executive Headteacher, Anna Cook and the team at Newcastle CE Primary who both had a visit from OfSTED this week.
 
SATs week (next week) in our primary schools, always add a touch of pressure to the week. We pray that our 10 and 11 year olds (and their teachers and support staff) will not feel anxious about these ‘special quizzes’. We pray for calming comfort for all those pupils who write their name on the front of a paper next week and try so hard to demonstrate how much they have learned in their wonderful schools.
 
Thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
You can be certain, that your work each day, is known and loved by God, as are you.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale
 

28th April 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

That is just Crazy
I’ve travelled from Pencombe CE Primary to Coalbrookdale CE Primary this week and on Thursday afternoon, I travelled to Launde Abbey in Leicestershire for a meeting of Diocesan Directors from the Midlands. Worcester, Leicester, Derby, Nottingham and Southwell, Peterborough, Coventry, Lincoln and Birmingham DDEs are all here considering strategic direction, priorities and challenges. Although these dioceses are so varied and very different at some levels, it is always striking how much we share and how aligned we are in our strategic thinking and priorities. Just as I know headteachers value time to talk through the complexities and challenges of their roles with others who are doing the same job, DDEs do too.
 
In our opening time of reflection, we thought about how Mary Magdalene rushed to the tomb of Jesus to anoint his body with no idea how they would remove the huge stone from the sealed tomb. It seemed crazy to think they would be able to get in and yet they went anyway.
 
Nigel Frith from Nottingham and Southwell asked us all to think about how often we use the phrase or think to ourselves. ‘This is crazy’ thinking about what we do in and for our schools. Certainly, the Midlands DDEs had lots of examples and we weren’t just thinking about OfSTED inspections. I’m still working on this message, as I won’t have time in the morning, and it is now 23:00! That’s crazy… but this is a spiritual pattern to my week and prefer not to lose it.
 
We considered how as Christians and perhaps as school leaders and diocesan leaders we sometimes have to embark on a course of action which may seem crazy, but in the end makes complete sense.
 
When Mary reached the tomb, the decision to visit did not seem crazy at all.
 
Collect (3rd Sunday of Easter)
Risen Christ,
you filled your disciples with boldness and fresh hope:
strengthen us to proclaim your risen life
and fill us with your peace,
to the glory of God the Father.
Amen.
 
Across the diocese, as the fairground lorries arrive in our market towns, we look forward to the old tradition of the May Day bank holiday.
 
Well done to Claire and the team at Broseley CE Primary for getting through their OfSTED this week and for Ruth and the team at Bosbury for completing their SIAMs inspection. I’m quite sure you all deserve an extra-long weekend.
 
Thank you for all you do to support education in this diocese. Blessing and best wishes, for a great bank holiday weekend. Hopefully, it won’t be too crazy, just crazy enough.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

21st April 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Loss
 In the song Big Yellow Taxi, Joni Mitchell sang, ‘you don’t know what you’ve got, till it’s gone.’ This is true in so many different contexts and I’ve reflected on a few of them, since I last wrote to you.
 
Some of the most valuable and important things in school life are only noticed when they are missing. When you have a great cleaner in your classroom, for example, you arrive each morning and the room seems reset and refreshed, all set for a new day of learning. This can become such a rhythm, that it eventually becomes unnoticed. If the cleaning service is unreliable, however, it very much becomes the focus of our attention. Those pencil sharpenings are still where they were yesterday.  The sticky squash residue is still on my desk from Wednesday’s spillage. Similarly with a wonderful caretaker as some (though sadly not all) of our schools still have. Often, they fix the small things before you even notice they are a problem in the business of the school day. Often, we don’t notice that someone is oiling the organisational wheels of a school until they stop and we hear the squeaking.
 
Our health is another area we take so much for granted right up until the moment we lose it. Only when something is lost (like a pain free knee joint) do we fully appreciate how much we needed it. I had asthma when I was young, and I can tell you that an attack really does help you appreciate breathing easily!

In time, we may even reach the point where, we’ve been without something for so long, that we begin to forget what it was like before we lost it.  I had a really interesting Twitter exchange this week when I responded to the news that the Brecon Beacons national park have changed their name to ‘Bannau Brycheiniog’ as part of a new promotional campaign under the heading: ‘an old name for a new way to be’. The Bannau Brycheiniog national park is not in the Diocese of Hereford of course, but it is visible from many parts of it. So, I wrote the following Tweet, which attracted over 2800 views:
 
“Feels important in @HerefordDiocese from where (in many parts of our diocese) much of the beautiful national park is visible on the horizon, drawing in countless school trips to open breath-taking scenery to our children and young people. An ancient name for an ancient wilderness.”
 
One of the responses was from someone called Jacob Wilding, who replied:
 
“Nothing wild about it unfortunately - it’s all farmed. Beautiful, yes, but in a bleak kind of way. And the exposed peat, limited flora and bird-less landscape all quite tragic”
 
I was surprised to learn that this ‘wilderness’ was not quite as wild as I thought. The diversity of so many of our natural habitats are not what they were and, as so much diversity is lost. Do we even notice? I wasn’t aware of the damage that has been done to our closest national park, over many decades. I watched the brilliant video, presented by Michael Sheen, which explains why change and renewal, as well as renaming, is so needed. Part of the objective is clearly also about Welsh culture and language and identity. Quite right too. (I will revisit Welsh cultural identity in a future bulletin soon, I think. After all, some parts of our Diocese contain Welsh parishes. Church of England but Welsh? How does that work? Watch this space)
 
But when they’ve ‘put up a parking lot’ and we do realise what we’ve lost, is there anything constructive that can come from that, beyond nostalgia? I believe there is. We can learn. Learn lessons. Learn to appreciate. Learn to count our blessings and learn to renew and restore. Learn to do things differently from here on.
 
My Twitter exchange went on with Jacob and we discussed the success stories where wildlife has returned to an area. Seeing a low flying Red Kite is an even bigger thrill for me, having grown up in the 1980s where the only bird of prey you were likely to see in The Shire was a very occasional hovering kestrel, after the use of pesticides like DDT wiped out everything else.
 
Jacob also highlighted to me the valuable work of the Herefordshire Wildlife Trust (which I have now joined). I know some schools already work together on projects with the Wildlife Trusts in Herefordshire, Shropshire and other parts of our diocese. I would love to know what the total acreage of our 78 schools is, but I already know that there is great potential to make a significant difference for wildlife, as we care for God’s Kingdom, in this place.
 
As well as the loss of diversity and nature, we might consider our own church, not just in the global or even national sense, but within our small way of life within the market towns and tiny villages of our diocese. Many of our aging, small congregations are struggling to cope and it seems inevitable that many will close in the coming years. Even though, most of us are not in church every Sunday, I wonder what it would be like, if the church was not at the foundation of our society in the way it has been for so many years. I fear that many will not notice what we’ve got, until it’s gone.
 
2000 years ago, after Jesus’ crucifixion, His disciples were consumed with fear and loss. At that moment, they must have realised the preciousness of the time spent with Him through the villages of Judea and on the Galilean shore, even if they had yet to fully understand the full extent of the miraculous tapestry within which their own lives had been woven. The resurrection changed everything, and transformed their and our world forever as a new covenant with God was delivered. From the first Easter Sunday, they had an opportunity to walk a new path with Jesus and to live a life of loving faith. We have that chance too. All is not yet lost.
 
Prayer (2nd  Sunday of Easter)
Almighty Father,
you have given your only Son to die for our sins
and to rise again for our justification:
grant us so to put away the leaven of malice and wickedness
that we may always serve you
in pureness of living and truth;
through the merits of your Son Jesus Christ our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
I hope you all enjoyed a blessed Easter and that the first week of the summer term has been a positive one.
 
I would like to mention the sad loss of Rear Admiral Philip Wilcox, who died on Easter Sunday. His obituary was published in The Times, yesterday and it makes for incredible reading. Philip was a man of great service.  I worked with him for a number of years, briefly on the Governing Body at Aylestone and for about 8 years on the Governing Body at Hereford Cathedral School, where he became chair. He gave hours and hours and hours of, what very sadly became the last years of his life, into supporting the work of schools and the work of the Church of England in the Hereford Diocese. Philip’s wife, Kym was also a servant on the Diocesan Board of Education for many years. I will very much miss working with him, partly as he was the only person apart from my late Grandad who called me ‘squire’.
Kym and the family are very much in our thoughts and prayers at this sad time.
 
Blessings and best wishes for Ruth McManus and the team at Bosbury CE Primary School, who have their SIAMs inspection next week.
 
Thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
You can be certain, that your work each day, is known and loved by God, as are you.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

31st March 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

An Imposter (AI)
I’ve been hearing a great deal about artificial intelligence or AI this week and why we need to be worried about it. It is already having a huge impact in education. Software (if that is the correct term) such as ChatGPT allows you to type in an instruction for a written task, which the algorithm / software / tech pixies, turn into a piece of text…in seconds.
 
So I thought, well, I’ve had a busy week. Whizzing around the diocese, as always. Why not give myself a breather and ask ChatGPT to write my bulletin message this week and see what happens? So, I signed myself up and typed my question:
 
“Write an Easter message to schools from the Diocesan Director of Education to Church of England Schools in the Hereford Diocese. Include a prayer at the end.”
 
In about 5 seconds, this is what came back. See what you think…

“Dear Schools in the Hereford Diocese,
As we approach the Easter season, I wanted to take a moment to send a message of hope and encouragement to you all. This has been another challenging year for schools, but I have been amazed by the resilience and dedication shown by our Church of England schools.
The Easter story reminds us of the power of new beginnings and the hope that springs eternal. This year, more than ever, we need to hold on to this hope as we continue to navigate our way through the pandemic. As we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ, let us also remember that through Him, all things are possible.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to all of the staff and governors in our schools who have gone above and beyond to support our children during these difficult times. Your commitment to providing a safe and nurturing learning environment is truly appreciated.
As we head into the Easter break, let us take time to reflect on the blessings we have and the many reasons we have to be thankful. May the joy and peace of Easter be with you and your families, and may we continue to work together to create a brighter future for our children.
 
Let us pray:
Heavenly Father, As we celebrate the resurrection of Your Son, Jesus Christ, we ask that You fill our hearts with hope and joy. We pray for the staff, governors, and children in our Church of England schools in the Hereford Diocese, that they may feel Your love and presence as they continue their important work. Give them strength and wisdom as they navigate the challenges of the pandemic, and may they know that they are not alone. We ask this in Jesus' name. Amen.”

OK. Back to the real me now…
 
So there it is! I have to say, I was quite impressed. You can certainly see why this is a game changer in so many areas of everyday life and work. Is a prayer still a good prayer if it is written in this way? I’m not sure. As long as you mean them, when you pray them, I think it is OK.
 
Those of you that read my writing regularly would recognise that it doesn’t exactly sound like me. Less typos for a start! The pandemic references aren’t quite right for where we are now, perhaps. But if you don’t read the sorts of things, I usually write, I think you might struggle to know that this passage was not written by the Diocesan Director for Hereford.
 
There is already a huge issue for schools, colleges and universities with written submissions from pupils. How can we tell what is real and what is generated by a bot?  There is now a competition to see whether the software written to recognise text that has been produced by AI, can keep up with the software that is written to avoid detection by the software that is hunting for AI writing. The detection side is probably fighting a losing battle.
 
The ethical consideration and the risks of this kind of technology are worrying a lot of people.
 
The BBC reported on the open letter from Tech leaders yesterday:
 
Key figures in artificial intelligence want training of powerful AI systems to be suspended amid fears of a threat to humanity.
They have signed an open letter warning of potential risks, and say the race to develop AI systems is out of control. Twitter chief Elon Musk is among those who want training of AIs above a certain capacity to be halted for at least six months.
 
OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT, recently released GPT-4 - a state-of-the-art technology, which has impressed observers with its ability to do tasks such as answering questions about objects in images.
 
The letter, from Future of Life Institute and signed by the luminaries, wants development to be halted temporarily at that level, warning in their letter of the risks future, more advanced systems might pose.
 
"AI systems with human-competitive intelligence can pose profound risks to society and humanity," it says.
 
Advanced AIs need to be developed with care, the letter says, but instead, "recent months have seen AI labs locked in an out-of-control race to develop and deploy ever more powerful digital minds that no-one - not even their creators - can understand, predict, or reliably control". The letter warns that AIs could flood information channels with misinformation, and replace jobs with automation.
 
 
Who knows where this is leading. For the moment, I will continue writing my own reflections on education in the Hereford Diocese. I hope that is OK. I will also pray to the Almighty, without the help of ‘An Imposter’ as I am quite certain that God will be able to tell the difference!
 
Collect (5th Sunday of Lent)
Gracious Father,
you gave up your Son
out of love for the world:
lead us to ponder the mysteries of his passion,
that we may know eternal peace
through the shedding of our Saviour’s blood,
Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
 
Thank you to all our staff and governors for all you hard work this term. I know the whole sector is now in need of some refreshment and a recharge of the batteries. I have had no OfSTED triggering e-mails this week and I give thanks for that.
 
I know that some schools have been dealing with challenges far greater than any OfSTED, this week. Please pray for everyone at St Michael’s CE Primary in Bodenham, especially for Louise in the office and for her family at this sad time. It was lovely that the whole school community came together in St Michael’s Church, yesterday and Rev Paul Roberts led the prayers for the family there too as the huge and colourful cross, filled the church along with wonderful singing from the children.
 
Although the work continues for many over the Easter holiday, including site staff and maintenance teams and contractors and I know that for many young people, revision will be the order of the day for many more weeks, but I hope you will all manage an opportunity to celebrate Easter together with your precious families and to switch off from the challenges of school life for a while.
 
On behalf of the Diocesan Education Team (rather than any of the AI algorithms), have a blessed Easter and we will see you in the summer term.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

24th March 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

OfSTED Tragedy
In recent days, the tragic death of Headteacher Ruth Perry, has been reported in the media.
 
Anyone connected to education would be so saddened to learn that the reason she did so was because of the downgrading of her primary school from outstanding to inadequate by OfSTED. Disturbingly, most educationalists are not surprised that an OfSTED inspection could drive a dedicated headteacher to this place of despair.
 
I have never been an OfSTED inspector, but I have been involved in many, many inspections as a teacher, headteacher, trust chief executive and Diocesan Director of Education. I have listened at feedback from HMIs when schools have been judged inadequate. I have seen schools have special measures removed and have seen schools that have been judged as outstanding too.
 
We have had inspection in our education system for 100 years and do think we need it. We need it as a cog within our education wheel. I have met many inspectors in my 30 years of working in schools and I believe that most have good intentions and are themselves people of integrity. I’ve also seen the necessary transformation that is made possible following a difficult inspection outcome.
 
I have to say however, that I think the inspection system of state schools has become far too dominant within the education eco-system and I’m sure it is given far greater credibility that it really deserves. It is put on a pedestal which is far more prominent that it should be. Unlike Ronseal, it does not do what it says on the tin.

There is no escaping the inconvenient reality that schools are highly complex organisations which are made up of people. They are not factories where output can be easily quantified and measured. In an OfSTED inspection, inspectors will spend an intensive day or two examining a school, sometimes with a team of inspectors. They will judge the school against a framework and give a grading in a number of areas which culminate in an ‘overall effectiveness’ judgment.
 
I think all of this would be OK if it weren’t then ‘baked in’ as the timeless gospel truth about the school, which remains in place for 4 or five years, sometimes longer. This might be OK if it didn’t end careers and if it didn’t get seized upon by the local press with little understanding of how the judgment is formed let alone its implications on professionals as well as children. It might be OK, if it didn’t damage morale and stifle recruitment and demoralise young people. It might be OK, if exactly the same framework and criteria was applied whether you are a primary with three classes or a secondary with 800 pupils. It might be OK if the inspector applying and interpreting the framework had no experience whatsoever in the type of school being inspected. It might be OK, if an OfSTED judgment had not become such a heavy millstone, which ‘the school’ has to carry around its neck for years.
 
Sir Michael Wilshaw, former head of OfSTED, said on Radio 4 on Tuesday, that parents want to know whether or not a school is good or not and of course he is right about that. They do. Who wouldn’t want to know that, if they are choosing a school for their child? I would argue however, firstly that OfSTED do not have the monopoly on deciding what is and is not a ‘good’ school. There are other equally valid definitions of what ‘good’ or even ‘great’ looks like. Their definition of requires improvement is flawed too. I’ve often said, there is no school that doesn’t require some improvement somewhere so to label a school as ‘requires improvement’ is a confusing choice of words.
 
Secondly, it is my firm belief that the distillation of any school into a single word or phrase category which tells us everything we need to know about a school is impossible. In theory, it is a beautifully, simple, quick way to understand whether or not your child is likely to get a good education, if they attend this ‘good’ school, whenever that might be. The only problem is that in reality an OfSTED grading cannot tell you those things. It does not tell how great the school will be for your child or any child, and it is misleading to pedal the impression that it does. Every child’s experience in every school is unique and the experience can change significantly, if a teacher changes or a headteacher changes or a teaching assistant changes. And of course, all of things can happen far more regularly than an OfSTED inspection. Our schools are as ever-changing as a river.
 
I was headteacher at St Paul’s CE Primary in Hereford, when we received an OfSTED inspection in 2014. We all worked very hard and we were very proud to achieve a judgment of outstanding in all areas of the inspection… but I don’t mind telling you, it was very close. Not in any sense a ‘slam dunk’ and there were moments where it could have very easily fallen into ‘good’ territory instead. That OfSTED grading is still the most recent one the school has, and it is now 9 years old. I haven’t been the headteacher for 4 years. The deputy headteacher at the time is no longer there either. Some of the teachers are still there but many have been there for much less than 9 years.  Just to be clear, I still visit St Paul’s regularly and in my view, it is an absolutely brilliant school with a great headteacher and wonderful staff, that does fabulous work for its community…. but you clearly cannot use the 2014 OfSTED report to categorise the school as it is today or to tell you what standard of education it will provide if your child joins in September. Yet people do just that, because they believe that the 9 year old, 2 day inspection can still predict how good an educational experience a child will have today or tomorrow. I am here to tell you, it cannot do that and we really should stop pretending that it can.
 
It works the other way too, in 2021, I was at the Hereford CE Academy, when It received an OfSTED inspection to see whether special measures could be removed. The school had improved hugely. Special Measures were removed and we started talking seriously with the lead HMI about a ‘good’ judgment overall. We came very close indeed to getting a good judgment for quality of education, but on that second day couldn’t quite persuade the inspectors that we had crossed that line. And so the school stayed as ‘requires improvement’ rather than good. I know how close it was. I was there. The judgment was very subjective, and it could have very easily fallen the other side of the line. We will soon be 2 years on from that judgment, but the school is often treated as a ‘lesser quality school’ because it doesn’t have the ‘good’ label. Many visitors to the school are surprised by just how ‘good’ it feels when you cross the threshold, how calm and purposeful the atmosphere is and how well behaved the pupils are. By many definitions, including the recent SIAMS inspection, it is a good school even though it can’t yet wear the OfSTED badge.
 
In recent days, the BBC quoted an interesting piece of research looking at secondary OfSTED inspections and the correlation between GCSE results, adjusted for deprivation factors.
 
‘Once they had taken account of children's backgrounds, and how well they had done already at school, there was "no detectable difference" between Good, Requires Improvement and Inadequate.’
 
The most painful OfSTED experiences are those that downgrade a school. These days, school systems for safeguarding children are highly complex and require very regular modification and updates. Many of the schools which are significantly downgraded, fail on an aspect of their safeguarding systems. OfSTED are now the guard dog of safeguarding compliance in schools and most headteachers are terrified of getting bitten, even though they are passionate about keeping children safe and do far more to do so that headteachers have ever done before, within the 200 year history of our state education system.
 
I met with headteachers from the Diocese of Hereford Multi-Academy Trust on Tuesday and we discussed the Ruth Perry case. Many of our heads are now removing banners from their schools which quote from OfSTED because they feel it is giving too much credibility and importance to what OfSTED have said about the school rather that what we know to be true about the school today from our own observations and from the voice of pupils and parents. I support this idea fully, even though I’ve put up plenty of banners in my time. I think it is now time to shrink OfSTED back down to size in the psyche of public opinion. It is a snapshot, a photograph of a moment in time. It has value, but it doesn’t have super-powers. It is not timeless, far from it. I’d say there is a longer ‘best before’ date on a tin of custard than an OfSTED judgement.
 
I spoke about these concerns at our Diocesan Board of Education meeting on Thursday and there was strong support for the de-emphasis of OfSTED gradings in our work with schools. There was a will to show support for our schools and their leaders against disproportionate inspection judgments. The Hereford Diocesan Board of Education has asked me to express this support for our headteachers and staff in the strongest possible terms against an over-inflated and ponderous inspection system, which has many inadequacies of its own.
 
I’m sure we would all wish to pray a blessing on the memory of Ms Ruth Perry, dedicated headteacher at Caversham Primary School.
 
We may want to pray too, for some radical changes in the inspection framework in the years to come. In the meantime, let us work hard to try and put it in a proper perspective and perhaps help the general public do that too. I am proud that simplistic gradings, will no longer be used in SIAMS inspections from September 2023. That’s a good start.
 
 
Collect (4th Sunday of Lent)
Merciful Lord,
you know our struggle to serve you:
when sin spoils our lives
and overshadows our hearts,
come to our aid
and turn us back to you again;
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
 
Well done to Kerri Phelps and the teams at Tenbury CE Primary who had their SIAMS inspection this week (as well as two parents evenings).
 
Thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
You can be certain, that your work each day, is known and loved by God, as are you (regardless of any inspection judgment).
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

17th March 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

At the Threshold of Despair
 
In his video this week, Bishop Richard examines the final line of The Lord’s Prayer.
 
For thine is the Kingdom
The power and the glory,
Forever and ever.
 
Amen
 
As always, I would recommend a few minutes of rich theology by watching the video to understand exactly where this part of the Lord’s Prayer comes from (It isn’t included in all forms of the Lord’s Prayer).
 
Bishop Richard explores how the moments in our life, when we feel most vulnerable, are the moments that can and do bring us closer to God. Where we feel lost in the darkness it can be easier to see a guiding light.
 
In the world of education, as in life, there are moments when we feel close to the edge. When we stand at the fully stretched limit of our capacity, on the threshold of despair.
During my degree, I studied psychology and, during a module on ‘Human Factors’ psychology, I remember examining the capacity of air traffic controllers through a simple simulation where the number of planes steadily increases and increases to the point where there is a collision. As they become more practised and more experienced, the controllers can cope with a higher and higher volume of air traffic. They build cognitive schemas and recognise repeating patterns and sequences, which enable them to process more and more information. It is a bit like the chess grandmaster who can recall complex sequences of moves by chunking them together in larger blocks.
 
Great teachers and headteachers become more and more efficient and effective at managing increasing loads of complex work and interactions with children, parents, governors and staff in less and less time. Just one more thing. Do you have 5 minutes?
 
Whether you are a headteacher or a chess player or an air traffic controller, and you are super-efficient and well-practised at processing information, you sometimes reach a sort of ‘flow state’ where you can deal with a huge amount of information in a way that the ECT or beginner player or ATC in training, could not begin to deal with. This level of proficiency and expertise can be invigorating. But even for the grandmaster, there is always a limit. If you keep adding planes to the simulation, there will always be a crash eventually. Almost all chess players can be beaten, if the opponent is strong enough. School leaders and teachers can only cope with so much before they reach that ‘threshold of despair’. It has certainly happened to me at various points in my career.
 
Yet, it is often the darkest of times, when the face of God can become clearest for us. It can be easiest to know Him and connect with him, when we face the biggest challenges of our lives. He can hold you up, when you’re not sure how to take the next step.
 
I did well on my Human Factors essay. So much so, that for a time I thought that was my career path. A six-week placement at Nuclear Electric helping to design some less-confusing displays for nuclear power stations, cooled my enthusiasm for this branch of psychology. However, instead I switched the main focus in my final year to developmental psychology and I did some research on children’s drawings in a primary school in Hertfordshire. I found that the buzz, excitement and fun of a school environment was more my cup of tea, and the rest is history.
 
Thanks be to God that real life is not like the air traffic simulation. Although it sometimes feels like it, the planes do not in fact, increase to an infinite level. There will be ebbs and flows. Though they will pass eventually, there will be periods of busy intensity where we live at the threshold of not coping, and these are sometimes the best moments to turn to Him and ask for some help. You won’t actually need to ask.
 
Bishop Richard makes clear in his video message that in truth, ‘Life in all its fulness really is all about God’. It is about His Kingdom, His power and His Glory. Forever and ever.
 
Amen
  
Collect (3rd Sunday of Lent)
 Eternal God,
give us insight
to discern your will for us,
to give up what harms us,
and to seek the perfection we are promised
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
 
I hope that everyone has now thawed out after last week’s snow challenges.
 
Well done to Liz Orton, Vic Goodman and the team at Pencombe CE Primary who had their SIAMS inspection this week.
 
Prayers and best wishes to Kerri Phelps and the team at Tenbury CE Primary School, who have a SIAMs inspection next week.
 
Thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
You can be certain, that your work each day, is known and loved by God, as are you.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

10th March 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Snow and Inspection Flurries

Oh my goodness! What a week!

Unusually, I’m writing this on Thursday (rather that early on a Friday morning). The snow is still falling in the middle of the diocese. Leominster and every school further north seems to be closed. Some schools in south Herefordshire also closed and a few in Hereford itself as well as the Worcestershire borders.
 
Before we go anywhere else in today’s message, it is a good moment to consider just how difficult a snow day is for the decision makers.
 
I had a wonderful day at St Leonard’s CE Primary and the TrustEd CSAT offices at Oldbury Wells Secondary in Bridgnorth yesterday. The snow fell all day and (in spite of some very excited children) everything functioned normally. I left at around 17:30 and immediately realised that conditions had taken a turn for the worse. The journey back from Bridgnorth to Rock Green was extremely difficult and I rang my wife to say I thought I was going to get stuck.  My Google Maps Timeline, tells me it took an hour and 11 minutes to drive the 28 mile journey and the last 10 miles were fine.
 
I was out and about early this morning and the roads in the middle of the diocese were reasonably OK at 06:15 but by 07:00 they were significantly worse. The messages started flying around. The conditions deteriorated rapidly, just as many school staff were about to begin their journey to work and many simply couldn’t make the trip or had to turn around. Headteachers start getting calls from staff who won’t make it into school. School leaders know who lives where and know how vulnerable their school is likely to be due to travel difficulties. If all your teachers walk to school, that is one thing, but if they all live on Clee Hill, that is something else. Heads have to make their own call about when and indeed if to travel to school.

I used to find I got stuck fielding all the messages and talking to other headteachers, staff and governors as we tried to make the best decision. It also takes time to communicate to all the people who need to know what you are doing, once you have made your decision. Someone has to type those messages and notify the county websites etc, etc. When I was at St Paul’s (in Hereford), I would talk with neighbouring headteachers to try and make the decision together. You can’t always do that, as it isn’t just about local conditions, it is also about staff shortages. When I was at Pembridge the decision had to be more localised. We might be open, when Shobdon were closed or the other way around.  There is always a sense of relief for school leaders when you know you are not the exception. No one wants to be the only school who is closed. It can also be very difficult if you feel like you are the only school who is open. You have the wellbeing of the whole community to consider as you make your decisions. Staff safety; what’s best for children; managing the anxiety and concern from parents who will try and get them to school if it is open or may have difficulties with work commitments, if it is closed. Some of these parents are health professionals or emergency workers or carers. Later today, we will no doubt hear the same thing we always hear about countries whose resilience to snow is much better than ours.

“I worked in Canada for 7 years, and the schools never shut for snow. Here we have 2 inches and it is mayhem!”
 
The reality is that the economic impact of what is still very occasional snow disruption is for us much less, at least in the short term, than the investment required to increase our resilience to snowfall. So, I think snow here will always, always be more difficult. ‘Where did I put those snow chains after I last used them (3 years ago)?’

We were so relieved that we did not have any snow on Tuesday when we held the conference in Hereford. Over 70 delegates attended from all over the diocese and almost every school was represented. We began in the Cathedral and worshiped together with scripture, prayer and music. Our 4 guest speakers were stimulating and thought provoking. We will be sending our feedback forms to those who could be there, but my immediate sense was that people enjoyed gathering for the day together.

Special thanks to everyone who contributed including delegates who made the journey, diocesan staff, including senior clergy. Bishop Richard, Dean Sarah and Archdeacon Fiona as well as Sam, our Diocesan Secretary all supported the event and took part in various ways. Special thanks to Sian, Toni and Mark who made all the arrangements and took care of the complex logistics.

Mike Simmons, Rev Mary Hawes and Sharon Warmington were our visitors who travelled a long way to make it to Hereford and it was great for us that they did as we considered theology, spirituality and diversity in the context of why our Church of England schools are more than merely kind and caring places. Our thanks to the Dean and Chapter at Hereford Cathedral who helped with our worship, including Cathedral Organist, Peter Dyke and also Bishop’s Chaplain, Revd Nicol Kinrade who shaped the liturgy for us. I know that many enjoyed hearing directly from Bishop Richard about the diocesan strategy, but also where education sits within it and how important our church schools are in the continuing story of the Church of England within the Diocese of Hereford and across the country. 

The empathy from the whole conference was huge when we heard that four of our CE schools had their day disrupted by OfSTED. Bishop Hooper CE Primary had their inspection triggered on Monday for a Tuesday inspection. Nevertheless, Rev Lynn Money who is a foundation governor, still came to us for the morning, and this was very much appreciated. While we were settling in at the Left Bank with coffee and croissant, the phone and e-mails started pinging away to let people know that three more OfSTEDs had been triggered in CE schools. 

One was at Lydbury North CE Primary; Executive headteacher Vicky Reynolds has now completed three inspections in recent months. St Thomas and St Anne’s CE Primary, in Hanwood was also triggered so thoughts and prayers were with Hannah McGrath and the team. However, the love and support (and sympathy) in the room was most abundant for Alison Davies who is Executive Headteacher at Kinlet and Farlow CE Primary Schools. Farlow had a SIAMs inspection on Monday and then had an OfSTED triggered on Tuesday for an inspection on Wednesday. So, Alison and governor, Nigel Savage-Bailey, having driven all the way to Hereford, had to turn around and head back to Farlow for their second inspection in three days! I will be speaking to OfSTED and SIAMS to see what can be done to avoid this happening to any of our schools again. One inspection per week in a school is enough in my view and having two in the same week should not be possible. I wish I could promise to be able to fix this. I can’t promise, but will try.
 
Usually, by midday on a snow day, things usually start to calm down. The decisions are made and everyone knows what is happening. Whether children are in school or at home (notwithstanding all the logistic headaches) there is something truly beautiful not just about the snow itself, but about the reactions children have to it. That may be different in this country too, compared with places where snow is a part of everyday life for weeks and months at a time. It remains a rare and occasional phenomenon in our diocese. Its disruptive effect also brings an opportunity for a different kind of day. To go outside and take some time to dwell in the here and now, sensing and experiencing the beauty of creation whether in a moment of silent and spiritual reflection or the joyous, fun of throwing a snowball or two. These are precious moments, no matter how old you are.
 
Psalm 78: 1-7 (Read in the Cathedral at the Education Conference on Tuesday)
Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
things that we have heard and know,
that our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders that He has done.
He established a decree in Jacob,
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our ancestors
to teach to their children;
that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
so that they should set their hope in God,
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;
Amen
 
Best wishes to you all for the snowy end to the week and for a restful weekend.
 
Thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
You can be certain, that your work each day, is known and loved by God, as are you.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

03rd March 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Things Have Changed
I’ve been all over the diocese this week once again, and I have to say, it is so beautiful, whichever deanery you are in. I’ve been everywhere from Whitchurch to the edges of Telford and many parts in between in recent days and wherever I go, I find dedicated teachers and headteachers and support staff and governors who are transforming the lives of their children and young people. There is struggle at times, but there is so much joy too. World Book Day was yesterday, of course. Certainly lots of joy there (once you’ve sorted out your costume). At John Fletcher of Madeley, they had the brilliant idea of giving children the option of wearing the colour that was allocated to their year group, so the school was a joyous rainbow of colour.
 
Since I wrote my last bulletin message to you, things have changed. The season has turned, in more ways than one perhaps?
 
During half term we had Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) and Ash Wednesday and Lent 2023 got underway. February has turned to March and the days are becoming noticeable longer once again.  The first daffodils are now appearing, and it feels like we are in the prologue to Easter rather than the aftermath of Christmas (although someone did wish me Happy New Year yesterday). Given that the school year is 3 terms long, then we are now past the half way point. The exam season seems much closer and our young people in year 11 and year 13 are revising and consolidating their learning and doing mock exams etc, etc. We pray for them all as the crescendo begins to build.
 
Anyone who has worked in schools knows, that the second half of the school year, always seems to whizz by far more quickly than the first half. That isn’t just a perception thing of course, as this half term is very short (just in case you needed to know that).
Bishop Richard’s weekly message in recent weeks has been focussed on the Lord’s Prayer and he has been taking a line each week and exploring it more deeply. This week’s focus is ‘Lead us not into Temptation’. He considers how resistance of temptation is a necessary spiritual exercise and draws our attention to the temptation of Jesus in the Wilderness and how He is empowered with the Holy Spirit when He returns to be Baptised by John. If you would like to know what this has got to do with silk moths, then I suggest you watch the video and give yourself a restorative moment of theological reflection time amid your busy week.
 
Our diocesan year of prayer is well underway and trying to build in regular prayer time, even making use of micro-moments, is a good discipline to attempt during Lent. You may enjoy refreshment Sunday all the more, if you have built a new spiritual discipline or exercise into your routine. Personally, I don’t think it is too late to start something, just because Lent has already begun.
 
Reading this weekly message is, I hope, a helpful weekly pattern; watching Bishop Richard’s video message will plug you in to the theological mains and give you an insight into scripture you only thought you fully understood; at pupil level (which is also great for grown-ups), Mark’s worship video is always brilliant. And don’t forget the Lectio365 and Reflections apps, I’ve mentioned before.
 
I am so excited that on Tuesday so many of you will make the pilgrimage to Hereford Cathedral, where we will gather for our education conference. I am delighted that most church schools in the diocese are able to be there. We begin the day with a short act of worship in the Cathedral and then spend the rest of the day at The Left Bank, overlooking the Wye, for some thought-provoking speakers, including Bishop Richard, and some precious time together with colleagues. Given the challenges that so many schools have faced and are facing, it will be a wonderful thing for leaders to stand together in the Cathedral and sing from the same hymn sheet, literally as well as figuratively.
 
Collect (1st Sunday of Lent)
 Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ fasted forty days in the wilderness,
and was tempted as we are, yet without sin:
give us grace to discipline ourselves in obedience to your Spirit;
and, as you know our weakness,
so may we know your power to save;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
Best wishes and prayers for the teams Pencombe CE Primary School and Farlow CE Primary who have their SIAMS inspection next week.
  
Thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
You can be certain, that your work each day, is known and loved by God, as are you.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

17th February 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Living well in Time
When meeting with other DDEs in Oxford last week we heard some great wisdom from Professor James Walters from the London School of Economics, who helped to write the Church of England’s Vision for Education document in 2016. James spoke about how biblical wisdom can shape engagement with ‘contested issues’.
 
He talked about how modern life can sometimes make us feel like we are lost, not in the middle of nowhere but in the middle of ‘nowhen’. So much of our modern way of living seems to be focussed on reviewing things that happened or preparing for what is coming next with very little focus on what is here and right now. He talked powerfully about the idea of ‘living well in time’ and cautioned against the modern curse which is the ‘diffusion of the self through social media’.
 
Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for the eyes to see the sun. Even those who live many years should rejoice in them all; yet let them remember that the days of darkness will be many. All that comes is vanity. Rejoice, young man, while you are young, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Follow the inclination of your heart and the desire of your eyes, but know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment, Banish anxiety form your mind and put away pain from your body; for youth and the dawn of life are vanity. Remember your creator in the days of your youth, before the days of trouble come, and the years draw near when you will say “I have no pleasure in them” (Ecclesiastes 11.7-11)
 
The central theological teaching point from these verses was that we should hold onto the sweetness of life and always find the light even as we fully confront the darkness. God saw that the world was good, and we must continue to see that, even as we deconstruct the past and reassess the future.

Times are tough in teaching for reasons I don’t need to articulate for this audience, yet there is light in abundance in our schools.
 
James also referenced one of the most famous passages from Ecclesiastes, chapter 3 verses 1 to 8 (thanks partly to the 1965 song by the Byrds).
 
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die, a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted, a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up, a time to weep and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance, a time to throw away stones and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to seek and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to throw away; a time to tear and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and time for peace.
 
The professor’s teaching here was that we don’t have to be just one thing or feel only one thing. Our characters are as complex as the problems we encounter. Our lives go through seasons, as does the life of the world. We need to learn a range of emotions and actions to draw on at different times as we address the challenges of life.
 
 
And still from Ecclesiastes ( 1.2-3)
Vanity of vanities, says the Teacher, vanity of vanities! All is vanity. What do people gain from all the toil at which they toil under the sun?
A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.
 
His message here was clear…You are not God. You are mortal, ephemeral. This is not a counsel of despair but a call to effective action. None of us is likely to make a monumental difference to all the many challenges of today’s world. How will you further God’s Kingdom in small and meaningful ways? What will your small difference be? Put simply, knowing why you get out of bed in the morning, helps your sense of wellbeing.
 
So, my urging to you at this mid-point of another school year, is to use half term and everyday thereafter to live well in time and to appreciate the sweetness of life wherever and whenever you can. The seasons will keep turning in this beautiful diocese whether you notice them or not. The snow drops are already here, next come the daffodils and bluebells and primroses…
 
Collect (2rd Sunday before Lent)
Almighty God,
you have created the heavens and the earth
and made us in your own image:
teach us to discern your hand in all your works
and your likeness in all your children;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who with you and the Holy Spirit reigns supreme over all things,
now and for ever.
Amen
 
Best wishes to new headteacher Anthony Dixon-Gough and the team at Colwall CE Primary, who’ve had a(two-day) OfSTED this week. Nice to have next week to recover, I should think!
 
Our conference is now just a few weeks away. If you have not already, please do book your place, as we will be closing our bookings next week.  Not only will it be a brilliant event, but it will also be restorative and spiritually nourishing. You will be surrounded by colleagues who know what it means to carry the burden you carry. You must take care of yourself in order to sustain the resilience you need to help others and this is one really good way to top up your battery a little.
 
Thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
You can be certain, that your work each day, is known and loved by God, as are you.
 
Blessings and best wishes for a restful half term.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

10th February 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

The First Time and the Reflection Time
 Do you think it is easier to remember the first time you did something rather than the last?
 
As a teacher, I can remember my first class and the very first time I took the register, but I can’t remember my last one. As a dad, I can remember changing the first nappy (always a tricky one) but I can’t remember changing the last one. I can remember my first OfSTED inspection…pretty sure I haven’t done my last one yet.
 
I can clearly remember the first time I had a complaint from a parent. I can remember the name of the child and I can remember exactly what it was about. I was in my second week as a newly qualified teacher and the parent complained to the head that I wasn’t hearing her son read enough. I remember how upset I felt and how difficult it was to open up a dialogue with the parent and talk through her concerns. It took some time to build trust (in both directions) but I think we got there. As tough as it was, it was so valuable to know what that process actually felt like. How personal it felt and how deeply it cut when I was trying so hard to get it right. I’d love to say it was the last time it happened, but of course it wasn’t. There were many other upsetting moments and dealing with a concerned parent goes with the territory. I’m not sure it ever got any easier, but I learned to live with it and just to keep trying hard to build bridges and do the best I could. I certainly can’t remember all of those complaints as clearly as the first. I can still remember a few very clearly.

I have been involved in many SIAMS inspections over the years, as teacher, headteacher, inspector and DDE, but this week I experienced my very first secondary SIAMS inspection. It was an interesting new experience which took me out of my comfort zone and brought a new level of understanding, clarity and perhaps empathy. In actual fact, a secondary SIAMS is not very different from a primary one. Most of the meetings with inspectors have a similar focus and the questions asked are also very similar, but it felt a lot more elongated. The meeting with governors was 60 minutes long, for example. For me that made the process a little deeper. The two day version of the inspection is actually quite intense, even in a larger school where the inspector has a lot to see.
When we have seen a problem before, experienced it before, we gain wisdom which can be so helpful when the situation comes around again. When we face something for the very first time the anxiety levels and uncertainty are inevitably higher. This is of course why experienced teachers or support assistants or leaders are so valuable. They have already been through so much and have gained such valuable wisdom, knowledge and skill over the years and countless children and parents they have worked with.  This is why we often link up new headteachers with more experienced ones or early career teachers with seasoned practitioners. Hopefully this sharing of wisdom will help those with less experience from making the mistakes we made when we were at the early stages of learning a new role.
 
I have now been DDE for over 4 years, but when I met with fellow DDEs this week in Oxford, many of whom are more experienced than me, it was a great joy to engage in conversations and ‘plug-in’ to their experience and wisdom when dealing with similar issues in other parts of the country.

Of course, the greatest wisdom of all comes from God and I have learned (from experience) to find opportunities to listen to the still, small voice of wisdom through prayer and quiet reflection. This is always helpful but very easy to neglect. I find I need to be more intentional about it when I am very busy (most of the time). My days, like most people working in schools, can be a bit of a relay race, rapidly moving from one thing to the next, with very little time to process. Trying to establish a pattern or rhythm of life which gives a regular spiritual opportunity to ‘tune in’ can be really helpful. It might be going to church or a daily walk, or some protected reading time or exercise or something else. I actually find that the weekly pattern and discipline of writing to you here, is a helpful, reflective and hopefully, reasonably thoughtful activity. I hope that for some, the rhythm of reading it, perhaps with a cuppa and a moment of peace at the end of the week, will provide a small sanctuary in your frenetic days in school. If nothing else, it means it is Friday once again!
 
I heard this week that so much less of today’s ‘living’ is spent in the here and now than it used to be. A huge proportion of our waking hours are filtered through the lens of technology. For example, at music concerts, many people now prefer to record what is happening on their phone rather than just to watch and listen, fully present in the moment. Apparently, Manchester United now has a ‘no phone’ section of the Old Trafford stadium for people who just want to watch the games rather than watch through their phone.
 
So, in addition to gaining experience and coming out of our comfort zone to face and overcome new challenges, we also need time to process and to reflect, if these experiences are to blossom into wisdom and understanding. We need time to make sense of those experiences. Time spent in the here and now. Time to listen to the still, small voice.
 
Collect (3rd Sunday before Lent)
Almighty God,
who alone can bring order
to the unruly wills and passions of sinful humanity:
give your people grace
so to love what you command
and to desire what you promise,
that, among the many changes of this world,
our hearts may surely there be fixed
where true joys are to be found;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
Well done  to headteacher Michael Stoppard and the dedicated team at The Hereford Church of England Academy, who had their (two-day) SIAMs this week.
 
Prayers and best wishes to Vicky Reynolds and the team at Lydbury North CE Primary who have their SIAMs inspection today!
 
Please don’t forget to book your conference places. Not only will it be a brilliant event, but it will also be restorative and spiritually nourishing. You will be surrounded by colleagues who know what it means to carry the burden you carry. You must take care of yourself in order to sustain the resilience you need to help others and this is one really good way to top up your battery a little.
 
Thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
You can be certain, that your work each day, is known and loved by God, as are you.
 
Blessings and best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

3rd February 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Shapers of Human Futures
I’ve had a bit of help this week from two of the Church of England’s heavyweight theologians. I hope that is OK with everyone. It is a bit of an epic, so I suggest a cup of tea and a biscuit at this point.
 
Nick Baines, the Anglican Bishop of Leeds, spoke so powerfully on Radio 4’s thought for the day on Wednesday, that I thought I would share his words with you all here.
The transcript is below and here is the link to hear it in his own voice.
 BBC Thought for the Day – Wednesday 1st February
 
“Good morning. When I visit schools, usually primary schools, I always get asked, ‘What is the best thing about being a Bishop?’ I usually say it’s ‘this’, visiting schools and I mean it. I genuinely think teachers do one of the most important jobs in any society and we should value them accordingly. 
 
The main thing about teaching is that obviously it's really about learning. We give our children into the hands of other adults for hours every day and expect them to be nurtured in body, mind and spirit, because teaching is not about force feeding information into soon-to-be-economically-active receptacles, but rather about: curating character; shaping the worldview; forming a mind; opening up the world; stimulating curiosity. This can only happen if children learn to learn.
 
 At a time of uncertainty on just about every front, I think it's wise to stop and think about what education is and what it's for. Questions about teacher’s pay and conditions are not to be confused with the deeper questions of what they are actually doing and what the rest of us expect of them.  As I hinted earlier, a society that sees the economy is an end, rather than a means to an end (human flourishing) will never value the intangible work of shaping personality, character and community.

I come from a tradition that sees children as more than potential workers. Jesus warned against offering a stone to a child who asks for bread.  3000 years ago, the Hebrews placed priority on teaching their children from a very early age, but as part of a community that shared a view of love and justice and mercy, that was rooted in a memory of humility.  It's easy to say, isn't it? But any child who listens to the news, can be forgiven for being fearful of a secure future.  A Czech philosopher, Jan Patočka, came up with a striking description of this fragility when he wrote of the ‘solidarity of the shaken’. Teachers are also part of this solidarity and bring to their task all the same uncertainties everyone else feels, but the children we entrust to them can only find security, if the wider society sees them as vital human beings and not just potential commodities.  Shapers of human futures, rather than cogs in a merely economic wheel, and that's why I’m gripped by the value placed on children in the scriptures I read.  It's also why I think teachers do important work on behalf of the rest of us.”
 
And just in case these brilliant words of wisdom are not enough to get you through to the end of next week…
 
Last Friday, Mark Harrington and I were in London for the Church of England’s National Education Conference on the theme of Flourishing Together.  There were some excellent speeches, but my favourite was the short keynote given by the Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell. What he said, resonated strongly with the message I wrote on last week’s bulletin, which was published that very morning (so I don’t think he had read it). This is what he said to the world of education. His closing remarks are definitely worth a headteacher sticker.
 
“Sisters and brothers, it’s a great joy to be with you and thank you so much first of all to everyone who’s spoken, but also to the young people who’ve been leading our dance and our prayer and our worship.  
 
As part of my curacy, I spent a morning each week in the Church of England Primary School in the parish. It was a hugely enjoyable and challenging experience. I learnt a lot. Mostly about myself. But also, about how to lead and how to care. 
 
One day, when I was probably about a year into my curacy and had gotten to know the school well and they me, I was leaving at lunchtime - like I always did - and exiting past the headteacher’s study. Her door was ajar. As she saw me passing, she called out and beckoned me in, though, I heard it as a ‘summons’. In fact, being a curate and still in my mid 20s – I'm afraid I'm one of those clergy who's never had a proper job - I felt closer in age, and certainly in attitudes to the school children I was teaching rather than the staff I was working alongside. And certainly, the headteacher, who was probably only in her late forties/early fifties, seemed to me at the time - like it is when you're in your 20s - to be an incredibly old person. So, when she called me into her study, I suddenly found all my anxiety levels rising. I had obviously done something wrong. I was about to be reprimanded. I felt like a child again. 
 
I went into the study. I sat down. She went and closed the door. My anxiety levels rose higher. My knees knocked. She started to speak. I waited with bated breath to discover what misdemeanour or shortcoming she had identified in me. But no. Of course not. She spoke to me about the pressures she was under. The demands of leading a staff team. The projections and endless suffocating expectations that go with leadership. The isolation. The sleepless nights. The desire to do well. And the reality of failure. The fact that because leadership can be lonely, she didn't really have anyone to talk to, and that was why she had asked me in. And as she spoke, she started to weep. She was an absolutely brilliant headteacher. This was a fantastic school. I loved being part of it and I celebrated the partnership that we had between church and school.  But leadership is hard. And it is demanding. She wasn’t having a breakdown. It was just a bad day at a bad time, and she need someone to talk to. Because sometimes, for all of us, the pressures get too much. 
 
And what did I do? Well, to be honest I can't really remember. I think I probably just sat and listened. I hope I prayed. 
But I did learn something in that moment - about myself, about leadership, and about what it is to be a headteacher. And I realised how important it is, that we support each other in the responsibilities we carry. That we work hard to ensure that people in positions of leadership have spiritual and pastoral as well as professional support. And I realised, perhaps, for the first time, that in order for any of us to lead well, we need to pay attention to our own flourishing and our own replenishing.  
So, in this little session, paradoxically, we're not talking about how children flourish. But how we flourish in the responsibilities we carry in order that we may build communities, and particularly school communities, where everyone flourishes. 
 
For this to happen, two things are needed in particular.  
First, dear sisters and brothers – especially those of you who carry responsibility for the leadership in our schools - we all need spiritual and pastoral support and it is not a sign of weakness to say we that we need help; and it’s OK sometimes to cry, it means you care. And what I was called to offer in that moment, led me to reimagine my whole role in that school; that I wasn't just there to do an assembly and be with the children in the classroom, I had an important pastoral and spiritual role within the whole school, and particularly with the adults who worked there, be it the headteacher, the classroom assistant, or the cook. And, yes, we need people to take on that role as part of their specific responsibilities; and this surely is one of the great joys and advantages of a church school. But we must all be aware of the contribution each of us can make to each other’s welfare.  
 
Secondly, it is about taking responsibility for the resources and replenishing each one of us needs. Building our house on the rock, as Jesus put it. So, I'm going to say to you this morning what I say consistently to all the clergy that I serve: the most important thing that I do each day is say my prayers.  
 
I know that in order to function well and live my life well and do the things that I've been called to do, I need resources outside myself. I need a place where I am just Stephen before God, where I can be replenished by the affirmation of God’s love for me and by God’s purposes for my life. Not only renewing my vocation, but giving me the energy of grace and affirmation of beauty and goodness and knowledge that I am God’s beloved, that God is on my side, that God believes in me; that God wants to do wonderful things through me and then in the power of that affirmation, what is best about God fills me and overflows from me into the lives of others.  
 
And I need, over and over and over again to learn the meaning of the first beatitude, which is ‘Blessed, are the poor in spirit; for theirs is the kingdom of heaven’. Which means, blessed are those who do not take themselves too seriously; blessed are those who know that they need resources outside themselves; blessed are those who are rich in God’s replenishing goodness and mercy; who are not self-sufficient but by abiding in God are able to flourish and be fruitful. Dear friends, that is good for everyone and especially a school. 
 
My time’s up. You’re probably thinking, ‘Is that all he’s got to say. Is that it? Say your prayers. Pay attention to your own need for rest and refreshment. Love one another. Yeah, that’s it. But with these things, we can change the world, starting with our own hearts.
Amen. 
  
Collect (5th Sunday before Lent)
Almighty God,
by whose grace alone we are accepted and called to your service:
strengthen us by your Holy Spirit
and make us worthy of our calling;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
Prayers and all good wishes to headteacher Michael Stoppard and the dedicated team at The Hereford Church of England Academy, who have their two-day SIAMs inspection next week.
 
Well done to headteachers Rob Hollis and Sally Johnson and the wonderful teams at Pembridge and Longden CE Primary Schools who went through SIAMs this week.
 
Please don’t forget to book your conference places. Not only will it be a brilliant event, but it will also be restorative and spiritually nourishing. You will be surrounded by colleagues who know what it means to carry the burden you carry. You must take care of yourself in order to sustain the resilience you need to help others and this is one really good way to top up your battery a little.
 
Thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
You can be certain, that your work each day, is known and loved by God, as are you.
 
Blessings and best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

27th January 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

The Religion of Work
I enjoyed a wonderful odyssey in the north of the diocese on Wednesday. I first visited Long Mountain CE Primary in Worthen, then St Thomas and St Anne’s CE Primary in Hanwood and finally St Lawrence’s CE Primary in Church Stretton. It was good to have some time to talk to three of our dedicated headteachers, Beth Rowe, Hannah McGrath and Alan Brennan, in three of our precious schools. I also met wonderful children and staff along the way.
 
Whenever I visit schools, I will invariably talk to a teacher or two, usually someone in the front office and, if I’m lucky, some children. Usually though, I spend most time in conversation with headteachers. Having been a headteacher from 2003 until 2019, I know how tough that role can be and how important the flourishing of headteachers is, in securing the flourishing of every other school leader, teacher and child in the school. They shape the culture and we know that culture eats strategy for breakfast (although they also drive the strategy).
 
My years of headship were wonderful most of the time and incredibly difficult some of the time. I wonder whether that balance has shifted since 2020 (when headteachers like Hannah, first stepped into headship). Currently it seems difficult most of the time and wonderful some of the time. The role can so easily become ‘all consuming’ and I vividly remember finding it hard to have enough energy left for the young family that were waiting for me when I got home. It can be alarmingly easy to spend every waking minute thinking about your school (or schools). Technology has made that bear trap even larger.
 We talk about and consider work-life balance a lot more now than in 2003, but I believe that headship is now harder than it has ever been before. Why is that? Put simply, headteachers no longer have what they need. We have asked schools to do more and more and more but with less and less and less. I’m not talking about iPads or expansive (or at least sufficient) school halls. In many cases, those things are there. I am talking about things like: enough teachers; enough support for children with special educational needs; enough support services to meet the needs of our most vulnerable children, enough time to do all that needs to be done. There is so much that schools do now that they just didn’t do in 2003, especially in the field of social care and child protection. Headteachers instinctively, try to compensate. How could you not do so when children’s wellbeing is at stake? Headteachers do the very best they can to compensate for the short staffing and the lack of help and support. Headteachers are surrounded by people in schools that also work incredibly hard and it can be really difficult to ask others to do more. That’s why some headteachers are DSLs and SENDCOs, and subject leaders and worship leaders etc, etc.
 
I am reminded of the brilliant 2022 film called The Swimmers. The plot follows the life story of teenage Syrian refugees Yusra Mardini and her sister Sarah Mardini. The sisters were brilliant swimmers who had been professionally trained. They travelled in an inadequate dinghy of 18 refugees to reach safety across the Aegean Sea while being smuggled from İzmir towards Lesbos. When the boat started to take on water, the sisters climbed out into the waves and swam alongside for the rest of their journey (The film is based on a true story and is well worth a watch).

Some of our headteachers are swimming alongside the boat rather than being carried along by it. For example, I know our schools are now heading into a season of strike action. Whether or not we feel supportive of this action, it is a reality that our headteachers are faced with the task of trying to ensure that the resulting staff shortages can be absorbed to the extent that the school can remain open, at least in part. In some cases that is simply impossible. In some, the school will remain partially open. In most, there will still be enough people to maintain provision, even though it won’t be business as usual. I know that many headteachers will be covering in all sorts of ways for staff absences, just as they have been very regularly for the last three years.
 
Our headteachers, even on normal days, are sometime teachers, sometime lunchtime supervisors, sometime receptionists, but always responsible and accountable.
 
As I was travelling the A49 on Wednesday, I listened by chance to ‘Thinking Allowed’ on Radio 4. There was a fascinating piece on the work culture of Silicon Valley. Apparently, this is one of the least religious places in the US.  Carolyn Chen, Professor of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, Berkeley, has explored how the restructuring of ‘work’ is transforming religious and spiritual experience.  She spent five years conducting an ethnographic study with Silicon Valley workers and found that tech companies have brought religion into the workplace, in ways that replace churches, temples, and synagogues in workers’ lives and ‘satisfy needs for belonging, identity, purpose, and transcendence’. For one thing, I thought it was interesting that when those things are removed from people’s lives, they seek ways to put them back. Humans need them. ‘Man cannot live on bread alone.’
 
Since the 1970s, the proportion of our lives that is consumed by work had grown exponentially. In education, just as in Silicon Valley, we don’t do 9:00 to 17:00 or even 7:00 until 19:00. Sometimes we almost literally do ‘every waking moment’ and oh my goodness, are those hours of work demanding hours? I hear many teachers and leaders fantasise about the more traditional types of job where you leave it all behind when you leave work. Stacking shelves often gets a mention, although ‘selling ice-creams’ was the one I always fancied. In cultures where work dominates to such an extent, employees are increasingly seeking spiritual fulfilment that, in decades past, was obtained from other parts of their lives such as going to church or yoga or taking a walk in the Shropshire Hills.
 
In our Church of England schools and to some extent in all schools, we create spiritual opportunities for children and for staff. I wonder whether worship and prayer time in our schools is now every bit as needed by staff as it is by children. We took the children for worship in church every Monday morning from St Paul’s (Hereford) and generally I would lead one in every three. When I wasn’t leading, and sometimes even when I was, I found those services became a sanctuary and a treasured moment in my working week. I think teachers and support staff felt the same way. I miss those, but I have a feeling that I don’t need them quite as much now as I did then.
 
There is still an abundance of joy in teaching and leading in schools and thankfully, every headteacher still speaks of that too. Making a difference for children is the most rewarding of vocations and remains the biggest of all motivations to beginning a career in a classroom, but we need to take steps to ensure that that purpose and work, stays in focus and isn’t swapped by everything else. We call them head’teachers’ not ‘head'crisismanagers’   A teacher makes more difference to one child than anyone else in school and a headteacher makes a difference to more children that anyone else in school (they recruit the teachers for start).  
 
I know that my faith helped me in my headships, and my headships helped my faith too. Resilience is such an essential character trait of a modern headteacher and the Christian Faith is a source of resilience because, at times, Jesus can carry the burden with us and even for us.
 
Collect (3rd Sunday of Epiphany)
 Almighty God,
whose Son revealed in signs and miracles
the wonder of your saving presence:
renew your people with your heavenly grace,
and in all our weakness
sustain us by your mighty power;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
Please don’t forget to book your conference places. Not only will it be a brilliant event, but it will also be restorative and spiritually nourishing. You will be surrounded by colleagues who know what it means to carry the burden you carry. You must take care of yourself in order to sustain the resilience you need to help others, and this is one really good way to top up your battery a little.
 
Thank you all for everything you are doing in support of schools, at every level in schools across the diocese. Your work to keep our schools as places of sanctuary for every child and young person who crosses the threshold, is vitally important and will be, for many, life changing.
 
You can be certain, that your work each day, is known and loved by God, as are you.
 
Blessings and best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

20th January 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Living in Love and Faith
There have been a few occasions where my reflections here have ventured (nervously) into controversial territory. Areas of historic, long-standing disagreement where the opposing views and perspectives held are often deeply entrenched to the extent that it can seem impossible to reach a fresh consensus.
 
A few days ago, the national church hit the news headlines over the latest decisions at the National Synod (think Church of England parliament).
 
The votes were following the detailed consultation called, ‘Living in Love and Faith’ and includes approaches to same sex marriage, prayers and blessings, about which our Church has for a long time found it difficult to agree. To even unpack the opposing arguments can be painful and difficult. To disagree well on these issues can be very challenging and to find agreement can seem impossible.

We are determined and careful to always, always keep schools as safe places for everyone. We all try hard to ensure that political disagreements and religious disagreements are left at the school gate. A teacher cannot try to persuade their class that the government of the day is wonderful or terrible. They cannot proselytise. They cannot promote a particular view which causes others to feel excluded.  This has to be right. Strong opinions can be polarising and even threatening for those less confident to even step onto the battlefield, let alone put up a fight.  But schools are not bubbles of isolation. They are connected to the wider world and there are and always will be countless occasions where a child will hear something at home and repeat that view or opinion in school, and then the bubble bursts. We feel that connection with the wider world, sometimes in a way that threatens the sanctuary of normal school life for some children and young people.
 
I was caught completely off guard the other day when I was collecting my takeaway. There was a bit of a wait and the waiter and I talked about the return to work after the Christmas holiday. I mentioned that I worked in schools and the next minute I was asked about national curriculum requirements within Personal, Social, Health Education and UK equality legislation and Relationship and Sex Education and trans-gender policies in schools, and so it went on. It was in the context of his own children's education. This was certainly not the conversation I was expecting in a very off-duty moment and I fear I wasn’t very erudite or articulate. I fell back on the Valuing All God’s Children document to try and answer some of the questions. That didn’t exactly make the conversation easier, but we got somehow through it relatively unscathed. The small group of people who were also just out to fetch some delicious, low maintenance food, looked somewhat surprised by the serious conversation.  I was very relieved to see the food arrive. I was at least able to offer some (hopefully useful) advice, which I’ve used hundreds of times, which was simply, ‘If you are worried, go and talk directly to the school and listen very carefully to what they have to say. Keep an open mind and an open heart.’
 
In that spirit, I thought it might be helpful this week as we try to make sense of the Church of England’s position, to simply print the statement that Bishop Richard published on Tuesday, and to listen carefully with and open mind and open heart…
 
Bishop Richard: statement on Living in Love and Faith.
I write to you as brothers and sisters in Christ, bound by our shared faith on the proposals and statements issued today following the Bishops’ discernment that followed the Living in Love and Faith consultation.
 
Over the last few years, I have listened with great care to understand better the personal experiences of individuals who identify as LGBTQI+. I feel great sorrow that their experiences have been all too often hurtful. I know I bear some responsibility in this, and I am sorry for the hurt this has caused.  I want to make clear that everyone is welcome in our Church. We are all loved and cherished as followers of Christ - our names and stories are known to Him.
All the Bishops of the Church of England will be issuing an apology this week to LGBTQI+ people for the “rejection, exclusion and hostility” they have faced in churches and the impact this has had on their lives.
Today’s announcement regarding the proposals for same-sex prayers and blessings marks a turning point for the Church of England. The proposals which have been put forward are the result of a process of discernment, reflection and prayer.  I recognise that for many, these proposals do not go nearly far enough in recommending the change to the Church of England’s doctrine on marriage, whilst, for others, they go too far.  In journeying together through disagreement, we have learned that though we hold many views and different life experiences and express our faith in various ways, we are one family in Christ.  We are bound together in faith by the same Holy Spirit.  
I commend the proposals we have put forward today at the end of the Living in Love and Faith process.  I believe this is not the end of the conversation but a milestone in our journey together. There is still much work to do on revised pastoral principles.
They will offer the fullest possible pastoral provision for same-sex couples through a range of draft prayers, known as Prayers of Love and Faith, which could be used voluntarily in churches for couples who have marked a significant stage of their relationships, such as a civil marriage or civil partnership.
Let us pray for one another in the next steps of our faith journey.
Yours in Christ,
+Richard
 
Collect (2nd Sunday of Epiphany)
Eternal Lord,
our beginning and our end:
bring us with the whole creation
to your glory, hidden through past ages
and made known
in Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
 
Blessings and best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

13th January 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

The Scallop Shell
 
The diocesan Year of Prayer began with a Hereford Cathedral flourish, last week. The gathering was the biggest the cathedral has seen since before the pandemic.
 
“As part of living out our values in every corner of our diocese, Bishop Richard has called us all to join in a Year of Prayer in 2023. This invitation is offered to explore different ways of praying, there are activities to join in and opportunities to create your own prayers and prayer activities either as a church or as part of a small group, or in the quiet of your home.
We hope through prayerful engagement across many communities, villages and towns of our diocese that lives will be transformed and that more people will come to know Jesus Christ.” Hereford Diocese Website
 
Amongst a wide range of prayerful activities planned, many pilgrimages are being organised across the diocese for later in the year. Walks from one significant point, usually a church, to another (often the Cathedral). Some will be over several days. Pilgrims can join for the whole thing or just one section. I’ve seen these events work incredibly well from the church school perspective too. It doesn’t take much of a twist to turn the sponsored walk into a pilgrimage, with all its spiritual and prayerful richness.
A few years ago, while on holiday in the south of France, we came back from a daytime excursion to find that someone had pitched a tent in our garden and had taken residence. We (somewhat nervously) approached the two men who were cooking on a gas stove, to discover what on earth they thought they were doing. It transpired that they were pilgrims on one of the most famous pilgrimages in Europe. The Camino de Compostella or the Way of St James. The Pilgrimage ends at the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in north western Spain, where tradition holds that the remains of the apostle are buried.
 
Created and established after the discovery of the relics of Saint James the Great at the beginning of the 9th century, the Way of St James became a major pilgrimage route of medieval Christianity from the 10th century onwards.  (Wikipedia).
 
In around 1493 the route was declared as one of the three great pilgrimages in Christendom Pope Alexander VI, along with Jerusalem and Rome. The emblem of St James and the mark of the Camino pilgrimage is the scallop shell. Every pupil at St James’ Primary in Hereford will know this already because it is also their school badge. Centuries ago, pilgrims would collect scallop shells enroute to Santiago de Compostela and use them to prove they had made the sacred journey.
 
The two uninvited pilgrims in France hadn’t realised that the garden was a private space (which slightly offended my horticultural sensibilities). They still had a very long distance to travel from the Languedoc, so we let them stay for the night and in the morning, they continued on their journey.
 
You can also find a scallop shell at the entrance to the north porch, engraved in the paving stone as Hereford was for centuries a very popular destination for pilgrims seeking healing from the shrine of St Thomas Cantilupe. Many pilgrims still come to Hereford Cathedral today. The St Thomas Way is a modern route from Swansea to Hereford, following in the footsteps of the Welsh outlaw, William Cragh who walked it barefoot in 1290 with a noose around his neck. He was hanged until dead for his crimes, but life miraculously returned. The miracle was attributed to St Thomas of Hereford and William made the pilgrimage to give thanks at the tomb of the saint. The tomb of St Thomas Cantilupe is still visible today and is one of the best restored medieval shrines anywhere in England.
 
There will be a perfect opportunity for an education focussed pilgrimage to Hereford (probably by car rather than on foot) for school leaders and governors on 7th March for our education conference. We have an exciting day planned, the details of which you can read elsewhere in the bulletin. The day begins with a prayerful service in the Cathedral led by Bishop Richard. We will spend the rest of the day in The Left Bank, overlooking the beautiful Old Bridge and the River Wye. Bishop Richard will join us and share thoughts on the way forward for our diocese in the coming years. We also have some wonderful education thinkers who will share their wisdom with us. It will be heartening and energising, if we can have a really large gathering of educationalists who can come together for a day in professional fellowship and valuable networking.
 
Collect
 Eternal Father,
who at the baptism of Jesus
revealed him to be your Son,
anointing him with the Holy Spirit:
grant to us, who are born again by water and the Spirit,
that we may be faithful to our calling as your adopted children;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
Well done to Vicky Reynolds and the team at Onny CE Primary who survived  a two-day OfSTED inspection this week. Always great to hit the ground running in the first full week of term!!
 
Thank you for all you are doing in support of schools across the diocese, at the start of this new spring term. Have a restful weekend.
 
Blessings and best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

6th January 2023

This week's message from Andrew Teale

A Star We Can All Follow
Welcome back everyone. I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and managed some recouperation amongst all the celebration. For most schools, the return after New Year’s Day this year arrived very quickly and, after a few turns of the crank shaft, perhaps with the odd cough and splutter, the engine of school life has already restarted.
 
It has been one of those strange weeks of the school year which began on Sunday (Sunday is the first day of the week in the church) as New Year’s Day. A bank holiday Monday to just about catch your breath and then, for many schools, a training day on Tuesday to try and refocus. I tweeted on Wednesday morning as the first school run of 2023 was very visible in Hereford with streams of children and mums and dads and push chairs all making their way to school once again. Hopefully by now the post-Christmas blues have disappeared and some semblance of routine is steadily starting to return, less than a week after New Year’s Eve.

So, most teachers in the diocese were back in school on 3rd January. Next year’s Spring term doesn’t start until the 8th January. Obviously if we break up earlier, we come back to school earlier, which is fair enough. It does feel like a particularly early start to the Spring term though when, as this year, we come back during the ‘twelve days of Christmas’, even before Epiphany.
 
Many ancient traditions in this country have faded and so we no longer name many of the days within the 12 days of the Christmas season itself. Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day…then the other days which blur together until New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day and then it is ‘back to business as usual’. What we seemed to have gained instead is an extended prologue to Christmas Day, powered largely by the retail opportunities offered. In retail, Christmas is already over by December 24th. We’ve even invented new retail-driven days like Black Friday and (a new one on me this year) ‘sunshine Saturday’ which is tomorrow and is something to do with buying holidays.
 
In years gone by, each of the twelve days of Christmas had a religious significance and the worshiping, feasting and celebrating carried on until the twelfth night and even into the feast of Epiphany on the 6th January. Epiphany has almost (but not quite) lost its profile in this country in circles beyond the church (and hopefully church schools), so it is worth reminding ourselves of its significance within the Christian faith.
 
“If Christmas is about appreciating again the wonder of the incarnation, the season of Epiphany is about sharing that wonder with the world…Epiphany is therefore a time for every church to issue a big, warm, open invitation to the whole world to ‘come and see’, to explore Christian faith for the first time, to return to faith after years of wandering.”
From a reflection by Steven Croft
 
On the day of Epiphany itself (today), our focus is on the visitation of the Magi to the Christ Child. The Magi, sometimes called the three Kings, are seen as representatives of the world of ‘gentiles’. The non-Jewish world, in other words. The revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ, to the whole world, is what we use the word ‘Epiphany’ to describe. To say Epiphany is a big day in the arc of the church year feels like a bit of an understatement, yet in this country its significance no longer seems to percolate through into daily life of many people. Not so in many other countries of the world. For example…
 
In Spanish tradition on January 6, three of the Kings: Melchior, Gaspar, and Balthazar, representing Arabia, the Orient, and Africa, arrived on horse, camel and elephant, bringing respectively gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus.
Before going to bed on the eve of January 6, children polish their shoes and leave them ready for the Kings' presents to be put in them. The next morning presents will appear under their shoes, or if the children are deemed to have misbehaved during the year, coal (usually a lump of hard sugar candy dyed black, called Carbón Dulce) Wikipedia
 
Not that it is a competition, but I feel we are letting the side down a bit in the way our cultural traditions to mark Epiphany have mostly been lost. Our only action these days seems to be something to do with taking down the Christmas tree. The Eve of Epiphany is also the twelfth night of the season of Christmas. We are only vaguely familiar with twelfth night as for many it is the ‘deadline’ for the taking down of Christmas decorations. By the way, if you haven’t had time to do that yet, don’t worry because for many others, Christmas decorations (including the tree) stay up until the last day of the season of Epiphany (Candlemas) on the 2nd February.
 
In years gone by, this coming Monday (the first one after the feast of Epiphany) also had a significance in England and one of particular importance in our own very rural diocese. It was called ‘Plough Monday’. Plough Monday marks the start of the new agricultural year and the return to work after the Christmas festivities. For many of the agricultural workers who did (and often still do) work from dawn till dusk throughout most of the year, Plough Monday probably wasn’t a particularly popular day, although some of old customs sound entertaining…
 
…a common feature to a lesser or greater extent was for a plough to be hauled from house to house in a procession, collecting money. They were often accompanied by musicians… Wikipedia
 
Perhaps we need our own ‘Plough Monday’ education equivalent, where we carry around an interactive whiteboard, collecting money for the things we need in school…School Saturday?
 
In our church schools and in our daily lives, we have a fresh opportunity to follow a pattern of the year that is not dictated by retail sales, but by a much higher purpose in pursuit of a more spiritual life. Perhaps so we can bring back a tradition or two in the process, but more importantly to help tune ourselves in to the life of Jesus. This is a star we can all follow, from the first day of the year to the last. So on this Feast of Epiphany we offer a warm and open invitation to the everyone in our diocese and beyond, to do just that. You might wish to begin with the prayer below...
 
Collect for Epiphany
O God,
who by the leading of a star
manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth:
mercifully grant that we,
who know you now by faith,
may at last behold your glory face to face;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
Happy New Year to you all. Enjoy the feast of Epiphany today and have a restful weekend in the knowledge that in schools this year, we have already got past our own ‘Plough Monday’ and can focus again on the joy of working with children and young people in the year head.
 
Blessings and best wishes,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

15th December 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

A River of People
 
It is fair to say that London is not the Teale family’s natural habitat. We have only rarely spent time there as a family and so we decided to grab a weekend to see some sights together and do a bit of shopping before Christmas... And so it was that last Saturday at about 14:30 we came out of the tube at Oxford Circus.

I have never seen so many people in one place in my life. I have been Christmas shopping in London before and I was expecting ‘busy’, but it was a flowing river of people with almost no spaces between them, that came right up to the entrance to the tube station. Not only was it one of the busiest days before Christmas for shoppers, but we were a few hours from kick off in the world cup quarter final between England and France. I won’t dwell on that, but there were football supporters and Christmas shoppers in one huge swirl of people that stretched as far as I could see. The shopping did not last long before my son and I retreated to the Mason’s Arms where we found a table to wait it out. The girls didn’t last much longer, before we decided to retreat from Oxford Street. That proved easier said than done.
 
We thought as a special treat, we would pay a visit to the Savoy Hotel. It has recently been featured in a documentary on ITVX which my daughters have been watching, so we thought we would take them for a quick look and maybe a have drink in the American Bar. We tried to escape the Mayfair crowds by catching a cab to The Strand, but by then London was becoming over-whelmed with people, many of whom were gathering in Trafalgar Square hoping to watch the football. The traffic became grid locked and, after a £22 cab fare, we bailed out and were probably further from the Savoy than when we got in it. We decided to walk the rest of the way, under Admiralty Arch, and through Trafalgar Square. By this time, fireworks were going off (and I’m fairly sure it wasn’t an organised display with the appropriate health and safety risk assessments). It was a bit of a struggle to get through the hordes of people, but we made it. With a sense of relief, we turned into the only road in England where they drive on the right, at the entrance to the iconic hotel (keep that fact up your sleeve for the Christmas quiz) and we walked into The Savoy.
It looked absolutely beautiful, with all its 1920s style and opulence, and we were certainly ready for a sit down and something to drink. We made our way to the entrance to the American Bar, where we could already hear the piano playing. A very nice lady said that we could have a table, as long as we were happy to wait for 90 minutes. That was a bit of a blow, if I’m honest. We weren’t content to stand in the queue for 90 minutes, so we abandoned the idea and headed back out onto The Strand. We had been a bit more sensible about our meal plan and had booked a table in a restaurant near Tower Bridge. By the time we made it to London Bridge tube, and into the warmth of the restaurant. We really had had enough and were so grateful for the sanctuary of a warm place to stay and something nice to eat.
 
In spite of the shopping adventure, it was a lovely weekend and we all enjoyed visiting London. Thankfully we just missed the snow on the M25 and returned safely to our beautiful diocese, which looked even more festive than the Savoy Hotel by the time we made it back, with its covering of snow and abundance of Christmas lights.
 
Our sense of jeopardy in Trafalgar Square was fairly mild in all honesty. The children don’t take much looking after these days and we all coped quite well. I did still reflect though on how we can unexpectedly find ourselves in difficult situations and in need of an escape. The adrenaline starts to flow, which is our body’s stress response to help us react quickly and establish an exit strategy from the difficult or dangerous situation.
 
When Mary and Joseph roamed the streets of Bethlehem, searching for a place of sanctuary, their sense of desperation must have been sky high. The crowds of people probably ignored them completely, as they searched and searched, knowing that time was running out. It must have looked hopeless after they had knocked on countless doors only to be told that there was no room for them. The people swirling around them were all busily focussed on their own lives. Many of them were away from home too and must have been relieved to have their accommodation all sorted out. It would be impossible to find somewhere at the last minute, looking at the volume of people in the streets. But there was one inn keeper who noticed the couple and perhaps had just enough empathy to do something to help, as they asked one last time whether he had any room for them. Just one option was left. Certainly not glamourous, but sheltered and dry with the warmth of the animals to keep out the chill. They must have been so grateful for his offer. A stable would suffice.
 
Christmas Prayer
Holy Jesus,
by being born one of us,
and lying humbly in a manger,
you show how much God loves the world.
Let the light of your love always shine in our hearts,
until we reach our home in heaven,
and see you on your throne of glory.
Amen
 
Your schools have been a place of sanctuary for the thousands of children in our diocese in 2022. Sometimes we know all too well the difficulties faced by families. Sometimes we don’t know the full story. As each child crosses the threshold in school, each morning, they know they can trust in those that care for them. This is a priceless gift which you give, not just at Christmastime but for 190 days each year.
 
On behalf of the Diocese of Hereford and the Education Team, thank you for all your hard work this term and throughout 2022 and for the beautiful gifts you have given the children in your care. A safe place to learn and to flourish.
 
Have a blessed Christmas holiday with friends and family and we will see in the Spring Term 2023.
  
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

9th December 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

An Unexpected Story
 
With so much going on in the news this week, it was difficult to know where to cast our bulletin spotlight. Train strikes, political developments, family arguments (royal not mine).
 
As the week progresses, and I’m driving across our beautiful diocese, my thoughts often turn to what I will write for the Friday message. I always get some guiding help along the way and this week was no exception.

On Tuesday I travelled to Broseley CE Primary and met with headteacher Sam Aiston and Chair of Governors Ian Barratt and Vice-Chair Alison Edwards. It was my first visit to this lovely school, on the edge of the diocese, not too far from Ironbridge. The first thing I noticed was that they have one of the most impressive school Christmas trees, I’ve seen so far this year!  I arrived early and was given a lovely cup of tea and a seat in the reception area. On the table was a copy of the Parish and Community Magazine from the Broseley Group of Churches. Although I was tempted to check my e-mails, instead I left my phone in my pocket and opened the magazine. The pages fell open on the, ‘From the Rectory’ section. Here I found and read a story written by the late Rev Christopher Penn, who sadly died during the summer. Christopher was a member of our Diocesan Board of Education for many years and so I thought, I would reprint his story for all of you, here, including the touching note from the editor, Nick Wood, which preceded it. Thank you to all who help produce this lovely publication and all those like it in parishes across the diocese.

Editor’s note:
This is our first Christmas since Fr.Christopher’s passing, and, looking back, I thought it would be nice to reprint his first Christmas ‘Rectors remarks’ from 2017 which, with its gentle humour, to me at least is one of the many reasons he is missed.
 
The Rector recalls the case of the missing Jesus
When my children were little, before I was ordained, as a family we had a routine on Christmas day. The Christmas tree was in the hall next to a table that was adorned by our nativity set. On Christmas morning the children would wake, at an hour I had never realised existed pre children, clamber in to our bed and they would open the few presents Santa had thoughtfully left in pillow cases at the bottom of their beds.

Then we would all get up, get washed, dressed, a quick breakfast before setting off to church. Once we were home then our celebrations would really begin; mum and dad would open something fizzy while the boys played Santa tackling the mountain of presents under the tree, the torn paper mountain grew until eventually all was unwrapped and children disappeared to play with their new toys in front of the sitting room fire. Mum disappeared into the kitchen to wrestle the turkey, leaving dad to clear up the wreckage in the hall.

All done I walked back through the hall and realised that we had forgotten to put the baby Jesus in the crib of the Nativity (we always kept Jesus hidden at the back of the stable until the appointed day). The family were summoned back and the youngest child was charged with the task of retrieving Jesus and placing him in his rightful place between Mary and Joseph, surrounded by shepherds, animals, and some premature wise men (they shouldn’t have arrived until 6th of January!). ‘He’s not there’, said Michael. ‘What do you mean’, said dad. ‘Jesus isn’t behind the stable’ said Michael. ‘Of course he is’ said dad. ‘No he isn’t, have a look’. And he was right, Jesus was missing!
 
What followed was a major investigative search that was worthy of an episode of Miss Marple - even the cat and dog were interrogated, but seemed innocent; each giving the other an alibi. The Labrador looked guilty, but there again Labrador’s always do.

Eventually the family got bored and made their way back to the sitting room just in time for the Queens speech. It was then that I had an epiphany and headed out to the bins. After much rummaging, you will be relieved to hear that Jesus was found safely wrapped in discarded snowman print wrapping paper. He was duly returned to the warmth of his and our family’s bosom and the cosiness of the stable.

Later that night with the house asleep and all quiet I sat in front of the fire with a turkey sandwich and a night cap and recounted the day: ‘Fancy losing Jesus!’ I thought and then I realised that we risk doing just that every Christmas. We become so involved with presents and the tree and the dinner and being surrounded by friends and family it is really easy to lose Jesus in all the wrappings – after all he is the reason for the season. There is nothing wrong with all the trimmings and everything that goes to make up that very special day, but let’s try and remember what we are celebrating. Jesus, God’s true light, coming into the world to change for ever the lives of you and me.

Your priest and friend
Christopher
 
Collect for 2nd Sunday of Advent
 Almighty God,
purify our hearts and minds,
that when your Son Jesus Christ comes again as
judge and saviour
we may be ready to receive him,
who is our Lord and our God.
Amen
 
Prayers and blessings for Dan Breary and the team at Bridstow CE Primary  who had a special Christmas visit from our friends at OfSTED for two days this week. There is never an easy time for an OfSTED inspection, but the last weeks of the Autumn term in a primary school are exceptionally tough. Without wanting to be too unwelcoming, I do hope this will be the last one in our diocese until 2023.
 
Thank you for all that you are doing in support of our precious schools at this hugely busy time of the year. Blessings for a restful weekend and for the final week of term (for most but not all schools).
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

2nd December 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Somewhere on the Spectrum
 
2023 will be a year of prayer in our diocese. Everyone can get involved because everyone can pray. The Hereford Diocese website has lots of information about it.
 
By the way, there is no right or wrong way to pray. There are all sorts of different ways to pray. We don’t say ‘put your hands together and close your eyes’ to children in our CE schools anymore. We don’t make anyone pray, but we do invite them to pray together, if they would like to. “If you would like to make this prayer your prayer then just say Amen at the end”.

Sometimes, I pray a lot harder than others. At times of family crisis, I pray with an energy and urgency that is different from when I’m asking God for a blessing. For example, when my two-year-old daughter was rushed to hospital in an ambulance, I prayed harder than ever in my life (She’s now 18 and very well).
 
Sometimes we pray formally, perhaps lead by a worship leader, but sometimes we prefer a more personal, private form of prayer. Sometimes we pray at an altar, in a church and sometimes we pray around the dinner table and sometimes we pray in our own beds and sometimes we pray while we are swimming. All of these are wonderful ways to pray.
 
Do you think it makes any difference, if we pray?
 
I’m convinced that it does. I know it does to me. I feel unburdened when I hand my worries to God through prayer. But it is not just a cathartic meditation. There have been many, many times when I have prayed for something where it feels like I have been clearly answered. There’s no empirical proof, of course but my faith gets stronger anyway.
 
There have been times where I have prayed for resolution of a problem and circumstances have transpired which have caused the issue to be resolved. There are also times when things have not gone the way I wanted them to. Sometimes this is followed up by the realisation that I really needed something different.
 
There are also times when I pray without any words. Where I feel a connection with the presence of God and have tried to listen to that still, small voice. For many years, in school leadership, when those drowning moments come along, and I feel I’m edging towards ‘not coping’ it has been prayer that has brought me back from the brink. When I just can’t see a way through a problem, prayer can be the guiding light I need.
 
I ask for God’s help, all the time. He must be sick of me asking! But of course, He isn’t, not even a little bit.
 
For me prayer is an ordinary, practical, constructive, helpful mechanism that enables me to get the job done. I couldn’t be without it any more than I could do my job without a car.

If you would like to explore prayer more for your school, then please join our course in January: Developing Prayer in School. 
 
In the news this week we learned that ‘most of the people who live in England and Wales no longer consider themselves Christian according to the latest survey from the Office for National Statistics’.
 
There is a lot that might be said and is being written about this statistic. Personally, I don’t buy it. I come across a lot of people working in schools who say apologetically (usually on interview), ‘I’m not a practising Christian.’ They then behave exactly like a Christian in the way they live out their life and work in school.  I’m not a practising pianist, but I can still rattle out a recognisable version of Away in a Manger when I need to.
 
I don’t doubt that things have changed in our society from the days of my grandparents. Possibly people are now more ‘uncomfortable’ with defining themselves as Christian than they used to be, even though in many respects they are still ‘somewhere on the spectrum’.  It certainly seems plausible that at other times when these same questions were asked, there were many who felt uncomfortable saying they were not Christian, even though there was not much ‘practising’ going on. People are surely more comfortable with saying that they have no religion than they would have been 50 years ago.
 
It was wonderful that, on Wednesday evening, we had 300 children singing in the Cathedral and it was packed out with parents who came for the Herefordshire Schools Advent Carol Service lead by Hereford Cathedral School. They didn’t come to ‘practise their faith’, they came to hear their child sing. The service featured nine schools, not all of which were CE schools. However, the whole congregation sang out, ‘Not in that poor lowly stable…’ and ‘O morning stars together’. We listened to truly wonderful school choirs singing all sorts of Christmas music. We listened to Cressida from the Steiner Academy read the familiar lines of Luke chapter 2v 8-16. ‘In that region, there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.’
 
We said the Lord’s Prayer together before the closing blessing given to us eloquently by the Bishop’s Chaplain, Rev Nicol Kinrade. The Christmas lights across Hereford guided us all on our way home.
 
The Most Rev. Stephen Cottrell, Archbishop of York responded to the census data in a news release from the Church of England and noted Christianity is still “the largest movement on earth.”
 
I wonder what the survey figure would have been, if the census had asked, ‘will you be celebrating Christmas this year?’
  
Collect for 1st Sunday of Advent
Almighty God,
give us grace to cast away the works of darkness
and to put on the armour of light,
now in the time of this mortal life,
in which your Son Jesus Christ came to us in great humility;
that on the last day,
when he shall come again in his glorious majesty
to judge the living and the dead,
we may rise to the life immortal;
through him who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
Your Prayer
 
(Whatever you need to say)
 
Amen
 
Best wishes to Bernie Davies and the team at Much Birch and Sue Warmington and the staff at Mordiford who have SIAMs visits this week.
 
Thank you for all that you are doing in support of our precious schools. Blessings for a restful weekend and for the week ahead, as the second week of advent gets underway. Only two more of these to read in 2022!
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

25th November 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Light the First Candle
 
“Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God is one, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all you mind and with all your strength. The second is this. “You shall love your neighbour as yourself” there is no other commandment greater than these."
 
I felt the need today to look at scripture directly rather than through the lens of someone else’s wise and learned interpretation. So, I picked up my Bible to see what I could find, and it fell open to this page and the words above were the first lines I read. Reading from the Gospels is one of the ways we can feel closest to Jesus. The wonderful accounts are still so vivid and the wonders of our own imagination fill in the gaps in the scene so we can almost see and hear Him. We can read the lines again and again and the picture never fades.

Jesus’ words (Mark chapter 12 vs 29) are not difficult to understand. He couldn’t be clearer about what He thinks we should do as we live out our lives.
 
Love God. Heart. Soul. Mind. Strength. Love your neighbour as much as you love yourself.
 
So, we can be in no doubt about what we are supposed to do and yet we do not follow these commandments. At least, I don’t. Not all the time. I try and fail and try and fail and don’t try and fail and occasionally succeed for a while before failing again.
 
The education team explored some psychometric testing this week, led by Archdeacon, Derek Chedzy. It was a really fun and interesting exercise using the C-Me materials which many people will be familiar with. One of the things it showed is the extent of the difference between your authentic self (the person you are when you are at home alone sitting on the sofa) and the person you are at work in your professional encounters. Sometimes, for some people, they are similar but more often they are markedly different. We can understand why that might be, but doesn’t it seem like hard work to be so different from who you really are all? I can’t help wondering whether there would have been any difference in the two profiles for Jesus. What do you think?
 
Henri Nouwen said that to know ourselves truly and acknowledge fully our unique journey, we need to be known and acknowledged by others for who we are. We cannot live a spiritual life in secrecy.
 
The new church year begins on Sunday (Advent Sunday) and across the world, we will light the first candle on the Advent Crown. As far as I’m concerned, the advent crown is the first fully authorised decoration which can go up, even though it is technically an Advent decoration not a Christmas decoration.
 
 Like all new years, the new church year is a fresh start. A turning of a new page, a new chapter and an opportunity for some resolutions. A good moment to rededicate our lives, heart, soul, mind and strength to God. To keep his commandments when we are tired, when we are irritable, when we feel impatient, when we are late, when we are wronged, when we are upset, when we are frustrated. I am looking forward to that fresh start and a new beginning to see if I can do any better this time.
 
Advent Prayer
 Precious Jesus, you came
so that we might know
we are yours by choice;
loved, embraced, saved
by your love and grace,
welcomed to your family
and precious in your sight.

You came, so that we
might be made complete,
all we were ever meant to be.

You came, as a Shepherd
seeking every sheep that is lost
so you might bring them home.
And beyond even the cruel Cross
you are still Saviour, Messiah,
to all who would heed your call.
Amen
 
A huge congratulations to Alex Davies, Ben Ford and the Team at Stretton Sugwas CE Academy for their 'Excellent' SIAMS inspection report, which has now been published. 
 
Unbelievably, there are only three more weeks of term left, although most headteachers will feel like they still have 6 weeks of things still to be done. There are no easy answers to that stressful feeling. Although beautiful, the run up to Christmas in schools is always a very, very busy period. When I was a headteacher, I found some sanctuary from the intensive crescendo, within the school worship time itself, especially when I wasn’t leading. The moments of prayerful reflection with the children and other staff and a good old sing, provided an effective refocussing and a reconnection with the Holy Spirit during the working day, which helped me to ‘go again’. Good coffee and chocolate also helped.
 
Thank you for all that you are doing in support of our precious schools. Blessings for a restful weekend and for the week ahead, as the new season of advent gets underway.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

18th November 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Thank you from the Dispatch Box
 
This Sunday is the Feast of Christ the King where we resubmit ourselves to serve Jesus in all that we do. I think people with a vocation to work with children in nurseries, schools or sixth form colleges, are well placed to do God’s work, each and every day. I think we underappreciate the value of that in our profession sometimes. It isn’t true for everyone and every profession.
 
Early in my teaching career, when I told one of the regular church goers at Shobdon what I had decided to do as a career, he told me how much Christian integrity he thought the profession had. I hadn’t really thought it through in that way before, but his words have stuck with me ever since.

I first ‘discovered’ how I felt about working in schools when was doing some developmental psychology research in my degree and I worked for several weeks in a Hertfordshire (not Herefordshire) primary school. I absolutely loved it and found it much more rewarding than the 6 week occupational psychology placement at Nuclear Electric, near Cheltenham. Even though the work there was clearly important too, it wasn’t for me anything like as exciting and vibrant as the atmosphere and work in school. The sense of instant ‘reward’ for me was mainly driven by the clear and obvious sense of the difference you can make through teaching. A child does not understand something, so you explain it as well as you can, and then they do. In that moment you have made a difference to a young life and in the process feel like you’ve done something worthwhile with your own.
 
Jesus repeatedly brings children to the front of things. We should be more like them and we should put them first, not last. I don’t think anyone working in school would feel ashamed to tell Jesus what they do for a living.
 
There are many different kinds of teacher, of course. Primary and secondary teaching is very different (though having gained a better understanding of both in recent years, I don’t think they are as different as we sometimes imagine). I always struggled a bit when, as a primary school teacher, people would sometimes ask me what subjects I taught. ‘Well…all of them.’ I have often referred to reception teachers as the ‘special forces’ of the education profession, but I am also in awe of the skills and subject knowledge to teach in KS4 and KS5. Try observing a French ‘A level’ lesson if you don’t believe me.
 
Priests are teachers too of course, and I feel very blessed to be able to listen to the teaching of senior clergy in our diocese very regularly. 10 minutes of teaching from someone who has studied and understands Christian theology at a much deeper level than me, is enlightening and (I find) practically helpful to my day-to-day work and life. I also find that a moment of spiritual reflection is also as good for mental well-being as an early morning walk.
 
In Bishop Richard’s video message yesterday, he teaches us about different types of bias and reflects on their dangers. He links these powerfully with a recent remembrance service experience and he explains the linguistic importance of the different Greek translations for the single English word ‘love’. He also considers why gathering different perspectives together as we find our pathway through life, is so important. It will take you 6 ½ minutes to learn about these things directly from the 106th Bishop of Hereford. I’d recommend you giving that small amount of time to listen to this kind of wonderful teaching.
 
I was pleasantly surprised yesterday (along with most of the education sector) that the budget statement included an additional amount for education. In spite of writing numerous letters to MPs in recent months, I was not confident that there would be any further funding for education announced in the statement. I have already said a prayer of thanks today, as I know what a difference it will make to schools in the year ahead, even though it won’t take away all financial challenges in the current context.
 
In case you missed it, our country’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, Jeremy Hunt, sent a direct message from the dispatch box in the House of Commons to everyone working in schools yesterday. That doesn’t happen every day so I thought I would pass it on here. He said…
 
“Our message to heads and teachers and classroom assistants today is thank you for your brilliant work, we need it to continue…”
 
Prayer for the Feast of Christ the King
We pray for the coming of God’s kingdom.
You sent your Son to bring good news to the poor,
sight to the blind,
freedom to captives
and salvation to your people:
anoint us with your Spirit;
rouse us to work in his name.
Father, by your Spirit
bring in your kingdom.
 
Send us to bring help to the poor
and freedom to the oppressed.
Father, by your Spirit
bring in your kingdom.
 
Send us to tell the world
the good news of your healing love.
Father, by your Spirit
bring in your kingdom.
 
Send us to those who mourn,
to bring joy and gladness instead of grief.
Father, by your Spirit
bring in your kingdom.
 
Send us to proclaim that the time is here
for you to save your people.
Father, by your Spirit
bring in your kingdom.
 
Lord of the Church,
hear our prayer,
and make us one in mind and heart
to serve you in Christ our Lord. Amen.

Amen
 
Blessings for a restful weekend and for the week ahead in our schools as we count down to advent and the start of a new church year.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

11th November 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

War in the Here and Now
 
Forty years ago, on 2nd April 1982, Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, followed by the invasion of South Georgia the next day. On 5 April, the British government dispatched a naval task force to engage the Argentine Navy and Air Force before making an amphibious assault on the islands. The conflict lasted 74 days and ended with an Argentine surrender on 14 June, returning the islands to British control. In total, 649 Argentine military personnel, 255 British military personnel, and three Falkland Islanders died during the hostilities.

Wikipedia

 
Memorial from the Camber overlooking Port Stanley 

I was ten years old at the time and remember taking a huge interest in the daily events on the news. Up to that point for me and my generation, wars were something that happened a long time ago. Suddenly, unbelievably, we had one in the here and now. For the first time we had a level of media coverage that meant we could follow events day by day. I can remember the coverage of huge white cruise ship, SS Canberra, being converted to a troop carrier to transport soldiers 17, 000 km from home to fight in the conflict.

One of the 255 British military personnel who died during the 10 week conflict was Major M Forge, who was a former pupil at Hereford Cathedral School. He was honoured among the fallen from other conflicts by the school, with words and music for remembrance in the Cathedral on Wednesday. He will be honoured again with so many, at 11:00 today with our nation’s two minutes silence.
 
For many families, in November 2022, war remains in the ‘here and now’. Ukrainian refugees are in many of our schools and many families in our diocese work within the military. Acts of remembrance for these families, may mean a much sharper and fresher grief for someone who has been lost relatively recently. Remembrance reminds us of the uncomfortable truth that, as long as there is conflict, there are others who may not come home.
 
Those who have made the ultimate sacrifice should not be forgotten, whether it was in Helmand or Goose Green or Juno Beach or at The Somme. Wherever and whenever they fell…we will remember them.
 
Prayer for the Armed Forces
 Almighty God, stretch forth your mighty arm to strengthen and protect the armed forces: grant that meeting danger with courage and all occasions with discipline and loyalty, they may truly serve the cause of justice and peace; to the honour of your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
 
Armistice Prayer
 Ever-living God
we remember those whom you have gathered
from the storm of war into the peace of your presence;
may that same peace
calm our fears,
bring justice to all peoples
and establish harmony among the nations, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
 
Thoughts and prayers are with the Bishop of Hereford’s Bluecoat School, who have been the victim of a serious cyber-attack this week. We are grateful for the swift actions of professionals in school and support agencies who have brought expertise and support, including local authority colleagues.
 
Thank you to headteachers and governors from schools across the diocese, who joined us online at the briefing yesterday. It was good to share some time together online and consider recent events, such as the launch of the new SIAMS inspection framework. We now have about 70% of our CE schools, who have joined the diocesan partnership this year, but it is not too late to do so. Given all the changes, there will be a significant amount of new training needed in the Spring and Summer.
 
Thank you for all you are doing. Blessings for a restful weekend and for the week ahead in our schools as we count down to advent and the start of a new church year.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

4th November 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

To Be and To Have
 
People who have come to know the joy of God do not deny the darkness, but they chose not to live in it. They claim that the light that shines in the darkness can be trusted more than the darkness itself and that a little bit of light can dispel a lot of darkness.
 The Return of the Prodigal Son – Henri Nouwan
 
The light shone on Clee Hill on Tuesday as Sian and I headed to Farlow CE Primary. We met with Philip Engleheart who has been Chair of Governors for about 33 years. We sat together with Headteacher Alison Davies and Nigel Savage-Bailey, who is the Vice Chair of Governors. Farlow is one of our smaller, more remote church schools and it sits within one of the longest established federations with Kinlet CE Primary. There is one governing body which supports the two schools...

I was struck in our conversations by the love and dedication shown for this precious little school by those who have been involved with it for so many years. Alison clearly cares very deeply for the school and for what it represents for this small Shropshire community. The children were delightful, although slightly disappointed not to be able to go ahead with PE as the heavens opened just as they lined up to go outside.
 
I really endorse the line on the Farlow website, ‘Little Schools can do Big Things’. They can and they do, although a great deal of hard work and creative thinking is often required.
 
Our little school on the hill seems a very long way from Westminster and national education policy making. Sometimes change feels like our only constant in education and change can be good, yet capacity to keep transforming and regenerating in line with OfSTED changes and SIAMs changes and Education Secretary changes, isn’t easy for the people who make our small schools work. Who spend such a high proportion of their week in a classroom, in front of children and such a small proportion of their week doing all of the other things that are necessary to run a school.
 
The award winning 2002 French documentary, ‘Etre and Avoir’ (To Be and To Have) paints a vivid picture of the life of a very small school in rural France. The school has one small class of mixed ages (from four to twelve years of age), with a dedicated teacher, Mr Lopez, who shows patience and respect for the children as we follow their story through a single school year. There are undoubtedly similarities between the school featured and some of our own small schools (although we don’t have any with just one class). I think when people chose a life working in small schools, it is the sort of work that Mr Lopez does, that they are seeking to offer their communities too.
 
What we do not see in the beautiful documentary, shot 20 years ago, is much evidence of the administrative burden that school leaders and governors now need to carry in our schools. This burden is not proportionate to the size of the school. It is largely uniform across schools, no matter how big or small, and this burden seems to continue to grow.  As it grows, the time available to work directly with the children, shrinks. At the same time the resources we have to staff our schools reduces. More than anything else, it is this constant balancing battle in small rural, schools that has made teaching and school leadership tougher and tougher. Recruitment to these posts has become tougher and tougher too.
 
I’m not arguing that all of the administrative systems we have acquired in recent decades are not valuable or necessary, many of them are, it is just that nothing that happens in a school is as valuable or precious or ‘full of light’ as the interactions between a child (be they in reception or Year 11) and an inspiring school leader, a highly-skilled teacher or nurturing support assistant. It is within these interactions, that the light shines in our schools each day. Whichever way our education system evolves in the years ahead, we must preserve and protect the light of those precious interactions and find ways to ensure they remain centre stage of our work in every school, large and small.
 
Prayer for 4th before Advent
 Almighty and eternal God,
you have kindled the flame of love
in the hearts of the saints:
grant to us the same faith and power of love,
that, as we rejoice in their triumphs,
we may be sustained by their example and fellowship;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
I hope everyone had a restful half term. I know, it already seems a long time ago.
 
Prayers and best wishes to Nicola Gory and the team at Leintwardine who had an OfSTED visit this week.
 
Our continuing prayers for those grieving at Hampton Dene Primary School in Hereford.
 
Our prayers for all those staff and governors working in our smallest schools across the diocese.
 
As you will read elsewhere in the bulletin today, the National SIAMs Team have published a new SIAMs schedule today. Nothing changes until Sept 2023 and even then there are relatively few changes to what was expected of schools in the 2018 framework… nevertheless the process and criteria for evaluating schools is changing significantly. We will be working with our schools and academy trusts in the weeks and months ahead to ensure everyone is ready for the changes in expectations for Church of England schools.
 
Thank you for all you are doing. Blessings for a restful weekend and for the week ahead in our schools as we count down to advent and the start of a new church year. I heard Away in a Manger at Church Preen Primary School yesterday and it sounded very good already.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

21st October 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Ancient and Modern
 
Hereford cathedral’s map of the world or Mappa Mundi was made in the year 1300, or thereabouts. It has remained in Hereford Cathedral for around 720 years. When I was younger, I remember seeing it displayed very simply on the wall of the cathedral but now it is housed beautifully in a purpose built annex of the cathedral. The reason it is so special is because as far as we know, it is the oldest complete map of the world in existence, anywhere. Around the corner from the Mappa is a document which is even older than the map.

‘The Great Charter of Liberties or Magna Carta agreed between King John and his barons at Runnymede in 1215 is one of the most famous documents in history. It is considered the foundation of English common law and much of its worldwide importance lies in the interpretation of the clauses from which grew the right of the freedom of the individual or habeas corpus.'
 
‘No free man shall be arrested, imprisoned, dispossessed, outlawed, exiled or in any way victimised, or attacked except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land.’
 
This right is most famously contained in the American Bill of Rights embodied in the constitution of the United States of America.
 
Magna Carta went through a number of revisions and reissues before being enshrined in English statute law in 1297. The most significant revision of Magna Carta was issued by Henry III in 1217. Hereford Cathedral is fortunate to possess one of these 1217 charters, only four of which survive.’
Hereford Cathedral Website
 
This document is so important, not just because it is over 800 years old but because it marks an important milestone in the formation of modern government of what became the United Kingdom as well as similar democracies such as the United States. It is a document therefore that has global significance.
 
A short distance from the Mappa and Magna Carta is one of the oldest libraries in the country.
 
‘The Chained Library at Hereford Cathedral is a unique and fascinating treasure in Britain’s rich heritage of library history; there were books at Hereford Cathedral long before there was a ‘library’ in the modern sense.
The cathedral’s earliest and most important book is the 8th-century Hereford Gospels; it is one of 229 medieval manuscripts which now occupy two bays of the Chained Library. There has been a working theological library at the cathedral since the 12th century, and the whole library continues to serve the cathedral’s work and witness both as a research centre and as a tourist attraction.’
Wikipedia
 
Yes, you read that correctly…8th century! The Hereford Gospels, circa 780, illustrating the Gospel of John is an 8th-century illuminated manuscript gospel book in insular script (minuscule), with large, illuminated letters. An added text suggests this was in the diocese of Hereford in the 11th century.
 
I was standing in the chained library yesterday, in the shadow of the Hereford Gospels with colleagues from the diocesan staff who had gathered at the palace to hear our 107th Bishop, Richard, talk about the new strategic direction for our work within the Church of England in our ancient diocese.
 
Our various teams work in different ways all over the diocese, so we are rarely all together in one place. It was lovely therefore to have a little time together in the afternoon session to look at the cathedral’s ancient treasures, which many of us walk past almost every day but only rarely visit.
 
So, it was there that I was standing in the chained library yesterday afternoon at the exact moment that our Primary Minister, Liz Truss, resigned. For a few moments we huddled with our backs to the ancient manuscripts and stared at Sarah Whitelock’s phone. This was another significant piece of history as we saw closing stages of the shortest term of office of a British Prime minister in history. 45 days.
 
I knew that the moment of juxtaposition between ancient and modern history would likely become a flashbulb memory for me. Where were you when Liz Truss resigned? I will always know the answer to that one, I think.
 
My years as a teacher baked in a tendency to prefer not to publicly comment on politics but given that a few weeks ago, I touched on the reformation without any disasters I am feeling confident...
 
The biggest problem with the current political crisis is that it feels like our country has lost its stability. Almost above all else, we need that back. Tricky thing is that stability depends on consensus and consensus is harder to find in the midst of instability.
 
All our school leaders will recognise those stormy moments that crop up in the life of a school. A crisis is always a stiff test of leadership. When we have strong and dependable leadership in place, we fear the crisis moments a little less because we have confidence that the captain of the ship will plot the right course to escape the storm. That is as true for a storm in a school as it is in a country. The storms that hit the country are obviously much larger than those in any one school, although the turbulence of those national storms can be felt in all our schools. The war in Ukraine is a good example, as many of our schools have welcomed Ukrainian refugees.
 
Hereford Cathedral’s world treasures are all from a time where there was far greater instability than we know today. As we stand before them, we feel connected with those turbulent times and are perhaps reminded of our own relative security, even when the entrance to number 10 Downing Street seems to need a revolving door.
 
I also take comfort from the stability of faith in Jesus Christ. I can read the Gospels today just as fellow Christians were doing in Hereford a thousand years ago. And together, these two historical times and generations are connected to a man from Galilee who walked with us two thousand years ago. Whose actions and words were so transformational that they were recorded and preserved in a book 1200 years ago that has been preserved, protected and treasured through all the centuries of turbulence and uncertainly. And there it sits on the shelves of the chained library in Hereford and the wheels of time continue to turn. Prime ministers will come and go but the guiding light of Christ remains.
 
 
Prayer for 18th Sunday after Trinity
 
Almighty and everlasting God,
increase in us your gift of faith
that, forsaking what lies behind
and reaching out to that which is before,
we may run the way of your commandments
and win the crown of everlasting joy;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
It was the turn of John Fletcher of Madeley and Kimbolton CE Primaries to weather the turbulence of an OfSTED inspection this week. We give thanks for Stacey and Adam and the teams in those two precious schools communities.
 
Please could you take a moment to pray for our friends and colleagues at The Blue Hills Federation in the Clun Valley. Very sadly their long serving Chair of Governors, Sandra Davies died at the weekend. Sandra will be much missed as she was a church warden in Newcastle and a long-standing governor. Someone who has given so much time to church and church school personifies the dependable stability and local rootedness that every one of our schools needs to flourish.
 
Blessings and best wishes for some peace and a restful half term. Thanks for all your hard work in this phase of the school year. I won’t mention the word yet, but I did see a child with a mince pie in their lunch box this week…
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

14th October 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Line and length
 
I spent two days in Nottingham this week for a conference of multi-academy trust leaders. There were around 150 people from all over England in attendance. I met Peter Hughes who had been headteacher and CEO at Mossbourne Academy in Hackney, East London. This was the school, that had been led by Sir Michael Wilshaw who went on to become the Lead Inspector for OfSTED. Sir Michael Gove once called him a superhero and Mossbourne’s journey had been very high profile. Despite significant deprivation challenges, they secured some of the best GCSE results in the country. Sometimes, the best GCSE results in the country. Number 1 spot in the league tables.
 Peter Hughes talked to the conference about what it was like stepping into the very large shoes of such a high profile and successful headteacher. By 2013 the school had been judged as outstanding. So, he was assuming the headship of an outstanding school with the best GCSE results in the country. It is difficult to imagine how things could improve, but very easy to imagine how things might decline.
 
I was really interested to hear that Peter’s objective was actually to be less high-profile personally but to ensure that the school would continue to be a brilliant school for years and decades beyond his own time in charge. He set out to build a culture and ethos that would continue to drive the school positively forward beyond the term of office of any individual. He did this through a focus on culture. The core pillars of the culture he established were: Excellence, No Excuses and Unity and these were thread which ran through all they did. There was a rigorous focus on consistently good teaching. He encouraged a culture of openness with open door policy for classrooms and a constant drive to deliver the best teaching possible. But what is that exactly?
 
We sat and chatted at lunch. Peter is Australian, so talking cricket gave us a common language and understanding. He was a little hazy on exactly where the Hereford Diocese was I think, but explaining that the late, great Shane Warne lived here for a time seemed to help. We compared the very best teachers with Australian bowling legend Glen McGrath whose secret was not that he was faster than anyone else. He wasn’t. It was his incredible consistency that made him so good. Pitching ball after ball after ball on the right line, at a good length (distance towards the stumps). I felt it was my duty to include England’s own legend Jimmy Anderson in the same category.
 
We agreed that the one-off showcase lesson, once in a blue moon, is not what gets the best results. It is consistently, good teaching. Lesson after lesson. Day after day. Week after week by a dedicated teacher who knows the children and shows that they care about their academic progress and personal development.
 
I realise that a school in the Hereford Diocese may have one or two differences from schools in Hackney, but I do think the longer-term aspirations and intentions are still very useful. One of Peter’s slides was entitled ‘The Dream’ and it said ‘Mossbourne to be as brilliant in 100 years as it is today, if not better’.
 
At one point in our conversation, after I had explained who I was, Peter said that he had never understood why the Church of England was involved in so many schools in this country. I began to enlighten him and point out the whys and the wherefores but (probably much to his relief) we got interrupted before I got very far and I never got to complete the explanation. Perhaps I will another day.
 
Had I got the chance to finish my explanation, I would have explained that many of our schools have already been great for well over 100 years and that is because the cultural foundation of Church of England schools remains a key driver, long after any individual has retired or moved on. The governing institutions, from the schools own governing body to the Diocesan Board of Education to the national church, nurture and protect this foundation as the decades pass by. Each one of our 78 CE schools will have their own unique vision and drivers, yet these are all connected by one Christian theology rooted in the teaching of Jesus Christ.
 
Excellence, No Excuses and Unity may not be typical choices for CE schools, although I think we could find a biblical under-pinning, if we wanted to (with a bit of help from Mark Harrington).
 
The idea of culture driving consistency in our schools, is something Mark and I will be talking to the latest cohort of new Church School leaders, in our training session this afternoon. I fully agree that our aim and intention as school leaders, should be to embed and refresh a culture that will drive effective practices for generations, as opposed to the more short term ‘dream’ of ‘getting through’ OfSTED or SIAMs inspections unscathed, as important as those things are.
 
It occurs to me too that our faithful following of Jesus Christ should be more ‘line and length’ than an occasional ‘flash in the pan’. Consistency. Day in. Day out. In the things we say and do. The actions we take. The way we serve. The prayers we pray. The love we show. I see that from those people working in our schools, all the time.
 
Prayer for 17th Sunday after Trinity
 Almighty God,
you have made us for yourself,
and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you:
pour your love into our hearts and draw us to yourself,
and so bring us at last to your heavenly city
where we shall see you face to face;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.
 
Best wishes and thanks to the teams at Rushbury and Cradley at opposite ends of the diocese, who have shown a warm welcome to OfSTED inspectors this week. Prayers for headteachers, Steve Morris and Donna Jones who have steered their schools through the highly pressured days.
 
Please could you take a moment to pray for our friends and colleagues at Hampton Dene Primary School in Hereford who have lost a much-loved colleague in recent days. We pray for the memory of Kath and for her family. Also for headteacher, Liz Kearns who is herself suddenly bereaved. We ask for comfort for Liz and for her precious family.
 
The Lord bless you and keep you in the days ahead as we navigate through the last week of half term. Have a restful weekend and hopefully Mark and I may see some of you at the Hereford Church of England Academy on Saturday.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

7th October 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

A Tale of two Eucharists
 On Wednesday I attended a Eucharist, led by Dean Sarah. It was not in the familiar surroundings of the cathedral but in the Chapel at Holland House in Pershore, where Bishop Richard’s staff gathered for their annual strategic residential. Although I had never been to the chapel before, the liturgy was very familiar. As there were only about a dozen of us, we sat in a semi-circle around the altar table. When it came to the sharing of the bread and wine, each member of staff served the next one in the semi-circle. It felt very special indeed and I felt very privileged to be there. I knew everyone well, as we all meet every month, and I knew the pattern of liturgy very well too. I knew when we would stand. I knew the responses and everything proceeded as expected (at least until someone knocked on the door to tell us that lunch was ready).
 
Yesterday, I travelled to north Wales for a funeral. I went for my friend who has recently lost his dad after a short illness. We’ve grown up together. Our children have grown up together. I’ve known his mum and dad since the mid 1980s. To an extent, I know his brothers and sisters and their families. At least, I recognise them, and they recognise me. I’ve seen them very occasionally at weddings or Christenings or big birthday gatherings. My friend’s mum Angela, is a devout Roman Catholic and so my friend James, has grown up in the Catholic tradition. As his best man, I went to his wedding. As godfather to his son, I went to the first communion / confirmation service and yesterday I went to the funeral of his beloved dad, John. Our careers have followed very similar paths since school. We both went to Ludlow College. We both studied psychology at university. We both did a PGCE. We both taught in primary schools. We both eventually became headteachers. James became the headteacher of a Catholic Primary School in Rhos-on-Sea, while I became the headteacher of a Church of England school in Pembridge. I’m waiting for him to become a Catholic Diocesan Director of Education…
 
It was my first Catholic funeral and the Most Holy Family Catholic Church in Llandudno junction was full. John had been a teacher too and, although he was long retired, the church contained former colleagues and even some former pupils. It was a Catholic Mass so there was a Eucharist. It was every bit as beautiful as the mass I had taken the day before, but it made me feel very different. The order of service was smartly printed with some beautiful photos of John. The hymns were there as well as the outline of the service, but the exact wording of the prayers and responses was not. The pattern of the service was much the same. I recognised the order and many of the prayers were very similar though not quite the same. Clearly not everyone was a regular church goer, yet most seemed to know the prayers and responses. There were moments where I thought I knew what to say but got it wrong. The priest said with confidence, “The Lord be with you.”

“And also with you”, I replied confidently as the rest of the church said, “…and with thy spirit”.
We sang Guide Me Oh, Though Great Redeemer to Cym Rhonda and I sang with confidence. We sang the 23rd psalm to Crimmond and I knew what I was doing. From experience, I knew that the Lord’s Prayer would be almost the same except there is no, ‘For thine is the Kingdom the power and the Glory. For ever and ever.’  Apparently, most Protestant and Catholic scholars agree that Jesus’ did not utter these words himself.
 One moment where I felt most out of my depth was when we got to The Hail Mary prayer.
“The Hail Mary (Latin: Ave Maria) is a traditional Christian prayer addressing Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical episodes featured in the Gospel of Luke: the Angel Gabriel's visit to Mary (the Annunciation), and Mary's subsequent visit to Elisabeth, the mother of John the Baptist (the Visitation). The Hail Mary is a prayer of praise for and of petition to Mary, regarded as the Theotokos (Mother of God). Since the 16th century, the version of the prayer used in the Catholic Church closes with an appeal for her intercession.” Wikipedia
 
It felt like the entire church knew this prayer by heart and that I was the only one who did not. Wikipedia says ‘traditional Christian prayer’. I am a fairly ‘traditional Christian’ I think, yet I was not very familiar with the text and remained silent while everyone else recited it by heart. If I had known it, I would have joined in, but I couldn’t. I felt a bit ashamed of myself for being the only one who didn’t know it. A bit like being the only one in the class who has not done their homework.
 
Perhaps more importantly, I did not go up to the altar to receive the bread and wine. I know, I’m not supposed to as I am not a Roman Catholic Christian.
 
I am an Anglican Christian who has grown up in the Church of England tradition. That also makes me a Protestant. We’d need a longer bulletin to fully unpack the difference, but I’d like to think that there are far more similarities that differences between the different branches of the one Christian Tree.
 
The ‘Am Catholic 4 Life’ website explains:
 
An Anglican or protestant is not permitted to receive communion in the Catholic Church because, Anglicans and protestants doesn’t believe in the true transubstantiation of the bread and wine into the real body and blood of Jesus Christ. Although they practice the ritual of holy communion, but they don’t believe that the wafer and wine has truly transformed into the body and blood of our lord Jesus Christ.
Another reason non-Catholic shouldn’t receive the holy communion in the Catholic Church is for their own protection, for they don’t believe in the real presence of Christ in the communion. It’s written in the scripture that it’s dangerous for one who doesn’t believe in the real presence of Christ in the communion to take it. (1 Cor. 11:29) “For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment upon himself”.
In the occasion whereby non-Catholics are invited to Catholic occasion that involves Celebration of Mass, they are called up in line to the altar to receive Blessing from the Priest.”
 
Now, I realise I am in danger of wading out of my theological depth here and that this is very sensitive territory. It just struck me (as it always does) that we Christians who have built a house of faith on the teachings of Jesus Christ, have done so in such a way that sometimes separates us from those who largely share the same beliefs. Whatever the theological complexities and reasons for the very deep, historical divergences which have evolved over the centuries, I am confident in saying that this was not what Jesus meant us to do with the instructions He gave us at The Last Supper.
“And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.”
Luke 22 v19
 
Yesterday was not a funeral of a member of my own family where I knew who everyone was. In the concentric circle diagram of relationships, with a single individual in the centre. I did not belong to the circle for the immediate family (living in the same house). I did not belong in the second circle for the extended family either. I was part of the third or even fourth circle. A good friend of a member of the extended family. Yet, I was made to feel very welcome because it was clear I didn’t know many people very well. I was invited into the nearby pub after the service. I was given sandwiches and a drink and people came and spoke to me and kept me company. I was glad to have been there because I felt welcome and included. I was intentionally brought closer to the centre through hospitality and welcome.
 
I very much appreciated and valued the Catholic service. It was really beautiful and most importantly, I felt in touch with God in the same way I do in any other church. I did feel I was in a circle which is further from the centre than I am used to. A connection was there. A recognition and some familiarity certainly, but also more distant, less secure and less able to fully participate.
 
The experience made me feel that we should all do more to bring those people who stand in the outer circles a step or two closer to the centre. As a Christian Church in any of our buildings and in our services in schools too, we should strive to ensure that in any and every act of worship, we make efforts to be fully inclusive and invitational. I love the metaphor that faith is a tent in a cold desert. Inside is a roaring fire (perhaps it had better be a yurt with a chimney). Some people feel comfortable to be fully inside the tent, some nearer the door, some just outside. The fire encourages them closer and people can make their own choice about where the most comfortable seat will be. We must always be careful not to seat people too close to the fire or to accidentally lock anyone outside.
 
The Hail Mary
Hail, Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now and at the hour of our death. 
Amen
 
Collective best wishes and thanks to the team at Canon Pyon who have had their SIAMS inspection this week.
 
The Lord bless you and keep you in the days ahead as we navigate though the next week in school. Apparently, there will only be two more bulletins before half term. Can that really be possible? Have a restful weekend.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

30th September 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

No Comfort Zone
 On 30th Sept in ‘Reflections for Daily Prayer’, Christopher Herbert draws our attention to Paul’s frequent debating and teaching in synagogues, contrasted with less frequent accounts of his engagement with gentile (non-jewish) audiences. Paul was from a Jewish background and so, we can surmise, would have been far more comfortable in a synagogue than the temples dedicated to the Greek Gods, for example. After drawing this observation about Paul’s bias towards a more familiar context, Christopher goes on to say, “Before we feel too superior, we might humbly acknowledge that we all gravitate towards the known rather than the unknown. It’s called human nature”.
 
He is right, of course. How often do we sit together at a wedding or Christening, with our closest most familiar family and friends as opposed to sitting with the people we see rarely or know least well?
 
Imagine then what it must feel like to be a child joining a new school, having just arrived in the country. No English, no knowledge of expectations or cultural norms. No friends. No knowledge of what might be about to happen. No ‘comfort zone’. Most of us have never been through that experience. How must that feel to be so far away from anything familiar and predictable?
 
They do perhaps have the one advantage of still being children, of course. Children’s sense of what is ‘normal’ is different because so much of life in general will be new and unfamiliar as they learn about their surroundings and how things work. Children all need to be able to adapt to change as they learn and grow but even so, what a frightening experience it must be to let go of the parental hand and place the faith in the smiling stranger who welcomes them on the first day into a very unfamiliar school environment. Little surprise that sometimes there are a few tears.
 
Across the diocese, I see our schools moving heaven and earth to warmly welcome children into their communities from afar. Some are refugees from war torn places and their comfort zones may have already been destroyed. Others may simply be children of new workers at the local hospital or military families or agricultural workers.

I often think of schools as sacred places. If you are privileged to have licence to cross the threshold of a school, not just the visitor reception area, but the classrooms and the corridors, you enter a place where precious, priceless interactions take place every single day. Schools are places where the vulnerable are protected, where fragile confidence is nurtured alongside enabling academic skills. Every single conversation and non-verbal interaction, shapes and nurtures the character and capabilities of our young people. Teaching a child to read is a truly incredible thing to do. What could we possibly spend our time doing that could be more valuable to another human being?
 
Yet there is something even more impressive when we see children and young people ‘settling in’ to the loving pattern and nurturing routine of life in one of our schools when they have come from so far away and are so removed from all that they know and understand.
 
Surely, we do God’s work when we enable these children and families to flourish in their new surroundings and enable them to feel at home in our schools. Thank you for this wonderful work to create a welcoming sanctuary in our schools across the diocese, especially for those most vulnerable families who have nowhere else to turn.
 
Collect for the 15th Sunday after Trinity
God, who in generous mercy sent the Holy Spirit
upon your Church in the burning fire of your love:
grant that your people may be fervent
in the fellowship of the gospel
that, always abiding in you,
they may be found steadfast in faith and active in service;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
We pray too for Anna Cook and the team at Clunbury CE Primary who have had a SIAMs inspection this week. Also for Alex Davies and the team at Canon Pyon who have their SIAMs inspection scheduled for next week.
 
The Lord bless you and keep you in the days ahead as we navigate though the next week in school.  Have a restful weekend.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

23rd September 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Joy is the Hallmark of Heaven
 Like so many others, I spent most of Monday transfixed by the funeral of Queen Elizabeth. In contrast, I spent Tuesday at a family funeral in Lower Machen Church near Caerphilly. The points of contrast between the two events were fairly obvious. Tuesday was a relatively small gathering of people to celebrate the life of a former Herefordshire teacher, long retired. There were no bagpipes or bearskins. Delphine Coleman, like so many teachers of past and present, has made a positive difference to countless children over the years, but in contrast to Queen Elizabeth II, most of the world would not now notice that she has left us.
 
Less obvious perhaps, were the similarities between the two funerals. Both had two young great-grandchildren in the spotlight who were trying to make sense of what was going on around them. Two of those great-grandchildren were called Charlotte.  I noticed that on both days, the pairs of children seemed to gain comfort, reassurance and guidance through talking to each other in the midst of it all. The adults on both days were inevitably focussed on what they needed to be doing and in a small way the children looked after each other. We see this in our schools every day. Relationships between children are as, if not more, more important for mental wellbeing than their relationships with the adults. This is why, when these relationships hit a problem, it can cause huge upset for children, to the point where they may not want to come to school at all. Those close connections between children are a pure and precious thing.
 
Another thing I noticed that was the same at both funerals, was the central role that Christian teaching, prayer and liturgy played. We didn’t have Archbishop Justin with us on Tuesday, but we did have a lovely Church of Wales vicar who guided us through from lament to thanksgiving with familiar prayer and theology. For me bubbles and rainbows have less of an impact than the practical teaching of Jesus Christ, explained and highlighted by someone who has studied and understands it better than I do. If you haven’t yet watched Bishop Richard’s video from yesterday, you really should take five minutes to do so. There is great comfort in it for anyone who has lost someone. It will also help you understand the title of this reflection.
 
Monday and Tuesday both brought a family together. Grant you, the families are just  a little different from each other, but that doesn’t really matter. It is such an important thing to come together to support each other in times of loss. Inevitably there are some family members that are only seen at these events and perhaps there are one or two we have grown distant from. That always seems such a shame on these days. ‘We must meet up again on a happier occasion’. I hope we/they will.
Distance and busy lives meant we were in the company of my wife’s grandmother, Delphine, relatively rarely in recent times. We spent even less time in the presence of Her Majesty, of course. She would be on our television from time to time, but that was largely it. In both cases their lack of physical presence was the day-to-day norm, even in life, so why do we feel such sadness when they die? Of course, the absence is different when someone has passed away. I don’t see my brother that often, but that separation feels different because I know, if I do reach out, he will be there.
 
Henri Nouwan wrote a comforting reflection exploring the power of memory and the relationship between presence and absence in his book called ‘The Living Reminder’.
 
‘One of the mysteries of life is that memory can often bring us closer to each other than can physical presence. Physical presence not only invites but also blocks communication. In our pre-resurrection state our bodies hide as much as they reveal. Indeed, many of our disappointments and frustrations in life are related to the fact that seeing and touching each other does not always create the closeness we seek. The more experience in living we have, the more we sense that closeness grows in the continuous interplay between presence and absence.’
 
A close friend of mine is headteacher of a Catholic primary school in north Wales. We went to Wigmore School together and have been friends for 36 years. His dad, who was also a Herefordshire teacher for a time, died this week after a short illness. My friend’s grief will be different. Sharper. Deeper. Irrepressible. Their lament will last well beyond the funeral day and they will need some support from those closest to them.
 
May the memory of those we’ve lost keep us near them. May the knowledge of a life eternal brought though Christ’s victory over death, bring comfort to all those who mourn. May precious, sustaining friendships flourish in all of our schools and in our daily lives. We pray for all those we’ve lost. May they all rest in peace and rise in glory.
 
From the last page of CS Lewis’ ‘The Last Battle’
The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.’??
And as He (Aslan) spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; but the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them. And for us this is the end of all the stories, and we can most truly say that they all lived happily ever after. But for them it was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and the title page: now at least they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read: which goes on for ever: in which every chapter is better than the one before.
Amen
 
For the first time ever this week, I received a letter to say that His Majesty’s inspectors would be visiting our diocese. Prayers and best wishes for Rebecca Manning and the team at St George’s CE Primary in Clun who had an OfSTED inspection on Wednesday. We pray too for Anna Cook and the team at Clunbury CE Primary who have a SIAMs inspection next week. The Clun Valley seems to be busy (as well as beautiful) at present.
 
At our Diocesan Board of Education meeting yesterday we finalised a new guidance document for Hereford Diocese CE schools exploring academisation. This new publication from our DBE will be sent to you in the coming days and will no doubt be a subject for further discussion this term. There is nothing seismically different from what we have said many times before, but it will hopefully add some usefully clarity, in response to the continuing progress of the education bill through parliament and the options for CE schools in this diocese in the years ahead.
 
The Lord bless you and keep you in the days ahead, as we navigate though the next week in school.  Have a restful weekend.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

15th September 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Lament with a Grateful Nation
We thought getting an earlier bulletin to you this week might just be helpful given the funeral on Monday.
 
I’m not sure there is much that I can add to what I said last week that will be helpful to you, except that I am increasingly aware of just how sad I feel about the loss of Her Majesty. I know I am not alone in that. I keep hearing it from different people. We are more upset than we thought we would be.
 
Lament is such an important part of the grieving process and we are certainly grieving as a nation. The images on television seem like history passing before our eyes. I get distracted by work demands for a time, but then there is a moment when I ‘tune in’ once again and reconnect with the sadness of the nation. It feels very similar to the loss of a loved one. Surprisingly so.
 
These days are also an opportunity to come together as a nation, in kindness and love. Archbishop Justin said as much while speaking to the people in the queue to pay respects in Westminster Hall.
 
I feel love too for our own Church of England, whose traditions, buildings and wonderful priests are helping the nation through this. I am thankful that our broad church can still serve the people and our whole society so powerfully while also serving Christ our Saviour.
 
May Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II rest in peace and rise in glory.
 
A prayer on the death of Her Majesty The Queen
Gracious God, we give thanks
for the life of your servant Queen Elizabeth,
for her faith and her dedication to duty.
Bless our nation as we mourn her death
and may her example continue to inspire us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen
 
Schools will be closed on Monday and we need to use that time, in our own way to reflect on the loss of someone who has served in the public eye for her entire lifetime, especially in the last 7 decades. I intend to watch the ceremony and I hope this will be helpful in enabling us all to absorb and process what has happened.
 
The Lord bless you and keep you in the days ahead as we navigate though the next week in school.
 
God save the King
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

9th September 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

One Third
 
Although school years are cyclical, each one really is unique. When we restart the school engine after the summer, we are never quite sure what will be different and what will remain unchanged for another year.
 
It is about 210 school years since the very first Church of England schools were created. For a third of those 210 years, Queen Elizabeth was the head of the Church of England. Every morning, for 70 years until this morning, Elizabeth was our Queen. We awoke to the realisation that yesterday, was her last day with us and things will never be quite the same again.
 
Death has felt close since I wrote to you last. Over the summer we lost Revd Chris Penn and Revd Preb Ann Barge from our diocese. Also, a great friend of the cathedral, Doug Harding, sadly passed away in July. Chris served on the Diocesan Board of Education for many years. Doug worked with my dad back in the day and would regularly pull my leg about various things, when my son was singing in the cathedral choir, including on Christmas Day.
 
St Laurence’s in Ludlow held a truly beautiful requiem mass for Rev Ann on Wednesday. In her wonderful sermon, Archdeacon Fiona, compared Rev Ann to Mary because of her humility and selfless service. Ann too was filled with loving grace and spent her days serving others in a way which offers us all a pattern we can follow to find a modern Christian way of being. Revd Ann’s husband, Ian, taught me English Literature A level at Ludlow College in the early 90s. He read ‘God’s Grandeur’ by Gerard Manley Hopkins at the requiem service. I had never heard it before. Mr Barge’s voice sent me back 30 years, as he read bravely through his own grief. He always was a truly great teacher. He still is.
 
My wife’s grandmother, Delphine Coleman, passed away a few days ago. Those of you who attended our conference in October 2019, may remember me presenting Archbishop Justin with a book she had written about Kingstone. She was very pleased with the picture I took (and Tweeted) of the Archbishop of Canterbury holding her book. She was a teacher in south Herefordshire until she retired to South Wales with her husband Eric. Delphine was 96 when she died and regularly liked to observe that she was exactly the same age as Her Majesty. She felt the connection in their parallel stages of life through the decades.
 
The loss of those we know and love is painful, partly because we lose a connection to our own past. Although the music plays on, one of the instruments is missing from that point onward. As we get older, there seem to be fewer and fewer links that go all the way back to our earliest memories.
 
I am mindful that today is the first day in my 5 decades that the sun has risen on a morning where there is no Queen Elizabeth II. I’m not alone, of course. Our schools will open today and, in all likelihood, no one working in your school will remember a day before Queen Elizabeth was our monarch. Or perhaps you still have one or two who do?
 
Despite Her Majesty’s age, yesterday’s events came as a shock. The sounds of summer Jubilee events seem to have barely faded.  Many of us will perhaps be recalling the stories of when the paths of our own lives crossed with hers in some way. Many years ago, I can remember waiting near the runaway at Shobdon airfield. We’d had a tip off that the queen would be landing. I can remember her waving to the small crowd as she exited the aircraft. I think she wore bright yellow, that day.
 
My son sang for her in 2012 when she visited Hereford and my youngest handed her a bouquet of flowers outside the cathedral on the same day. Unfortunately, to pass the time while waiting, my daughter had picked all the heads off the flowers she was holding. In truth, she handed the queen a bunch of stalks and the photo made the Hereford Times.
“Thank you” said Her Royal Highness. “You’re welcome” said my 5 year old.
 
It will be difficult to process a new Britain, in our schools, in our church, in our remaining lives, without Queen Elizabeth as our nation’s rock of stability. She was inspirational at so many levels especially in the way she lived out her faith, day by day. A whole lifetime in service of the nation and true servant of the Lord. It is so sad to know that she has now left our shores, yet heartening to remember she awaits us with the Servant King and all those we loved on another.
 
A prayer on the death of Her Majesty The Queen
Gracious God, we give thanks
for the life of your servant Queen Elizabeth,
for her faith and her dedication to duty.
Bless our nation as we mourn her death
and may her example continue to inspire us;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. 
Amen
 
I hope you managed a restful summer, although I know the memory of it is already fading fast.
 
Hopefully you have already seen the resources on the CE website that support schools through the period of national mourning that began yesterday, as well as Mark’s video that is designed to be used in assembly. Do get in touch, if you need any support or have any questions about how to respond appropriately in school at this difficult time.
 
The Lord bless you and keep you in the days ahead, as we navigate though the next week in school.
 
God save the King.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

15th July 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

A Bright Star of Resilience and Hope
 
It was wonderful to welcome 40 of our Church of England schools to Hereford Cathedral yesterday. Of the 800 people who came to the two services, most were year 6 children. The services were led by Bishop Richard, Dean Sarah and (in the morning one) Archdeacon Fiona. We also welcomed support staff, teachers and significant number of headteachers from across the diocese too. We had readings from pupils representing the secondary sector too. The wonderful iSing Pop energetically lead our singing and dancing. Thank you to the Dean and Chapter and all the volunteer stewards, who hosted us with such warmth and hospitality in the Cathedral. It was a really wonderful celebration at the end of a seven-year long journey through primary school.

 
The theme of the service was the Parable of the Sower. Children wrote their hopes and aspirations for growth at secondary school on a seed label (lolly stick) and said a personal prayer as they planted it into the earth. I read one after the morning service, which said, ‘to be a bit less shy and to make new friends’. Such a humble thought and prayer, captured and shared by a single one of those eight hundred children. I love that somewhere in that ancient building, a young mind, prayed to God for something so precious and pure. I prayed hard too that whoever wrote that would flourish with growing confidence and lots and lots of friends in their new school next term.
 
I should say that not all of the prayers were what we might have expected. One child, for reasons I don’t fully understand, wrote ‘bananas’. I hope there is an abundance of those too!
 
Consider just how much change takes place for children between their first day at primary school and their last. On day one, children have very little sense of how school works or even how they themselves ‘work’. They have to learn how to learn. They have to learn how to build positive relationships. They have to learn independence. They have to learn effective communication skills. They learn the importance of empathy. They have to learn resilience and, yes, they have to learn to run along while balancing an egg on a spoon (without using a thumb to hold it in place). Possibly with the exception of the last one, these are skills which are needed for a lifetime of flourishing not just to pass a test.
 
They also learn the value of spirituality to their own mental wellbeing. They learn that they are known and loved by God for exactly who they are, as they are.

We saw children from Pencombe and Tenbury and others come to the front of the cathedral to read prayers. Reading to 400 people in the cathedral is something most adults will never do, let alone 10 and 11 year olds. They were all brilliant, but one child in particular stood out to me. I didn’t catch her name, but I knew she had only been at St Thomas Cantilupe CE Primary, since May. She looked incredibly smart and only a tiny bit nervous. She wore her school uniform proudly as she made her way to the front of the packed cathedral and began her reading at the end of the afternoon service with the Bishop of Hereford and 400 others looking on. The microphone didn’t work initially and she had the presence in the moment, when all eyes were on her, to stop wait and begin her prayer again.
 
She read clearly and without a stumble. Given where children begin their early reading journey in a primary school, to read with such confidence in such a situation is perhaps miraculous enough. But she was one of many children who have joined schools in the diocese from Ukraine in the last few months and so her performance was even more powerful. At the start of the school year, she could surely not have imagined she would be walking up the aisle at Hereford Cathedral in the United Kingdom. She initially came to the UK alone, but was joined by her mum a few weeks later and thankfully she too was with us in the cathedral, watching her daughter shine like a bright star of resilience and hope. An inspiration to us all.
 
I can only guess at what that amazing year 6 girl wrote on her lolly stick when she planted it in the soil in Hereford Cathedral. By the end of the second service we had 800 of them. I pray to God that her prayers are answered.
 
Words of Blessing from our Year 6 Leavers Service
May God bless in our going from here today
May God bless us in our arrival at our new school term
May our path be smooth
May our studies be enriching
May our time at school be full of friendships
We go from here knowing that we take God’s love with us.
Amen
 
Our schools are miracle factories. They act like a chrysalis of transformation for children, and it is always an emotional moment for staff too, as the latest crop of butterflies flutter away to their next phase of education and a life full of promise.
 
In this final message, as the 2021-22 academic year draws to a close, can I thank everyone for their dedication, creativity and courage in serving the children and families of the diocese throughout this year. It has been so, so difficult at times and yet somehow you have found a way to continue to enable flourishing in the children and young people in your care.
 
I’d also like to thank the brilliant teams I work with, in support of all our schools, for all of their hard work and dedication to lightening the load and strengthening the foundation in our schools. A special mention for Mark Harrington who has created wonderful worship videos faithfully throughout the year and who put the service together for the year 6 children. I can certainly tell his worship videos have been enjoyed by many, as at one point he was signing autographs yesterday!
 
The end of term seems slightly more staggered than usual, so once you do break for summer, please pray for all those schools who for various reasons, have a few extra days to go!
 
Blessings and best wishes for a restful and restorative summer holiday, when it arrives.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

8th July 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

The Inscription around the Glass Dome

On Monday, I caught the 06:43 train from Hereford to Paddington. I attended a conference for Church of England and Catholic trusts and DDEs at Church House in the shadow of Westminster Abbey in Westminster. I was accompanied by Will Finn, Chair of the Board for the Diocese of Hereford trust. We walked past the Department for Education offices, en route from St James’s Park tube station to the Church House itself.
 
Following some wonderful gospel singing from a secondary school choir from Coventry, we listened to introductions from Nigel Genders, the Chief Education Officer for the Church of England and the Rt Revd Bishop Paul Butler, Bishop of Durham and the chairman of the National Society (which is the body that has since 1811 overseen education in the Church of England).  The keynote speeches were from the Under Secretary of State, Baroness Barran and Jon Edwards, who was in his very first day as the new ‘Director General of the Regions Group’. This position has replaced the role of National Schools Commissioner. The former Regional Schools Commissioners have (since Monday) become ‘Regional Directors’ and there are now 9 regions instead of 8. The Hereford Diocese continues to be part of the West Midlands Region. Both Baroness Barran and Jon Edwards gave short speeches before answering questions from Nigel.
 
The speeches and conversations centred upon the white paper, the education bill and the transition to a fully academised system by 2030. We talked about government intentions and the protections for schools with a religious character.
 
By the way, it is still a very new thing to have the Church of England and Catholic education sectors working together. Between us we account for about 1/3 of the schools in England. 18 months ago, I attended the rescheduled meeting (on Zoom) of CE Directors of Education and Catholic education directors. The original meeting was supposed to have taken place in 1940! Better late than never, and the two sectors now work together as one of the 9 national providers for the educational leadership qualifications (NPQs).
 
The Baroness was very open about the difficulties with the bill’s progression though parliament. Although a number of my DDE colleagues were present, most of the hall was filled with leaders from CE and Catholic academy trusts and the focus was on the role these trusts will play within the new landscape.
 

While listening to the significant voices of government and the Church of England Education Office, I considered (as I have a thousand times) what these significant changes would mean back in the leafy lanes of the Hereford Diocese, especially to our 29 schools with less than 100 pupils. I considered what the impact of these latest words would be for our own strategic approach to ensuring that all our schools will continue to flourish as the education landscape continues to change around us.
 
As the effects of the long commute and a growing need for more caffeine began to take hold (while maintaining a razor sharp focus on the discussion at all times), I considered the incredible assembly hall in which we were sitting.
 
Built in 1939 the stunning Grade II Assembly Hall was designed by world-renowned architect Sir Herbert Baker. Natural light streams through the 15 arched windows onto the gallery level. The polished English oak panelling and emblems sit beneath the room’s architectural focal point – a striking 30-foot glass dome.
 
The building suffered a direct hit in the early part of WWII but due to its exceptional construction only minimal damage was done. The Prime Minister of the day, Winston Churchill, was so impressed by this that the building was refurbished for use by the two Houses of Parliament for the remainder of the war. Many historic speeches and events took place within the building during this time, in particular the announcement by Churchill of the sinking of the battleship Bismarck. In 1945 the first meetings of the United Nations Preparatory Commission and Security Council were held here. 

Church House Website

 
As I looked up at the ‘striking 30-foot glass dome’, I read the inscription which runs all the way around the circular hall.
 

Holy is the true light, and passing wonderful, lending radiance to them that endured in the heat of the conflict: from Christ they inherit a home of unfading splendour, wherein they rejoice with gladness evermore.

 
I think the answer is right there. Our Church of England schools, rooted in Christ as they have been for 200 years, inherit a home of unfading splendour. The ‘splendour’ of our school buildings and educational support systems are sadly not always the things that are ‘unfading’, as both of these often need quite a bit of improvement and reorganisation over time. It is the vibrant and distinctive ethos to serve the children and families of our local communities, here in the Diocese of Hereford, that never fades. Our daily work ensuring every child goes out into the world, equipped with an education which can unlock the doors of life and enable flourishing. This is the unfading splendour of our rural education in our Cathedral city, small schools and market towns, founded and still supported by local church communities and local people who are motivated by a drive to give their time to support the ‘children of the village’ to be helped up and advantaged with all the opportunities and professional skills we can muster.
 
Since I left London on Monday, the Secretary of State for Education has changed twice and I actually had to look up this morning who now carries this role in government (It is the Rt Hon James Cleverly by the way). We know we will have a new Prime Minister soon, we may see a change of government at some stage, but I don’t believe we will see a reversal of the current trajectory of structural education reform. The titles may change the timeframes may be adjusted, but the transformation of our publicly funded and accountable education system seems certain to continue.  As the Church of England here in this Diocese, we will continue to strive to ensure our schools and all schools have the best services possible while sustaining their unique and distinctive Christian ethos, rooted in their local community.
 
Prayer for Third Sunday after Trinity
Almighty God,
you have broken the tyranny of sin
and have sent the Spirit of your Son into our hearts
whereby we call you Father:
give us grace to dedicate our freedom to your service,
that we and all creation may be brought
to the glorious liberty of the children of God;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
Thank you for everything you are doing in schools across our beautiful diocese. The season of sports days is now upon us as our leaders continue to balance the organisational eggs on spoons for the final weeks of this complex school year. The sun and son will shine, as you continue your vocation to serve children and families to the best of your ability. The summer oasis is in sight.
 
Blessings and best wishes for a restful weekend.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

1st July 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

The Unnoticed
 I’ve been driving my son’s Ford Ka this week. Almost every other vehicle on the road is bigger and faster with a more powerful engine. It does make you feel more vulnerable on the road and I have noticed, it also makes a difference to the behaviour of other drivers. Put simply, I think I’m treated with much less respect. I get cut up more, aggressively overtaken more and seem to get less courtesy from other drivers…or perhaps they just don’t notice me at all.
 
This got me thinking about the understated people we work with. Do we treat them with the same level of respect as those with more power and influence? I do try to, but I am not sure I always do well enough.
 
Jesus’ teaching on this one is not complicated. It is crystal clear. It is the meek who will inherit the earth. Treat (all) others as we would like to be treated ourselves. We know that Jesus devoted much of His ministry to the poor and weak and the unnoticed members of society. The unloved and the reviled not the powerful and popular.
 
I love the story of St Christopher who carries the small child across the powerful river. It turns out to be Jesus who is in receipt of his kindness. The act was important because he did not know who he was carrying.
 
So, who are the ‘unnoticed’ in our education world? Our support staff do not get enough appreciation for the work they do, whether in the school office, or in the dining hall, in the classroom or around the school site. Our schools cannot run without these people.
 
School cleaners are a good example where their daily work is very often unnoticed until it is not done. This is true of caretakers too (for schools that are fortunate to still have one).
 
What about those who are not employed by schools, but whose roles help us to keep things running smoothly? The people that empty the bins for us. The grounds crews that ensure we are all ready for sports day. We certainly notice them when their work has not been done. Do we always notice when it has?
 
Many staff and parents don’t notice the work, often in the background of school life, that school governors do to aid the smooth and professional running of our schools. I remember a long-standing teaching assistant in a school, joining the governing body and reporting that she had discovered a ‘whole other world’ in the school she thought she knew so well. This is sensitive and demanding work and often requires hours and hours of meetings, preparation and support for school life. Their wisdom, kindness and dedication are a blessing to schools across the diocese.
I think there is a special place reserved in heaven for those people that give their time voluntarily to hear readers or wash paint trays or bring the teacher the cup of tea they didn’t have time to make themselves. I’m thinking of people like Anne at St Paul’s CE Primary, who has served the school for years and years with countless hours of service. I know lots of schools have trusted volunteers, all of whom I would like to ‘notice’ right here and give thanks for the work they do.
 
I’ve spoken here before about the support that families give to loved ones who are working in schools. This time of year needs quite a lot of that support as teachers come home later from school and immediately pick up (in a digital sense) the huge pile of reports they are working on. Staff away from home for days on end with residential trips to Arthog or Red Ridge or the Pioneer Centre or London or Manchester or Normandy. This needs a certain level of patience and understanding by those holding the fort back at home. We should notice the importance of that loving support.
 
I know we are are all mindful of the dangers of ‘the unnoticed’ within our classrooms. I was at Ludlow Primary School yesterday and a young man in year 6 had made some huge progress with his writing. Headteacher, Kate Mather, asked if he could bring some work to show me, so that I would properly notice how well he was doing. It was the most important thing I was asked to do that day and a privilege to witness his fantastic flourishing. I made sure he knew how impressed I was.
 
Jesus also makes clear what He thinks about children. They are the model to which we should aspire, in many ways. They should be first not last. Jesus rebuked his disciples when they tried to stop the children from coming to see Him.
 
Noticing someone, noticing the work they do each day. Taking a moment to talk to them, costs nothing but time. But we simply cannot notice everything. As hard as we try, we do not notice all of the struggles that some children face before they come to school. The challenges that many have overcome before they cross our threshold are hard to imagine for most of us. The small and selfless acts of kindness that help us on our way each day. We won’t spot all of them.
 
So, we do the best we can to treat the people we meet as a powerful Range Rover rather that the small engine little car, that struggles to get up Dinmore Hill. We can also take some comfort in the knowledge that God misses nothing. Not one thing.
 
Thank you to everyone who gives quiet service to our schools in sometimes, unnoticed ways. Your work is a blessing and makes a positive difference to the lives of countless children.
 
Prayer for Second Sunday after Trinity
Lord, you have taught us
that all our doings without love are nothing worth:
send your Holy Spirit
and pour into our hearts that most excellent gift of love,
the true bond of peace and of all virtues,
without which whoever lives is counted dead before you.
Grant this for your only Son Jesus Christ’s sake,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
I enjoyed a wonderful visit to Christchurch CE Primary in Cressage, on the northern edge of the diocese this week (thankfully I was in the larger-engine-mini for that journey). The fabulous learning environment was a joy to behold and it was great to meet so many dedicated staff and governors.
 
My sincere apologies to Headteacher Sam Aiston at Broseley CE Primary, for misinforming him during an online call this week, that there was one full week of term left when there are actually still two.
 
I’m aware of some staff in our schools who are continuing to work hard while suffering with ill health. Please can we pray together for each individual and for their sustenance, resilience and recovery.
 
Thank you for everything you are doing in schools across our beautiful diocese.
 
Blessings and best wishes for a restful weekend.
  
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

24th June 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

What if we had a time machine?
 
Our knowledge of the life of Jesus Christ, has been passed from generation to generation for more than two thousand years of human history. Initially this was done by retelling the stories He told by word of mouth. Eventually, they were written down from different perspectives. The Gospel texts and the whole of the New Testament came into being and was added to older texts to give us the single most published book in human history. The Bible, which is more like a library than a single book. For centuries this was only accessible to a few scholars who decode the marks on the page into languages that could be understood by larger groups of people. People gathered to hear these stories and share the good news they brought. These gatherings became The Church. Discussion, debate, councils, disagreement, modification, edits, retelling, translation, retranslation, separation, branches, variation, traditions.
 
It was fairly recent technological advances that allowed the high volume printing of text, that meant everyone could eventually own their own copy of the Bible and read it for themselves and apply its teachings to their own individual lives. The problem then was most people couldn’t read the Bibles that were becoming available, even if they were translated into their own language. How does a society fix that problem? Education.  200 years ago, most people in England would not have been able to read. We can trace our own ancestors back that far with relative ease through the latest genealogy software. Most of mine from that period signed their names on the 1841 census or an early marriage certificate with a spidery x, revealing  their inability to read or to write. They were agricultural labourers and millers of corn not clerics or academics.
 
In spite of these incredible challenges, somehow we have managed to continue to pass the teachings of Jesus Christ through the centuries to the generations that are growing up in 2022. Far more children in this country at least, are taught to read for themselves (although not yet all). This is a fundamental key to their flourishing, as we all know. So, is the knowledge of this two thousand year old, world changing, teaching more widely understood or at least known than it was is past centuries? I fear not. We now have other, arguably greater obstacles than illiteracy, which block the sharing to the good news and prevent the opportunity for an encounter with God. In short, there are so many bright lights to choose from. So much competition for people’s time. So much more available. So much more interference and white noise. The dangers of the multi-generation chain finally breaking seem greater than ever.
 
If only we had a time machine. If we just had a way to go back 200 years or so, we could create new schools with a religious character that could let every child in the community hear and understand the life-changing truth that Jesus brought to humanity. Imagine if, in every diocese, there were schools that were masters at teaching the next generation what Jesus said and did, so they could use this teaching to enrich their own lives and the society of their own generation. They could be fully inclusive places which value all God’s children and serve children and families of all faith and those that haven’t found faith at all. They could be places filled with love and care but more than that, which pass on the traditions and teaching from one generation to the next. Does anyone have a time machine? A DeLorean that can take us back in time when it reaches 88 miles per hour, perhaps?
Sadly, we can’t achieve time travel just yet. So what a blessing it is that Joshua Watson and his 1811 contemporaries had the foresight to see how important Church of England schools might become. We never quite achieved the objective of one in every parish, but we did get to 12000 schools in the first hundred years. We have about 4500 still. One in every four primary schools in England is a CE school. 1 in 20 of our secondaries. 78 of those are in the Bishop of Hereford’s Diocese and many of these sit on a foundation which is almost 200 years old. Our diocese treasures its CE schools and recognises their importance to the future of the church as well as to the village communities they serve. We held a special Choral Evensong in the Cathedral this week, which demonstrated this very clearly.
 
Our Diocesan Board of Education was reconstituted in January and we wanted to hold a small service of blessing for the new board. For the work that they do and the valuable time that they each give to shaping the strategy for our CE schools in the context of a rapidly changing national education system. I thought the service illustrated perfectly, just how important our Church Schools are in the grand scheme of this to one of the oldest dioceses in England. As well as the diocesan board and its officers, the service was conducted by +Richard, 106th Bishop of Hereford, Archdeacon Fiona Gibson who is the Chair of our Board of Education, The Dean of Hereford Cathedral, Sarah Brown as well as the full Cathedral Choir who sang like angels. It was very clear, just how important education is viewed in this diocese and how much the work in every school is valued and appreciated. The presence of God in that place felt very clear to me and I felt deeply thankful for the work that put me there.
 
Prayer
Help us to do work for a better world,
Where the young are given the chance to flourish,
Where to poor's dream for justice can come true,
And where God's compassion is shown to be real
Amen

Adapted from the prayer to Saint John Bosco
 
Thank you for all you are doing in schools across our beautiful diocese with three remaining weeks of the academic year. The extended exam season is almost at a close, but our schools of all shapes and sizes remain as busy as ever. Trips and concerts and reports and leavers services and all kinds of valuable (but stressful) service yet to give with a shrinking reserve of time and energy from which to draw. You are all in the thoughts and prayers of this diocese which values your vocation and service so highly.
  
Blessings and best wishes for a restful weekend.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

17th June 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

‘Life is not a Popularity Contest’
Our schools are generally harmonious places, full of joy and light but conflict does from time to time arise. As a school leader, I never once enjoyed those moments, even though they were sometimes necessary. Managing difficult conversations well, is an art form and is something all effective leaders need to be able to do.
 
The most challenging moments are often when you are driving forward a necessary change agenda and lots of people question the wisdom of what you are doing. They may tell you that you are doing the wrong thing, have made the wrong choice, or haven’t thought it through. They may be right, but the easy path is not always the best way.
 
Some years ago, at St Paul’s, we attempted to launch a new digital strategy based around personal devices for every pupil around which we could build an exciting new curriculum and pedagogic approach. We launched it with a few other local primary schools and made the local press for the wrong reasons.  Unusual levels of disagreement or upset, generally make interesting news in a way the ‘another happy day in school’ does not. That adds to the pressure of course, and social media? Probably best not to get me started on the damage that can do to people.
 
Although, I think the digital strategy had sensible ideas and objectives at heart, I made some big mistakes in how we tried to implement it. The main one was, it was too fast, with insufficient dialogue and discussion. In the end we pulled the plug as the pressure to do so, became too great. The negative pressure subsided quickly but we lost something valuable. A few years later the pandemic hit, and those personal devices in the hands of every pupil would have come in very handy when running remote learning.
 
I often reflect on the way in which Jesus drove change in hearts and minds. He modelled the change. He talked to people and he told powerful stories to grow understanding. His actions led others to believe in Him. He was not afraid to reprimand and call out injustices or bad behaviour. Popularity was not his purpose. Occasionally, he flipped over the tables.
 
One of my late father-in-law’s advisory catch phrases, which still echoes through the family was, ‘life is not a popularity contest’. Sometimes we need to take unpopular decisions because they are the right thing to do but these can be some of the most difficult moments in our leadership.
 
Any school leader that has changed the school uniform or the arrangements for collecting children at the end of the day or has changed parking permissions outside the school or significantly increased the number of playground duties, will know what taking unpopular decisions feels like. Sometimes the best strategic direction for a large group, is unpopular with individuals, sometimes many of them. School uniform changes are a good example. A single child may leave the house looking smart and appropriately dressed for school, but if there are 25 variations on the uniform, when the children are together in large groups, the uniform no longer gives the impression of a school with high expectations, where presentation is important.

Being more prescriptive about what parents must and must not buy for children to wear to school is often unpopular with lots of parents for understandable reasons, although no one is happy being the one school at the multi-school event that looks a bit scruffier than everyone else.
 
When we are under fire, standing our ground against resistant comment and opinion, we can draw strength from prayerful contact with God. I have certainly done that on countless occasions and still do. At that moment where the doubts grow and the sense of isolation increases, we can gain strength by focussing on the impact of the differences we are making for children and by asking God for guidance, support and to share the burden.
 
When schools get extra busy, the conflicts become more common. Staff get tired. Parents get tired. Children get tired. Leaders get tired. We are now in the season of residential visits, report writing and ongoing exams. Anxiety and conflict may be a little more common in our schools as a result. Singing together, laughing together, pulling together, praying together (and sometimes by ourselves) are the best antidotes. I was in church in Pencombe a few weeks ago with the children and staff singing away beautifully and it was a lovely moment which everyone was clearly enjoying, and it certainly made me feel better.
 
Deep reflection opportunity can be really difficult to find in 2022. School life doesn’t have a lot of space for it and sometimes we have to make some. It may not be as urgent as other things we need to do but it is hugely important. If you find yourself passing by the Cathedral or the little church near your school in the days and busy weeks ahead, try and take 10 minutes to sit in that sacred space to be silent and see what happens. You will be warmly welcomed, even if you are the only person there.
 
Prayer for Trinity Sunday
Almighty and everlasting God,
you have given us your servants grace,
by the confession of a true faith,
to acknowledge the glory of the eternal Trinity
and in the power of the divine majesty to worship the Unity:
keep us steadfast in this faith,
that we may evermore be defended from all adversities;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
Our OfSTED prayers this week are for the Llangrove CE Primary and Barrow 1618 CE Primary communities, along with their headteachers Sarah Dean and Sian Stephenson who have welcomed inspectors. The pressure on schools when that phone rings to trigger an inspection the following day, is immense, most especially on the headteacher who carries the responsibility for the outcome.
 
Thank you for all you are doing in schools across our beautiful diocese in this final half term of the academic year.
 
Blessings and best wishes for a restful weekend.
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

10th June 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

A School on the Edge of the Desert
 
In late April 2015, I found myself walking, with trousers rolled up to the knee, through the gentle surf of the Arabian Gulf, in baking hot sun. I was beneath the iconic Burj al Arab in Dubai.
 
I had taken the bold (and possibly questionable) decision to apply for a job as the headteacher of the primary years within a school called Kings Al Barsha, having had no experience of international schools whatsoever. I was in my fifth year at St Paul’s and was no longer executive headteacher at St Thomas Cantilupe. Although, I still enjoyed working at St Paul’s, I was beginning to search for a new challenge. My interview in London with the senior education adviser had gone really well and so I was one of two candidates who was invited to travel to Dubai to visit the school and attend the two-day interview process. Located on the eastern edge of the city, the schools was and still is a brand new palace of glass and gleaming brickwork. My initial tour revealed the most incredible facilities I had ever seen in a school. As well as multiple swimming pools, palatial classrooms and unbelievable sporting facilities, the ‘Head Chef’ was the late great Gary Rhodes and the Director of Cricket was England Batsman, Kevin Peterson. Positioned at the edge of the desert, I chatted to the deputy head of primary and watched the wild camels through his office window.
 
On day two, I was taken to visit the founder and chairman, Mr. Tayeb Al Baker. I was interviewed with his son and daughter present in an incredible room with marble floors and a very long table. He called for mint tea which was brought immediately to us all as he asked me some questions about my background and experience. While he and I spoke in English, the two siblings expressed their opinions to each other in Arabic. Mr Bakar was an imposing Emirati gentleman who commanded the room with obvious authority. When he asked where I was from, I thought ‘near Wales, in the west of England’ would be specific enough, but it wasn’t.
‘Yes, yes. Which part?’
I said that the closest big city was Birmingham but that wouldn’t do either, so I started naming counties. I wasn’t expecting what came next.
‘I know Ludlow.’ he said. He had somehow spent time in Shropshire in his youth.
 
When I boarded the Emirates plane to head back to the UK, I still didn’t know whether I was successful or not. Mr Baker, needed a little more reflection time and the decision was difficult. While flying over Iraq on my way back to Luston, I reflected on the incredible experience of recent days. It was easy to imagine the richness of the potential experience of living in a country where the calls to prayer punctuated each day. Where the dominant religion was not my own. Where summers were long and so hot that most people escaped to cooler climates.

Most of the people I met in the school and its sister school, had come from the UK education system. They were very similar to the teachers at home, just a little more sun kissed. Most stayed for a few years and then returned to the UK, so the cycle of recruitment and staffing organisation was fairly continuous. Apart from the Baker family, I don’t think I met anyone who was an Emirati citizen.

There was clearly a deliberate attempt to replicate or least mirror the UK education experience. Many of the thousands of pupils in the school were children of ex-pats. Qualifications and the inspection system seemed very familiar. There were some differences, of course, all the children learned Arabic at one level or another and as an Islamic country the annual and weekly pattern of worship festivals and the working week was different. School was open on a Sunday, for example. The level of resourcing and facilities was also ever so slightly different from what I had been used to at Pembridge or in Hereford. I found it fascinating that despite the vastly better facilities and what seemed like limitless resources, they were still building a school system which emulated the one I knew so well.
 
Another OfSTED call has meant I spent an intense few days in a small CE primary school this week. It was Burford’s turn to have a visitation, so I spent time talking with many staff over the two day, section 5. Many count their service of the school in decades not years. The love for the school and the community it serves was abundant. Staff look after each other as well as the children. Children really do love their teachers, one of whom drives from the northern edge of the diocese to Burford every day and wouldn’t have in any other way. Spouses were in full support once again both on site and holding the fort with family logistics. ‘Pick up chips’ was the instruction heard several times on mobile calls (including mine) on the two evenings before the final day. Ex headteacher, local authority and diocesan advisor, Kevin Bryant, took worship in school on Wednesday and the sound of children’s voices, filled the corridors in praise, lifting the spirits of staff and inspectors alike.
 
“What are you going to write for your bulletin, this week?” asked headteacher Emma Partridge, as the inspection activity began to subside. As I have done many, many times since spending those days at Kings Al-Barsha, I thought about the billion dirham facility on the edges of the desert, that in some respects at least, attempts to replicate what we do here in the Hereford Diocese.
 
God had other plans for me. A few days after my wife collected me from Birmingham Airport, I received an e-mail politely informing me that I had not been successful. The Teale family were not destined to move the United Arab Emirates, after all (much to the relief of the grandparents).
 
 I still feel very grateful to Mr Baker and Mr Kevin Stedman, the senior education advisor, who gave me the opportunity to experience such an incredible school and some wonderful people. It has also helped me to more fully appreciate the preciousness of the staff teams and ethos in so many of our schools across the diocese.

Collect for the days after Pentecost
O Lord, from whom all good things come:
grant to us your humble servants,
that by your holy inspiration
we may think those things that are good,
and by your merciful guiding may perform the same;
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
I do hope everyone enjoyed a jubilant bank holiday weekend with lots of flag waving to celebrate the incredible service of Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth. The mood of the nation was obvious when I went to Quarry Farm Butchers (one of the best in Herefordshire) and received my purchase in a Union Jack bag.
 
Prayers and blessings for the team at Brockton CE Primary who have also had a visit from OfSTED inspectors this week.
 
Congratulations to Kerrie and the team at St Edward’s CE Primary in Dorrington, whose OfSTED report has been published this week. Since taking on the Executive Headship in 2017 a few weeks after the school had been put into special measures, Kerrie and her staff both at St Edwards and Condover have been working to improve this school with the help of their multi-academy trust. Just before half term, OfSTED judged the school to now be a good school in all areas. Huge congratulations to everyone who have worked so hard for so long to achieve this sparkling result. A few days later, Condover CE Primary was inspected too, and I should be able to share some news on how that went, next week.
 
Thank you for all you are doing in schools across our beautiful diocese in this final half term of the academic year.
 
Blessings and best wishes for a restful weekend.
 
Andrew

Canon Andrew Teale


 
 

27th May 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Too Imaginable
 
On 13th March 1996, I was in a mobile classroom at Wigmore Primary School. It was a Wednesday and I was clearing up at the end of the day. Marking waiting in a pile, on my desk. The classroom was isolated half way between the main primary and secondary school buildings and I used to switch on the radio after the children had left for the day and catch up on news and events or listen to some music while preparing for tomorrow’s lessons. It felt like anti-freeze suddenly running through my veins, when the headlines were read out. A mass shooting in a primary school in Dunblane. In a primary school? 16 young children and their teacher, Gwen Mayor were killed. They were in the middle of a PE lesson.
 
Early on Wednesday morning, I was heading north on the A49 on my way to Condover CE Primary. Kerrie Lewis had received the OfSTED call the day before, (only 22 days after receiving the one for St Edwards in Dorrington). My head was full of what was to come that day. How best to support Kerrie and the team. What the challenges might be. What our answers might be. I switched on Radio 4 and felt the anti-freeze flow once again. 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Unimaginable horror. Except for those working in schools, it isn’t unimaginable. It is all too imaginable, in fact.
 
Some of the eye-witness accounts that are now emerging are almost unbearable to hear. One little boy recounted that he heard the gunman tell his victims it was time to die, before he opened fire.
 
As Christians, we ask the same questions as non-believers, how could God let this happen? I know my brother’s faith has been shaken at times by the number of headlines like this, he has had to read out over the years. I don’t have any answers except that when I feel such powerful empathy for those that are in suffering, I also feel an answer from the Holy Spirit that swells and strengthens and comforts.
 
I can’t say much more today. I don’t feel qualified to talk about gun laws in the US. but I will quote Mick North, whose 5 year old daughter, Sophie, was killed in Dunblane in 1996.

“After Dunblane, it was recognised by many in Britain, including the families of the victims, that the most significant factor in the tragedy had been the ease with which the perpetrator had accessed guns, in his case high-powered handguns. At the time, UK legislation allowed him to own these legally. The Dunblane families and others campaigned to have handguns banned and we didn’t allow ourselves to be distracted by those who said gun ownership was not the issue.
It should go without saying that no matter what other factors are involved, the only one common to all mass shootings is that the person responsible had a gun. Thanks to massive public support, which was channelled through the Dunblane families, other campaigners, the media and a significant number of politicians, the successive Conservative and Labour governments passed legislation in 1997 and introduced a ban on the private ownership of handguns. The changes not only reduced the availability of a dangerous type of weapon but indicated the direction the UK wanted to take, one which minimised the use and availability of guns and always placed public safety at the top of the agenda. Since the late 1990s the levels of gun crime in Britain have fallen significantly, gun homicides are rare and there have been very few other multiple shootings.”
 
I can ask everyone to take a moment to pray for those families and the Texas community, so far away and yet so close for those who spend their days in schools. To pray a blessing on those children everywhere who die in violence and fear. To pray for those families who are left behind with shattered lives. To pray for the wounded whose pain lives on with them. To pray for the survivors who heard and saw things they should never have had to see. To pray for humanity that we might find a way to stop the senseless killing.
 
As we mark the Ascension of Jesus this week after death was overcome.  We know those innocents have ascended too, to a place of safety and peace where they will only ever be surrounded by love. They can no longer be harmed in this cruel world that has failed them in every way, as they are untouchable in His loving arms. For those left still hurting in His earthly Kingdom, we can only try to find ways to learn from what has happened to find ways to keep our schools and precious children safe from those who would harm them. We must do better.
 
Collect for Ascension Day
Grant, we pray, almighty God,
that as we believe your only-begotten Son our Lord Jesus Christ
to have ascended into the heavens,
so we in heart and mind may also ascend
and with him continually dwell;
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
Thankfully there has also been love and joy across our diocese this week as the tweets and post show countless celebrations for the platinum jubilee of HRH Queen Elizabeth in recognition of the decades of loyal service she has given to this country. These events are so important for our school communities. They make memories that will last a lifetime. I still remember winning a small toy car after winning the sack race at a silver jubilee event in 1977. It was orange (and remains my greatest ever sporting achievement). I know how much extra work goes into organising these events behind the scenes. So, our education system is in need of refreshment once again, but thankfully, half term arrives today. I hope everyone has a peaceful and restful break and that you enjoy some restorative time with families and friends.
 
Blessings and best wishes,

Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale
 

20th May 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

The Social Dilemma
 
My son is home from university at the moment, getting ready for his exams (and saving some money at the same time). He has been away since late September and though we’ve seen him lots of times since, he hasn’t been at home during the ‘normal’ working week for the rest of us, since then. He noticed a change that we hadn’t seen ourselves. It was a significant increase in the use of our mobile phones. I’m usually looking at e-mails or Microsoft Teams or Morrisons or News or Amazon or Twitter or TikTok videos of Gordon Ramsey showing me how to chop an onion. My wife is often busy with work stuff too and my two teenaged daughters are using various social media apps. Although we always eat together, once we were done, we started heading in different directions to look at different screens. My son was not impressed. He was so unimpressed in fact that he made us all sit and watch a documentary on Netflix called ‘The Social Dilemma.’
 
We hear the voices of various people who have at some stage worked for all the major social media platforms. The talk is of algorithms, magic and psychology. It was a fascinating but fairly disturbing watch. It says things like if you’re not paying for the product, then you are the product’. Each of these bright, socially conscious technology pioneers are very different, but have some worrying things in common. They all left their social media platforms, once they realised how damaging they were becoming. Though most said original intentions were honourable, they were all very disturbed by how the algorithms were evolving and how society was changing as a result. The sociological statistics that could be tracked back to the rise of social media on mobiles was alarming. Perhaps most disturbing of all was how strict they all were in not letting their own children anywhere near social media or digital platforms.
 
Are we all becoming technology zombies? I think I might be, but it is a really hard habit to break and do I really want to? I think I do.
 
I spent all day at Longden CE Primary today to help with their headteacher appointments. It is one of those days when I’m really off the grid and hardly look at my phone for most of the day. I have to be focussed on the interactions in front of me, with no digital filter. I can feel the difference with that kind of day and although they are always intense days, I really enjoyed it.
 
I’m not going to turn this into a finger wagging lecture, because I am in no place to lecture. Have a look at the documentary, if you can though. It made me think we should be doing more in our education system to offer an antidote to the zombie makers.
 
Perhaps the best illustration of the damage too much screen focus does, is best underlined by how we feel when we are focussed instead on real things, right in front of us.
On my way to Longden I saw a huge, low flying red kite, really quite close by. The view lasted just a few seconds as I travelled north on the A49, but I felt and instant lifting of spirits. Growing up in the 1980s, shortly after the DDT impacts were being fully realised, we saw very few birds of prey. Perhaps a kestrel but no buzzards, sparrowhawks and certainly no red kites. For a while we lived in Easthampton, Shobdon and were neighbours with local farmer (Tom Ammonds) who was a massively keen naturalist and ornithologist. We once discovered a nest in a hedge under the window of our house. That was exciting enough, but when the eggs were all kicked out of the nest and replaced with a single one of a different colour we didn’t have a clue what was going on. We fetched old Tom to take a look and he very excitedly explained that it was a cuckoo who had laid the new egg. We then spent weeks and weeks watching a scruffy chick hatch and then turn into this monster offspring while the dedicated dunnock worked herself ragged trying to feed it. It was eventually at least five times as big as she was. The location of the nest made it very easy for us to see and it was better than anything on telly. Tom notified the RSPB and they sent a photographer, who set up a hide and took some incredible photos. I must have been about 8 years old, but I can still remember it so clearly. I can remember following the cuckoo for a few metres as it started to take its first short flight into a nearby apple tree. For the next 42 years, every time I hear the cuckoo, I think back to old Tom Ammonds and those brilliant weeks watching such an incredible miracle of nature. No phone experience can ever recreate those feelings or memories.

I remember being in Shobdon church the morning after Tom died in a car accident. I hadn’t seen him for years, but I felt really, really upset. Worship and prayer are a good antidote to digital overload. I’m going to try a reduce my phone use a bit. I might sit in church, 8:00 morning prayer in the cathedral is one option. A bit of solitude near the shrine of St Thomas Cantilupe. Or an evensong service at 17:30. Or I might just pray in the garden and see if I can hear the cuckoo.
 
Collect for the 5th Sunday of Easter
Risen Christ,
your wounds declare your love for the world
and the wonder of your risen life:
give us compassion and courage
to risk ourselves for those we serve,
to the glory of God the Father.

Amen
 
Thank you for all you are doing in schools across our beautiful diocese. Prayers for all those who are applying for new jobs and those who are making new appointments.
 
Does anyone know how many weeks it is until half term?
 
Blessings and best wishes for a restful weekend.

Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

13th May 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Friday the 13th
 My family will tell you, I am not good with ghost stories. Not only have I never seen the film which shares the name of this week’s bulletin, I have no intention of ever watching it, as long as I live. My problem is, I seem to stay haunted by images and imaginings and once they are in my head, I can’t get them out again. To put it in perspective, my children were pleasantly surprised when I sat through the new Ghostbusters: Afterlife (I do recommend this one, especially if you are a fan of the original 1980s version). My children thought I’d be far too scared to watch the whole thing, but I just about managed the reappearance of the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man.
 
While walking through past the cathedral today, I saw two ghosts…but it’s not what you think. Standing on the south side looking up towards the tower. You can see the ghost of two windows. They aren’t actually windows anymore, but you can still see where they were. A ghost of the way the cathedral once looked for onlookers standing in the same spot as me. ‘Shadows of the past’ might be a better description than ghosts.
 
Thanks to the pandemic, formal testing school children with externally marked examinations was (until this week) another shadow of the past. Not since the summer of 2019, have schools had to administer test papers to primary school children. These ‘standard attainment tests’ or SATs give an external benchmarking of the capabilities and skills of our 10 and 11 year olds as they reach the end of year 6.
 
Our secondary schools are also under huge pressures as 6 weeks of formal, high stakes assessments are now underway too. Exam season has returned in spite of all the disrupted learning. Last year’s teacher assessments are no longer good enough measures. A chance for our young people to show what they have learned can be a very positive thing, but it is always a huge worry that they won’t achieve the keys they need to open the next doors in their future life.
 
In my years as a headteacher in 3 primary schools, every successful OfSTED inspection needed to be underpinned by ‘good SATs data’. The statistical demonstrations of how well you were doing as a school got more and more complex, including projections of how well you were about to do combined with how well you did for the last three years. They became a heavy focus of curriculum activity in school and as SATs got closer, preparation became more intense. We needed to ensure that children did as well as possible, but at the same time wanted to ensure children did not feel under too much pressure.

It may be surprising to some just how central these tests became. Progress + Attainment = Achievement. (Think of Attainment as the height of the hot air balloon, progress is how much it has risen to get there). The evaluation of performance at each education phase is determined by the one before. Early assessments in reception suggest how well a child might perform at the end of KS1. KS1 assessments set a ‘flight path’ that is acceptable by the end of KS2 and KS2 assessments are the anchor point for GCSE performance. So, in today’s language a child that does not meet ‘the expected standard’ in year 6 has lower expectations for performance in GCSEs, 5 years later. Conversely, a child that scores highly in year 6 tests is expected to do well in their GCSEs (all of them).

The new OfSTED inspection framework is designed to be a bit less focussed on formal test & exam data and has already encouraged a broader more balanced curriculum. Time spent judging the detailed progress data with the headteacher has been replaced with deep dives into history or science or music. We saw a few inspections with this shifted focus up until March 2020, while SATs were still in place, but then the pandemic hit and there were no SATs in 2020 or 2021. Not only were there no SATs but there was no SATs data either.
 
For secondary schools we now see a difficult short circuit in the assessment system. Even without exams in 2020 and 2021, pupils still ‘received’ GCSE results through various (fairly controversial) methodologies. Exams are back this year, albeit with some limited curriculum narrowing in some subjects. Year 11s have been through huge disruptions to their learning in recent months, as well as the last two years. With no primary school SATs in 2020 or 2021, progress for the 2025 GCSE cohort will be difficult to evaluate, so too in 2026. This year’s SATs will be quite flaky so the 2027 GCSE progress might be difficult too. All being well, by 2028, we’ll be back in business. So ‘back to normal’ is still a long way off in some respects.
 
When OfSTED resumed inspections a year ago they had to be even less focused on the statistical indicators of performance and instead, look in books and talk to children. Curriculum coherence began more significant than the statistical indicators of progress in year 3.
 
For me, the chain of expectation from one high-stakes assessment to the next, comes with a major health warning. Low expectation delivers low performance. I’ve seen it in every underperforming school, I’ve ever worked with, and research supports the hypothesis. If you want to take a school out of ‘special measures’, start by raising expectations and recalibrate judgments about what pupils ‘should’ be capable of. Perceived lower performance in early stages of education drive expectations down for later performance. The ghost of underperformance at KS2 can haunt a child for the rest of their education pathway.
 
Testing knowledge and understanding in itself, is not a bad thing, of course. It a great teaching tool and shapes what needs to be taught next. They also provide motivation and focus. The problem is the high-stakes categorisation and defining influence of these assessments that can be so soul destroying if it is accepted as fixed and unchangeable. ‘I am rubbish and I’ll always be rubbish. I am a failure, and I always will be.’
 
This week the ghosts are gathering again and I pray for deliverance.
There is a noticeably different tone in schools this week as they are required to put young children through their exams, after 3 disrupted academic years with high staff absence, low attendance, remote learning and closed bubbles.  I’ve seen pupil anxiety and I can see that the professionals are anxious too, because it doesn’t feel right to be doing it and they know that there is still a great deal at stake for individual children if they slip up.
 
But no ghost in God’s created kingdom, can stand in the face of Jesus, apart from the Holy one. Our staff are His hands of deliverance when they try to keep it all ‘low key’ and ensure every child has exactly the help they need. We are His hands when we open the school early to offer a lovely breakfast, so they are not distracted by low blood sugar. Our staff are His hands when they care for mental well-being with a fun volleyball game to burst the stress bubbles. Our staff are His hands when we support and encourage our year 11s to keep calm and carry on.
 
I retweeted a poem written by Haydee Jones, written for her daughter, which went viral in 2019. In case you haven’t seen it…
 
SATs don't measure sports, SATs don't measure art,
SATs don't measure music, or the kindness in your heart.
SATs don't see your beauty, SATs don't know your worth,
SATs don't see the reasons you were put upon this earth.
SATs don't see your magic, how you make others smile,
SATs don't time how quickly you can run a mile.
SATs don't hear your laughter, or see you've come this far,
SATs are just a tiny glimpse of who you really are.
So sitting at your table, with a pencil and your test,
Remember SATs aren't who you are, remember you're the best.
 
Collect for the 4th Sunday of Easter
Almighty God,
whose Son Jesus Christ is the resurrection and the life:
raise us, who trust in him,
from the death of sin to the life of righteousness,
that we may seek those things which are above,
where he reigns with you
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen
 
Thank you for all you are doing in schools at this difficult moment in the school year. God knows it is made so difficult because you care so deeply about the well-being and the future flourishing of every child in your care.
 
Blessings and best wishes for a restful weekend.

Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

29th April 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Unsung Heroes of the Education System
 
There is a group of people who help underpin our education system day in, day out. They are rarely mentioned and get no credit. Yet when the most challenging times arrive, they step up and ensure wheels don’t fall off.
 
You might think I’m referring to support staff. Lunchtime supervisors or teaching assistants or office staff. That would make complete sense. Schools don’t work without these wonderful people either, but today I’m thinking about a different group of people.
 
To work in the education sector requires every wife or husband or partner to understand how that way of working life functions. They have to understand the realities of late night governors’ meetings, of parents’ evenings, of school discos. They have to understand that you won’t be at home when those things are happening, but it is about far more than managing your absence. In schools, we make thousands of decisions every day. We can have hundreds of conversations. Our communication machinery is on overdrive for the whole time we are at work. By the end of the day, this machinery has often overheated and needs to shut down for a bit. Sometimes we need to talk events through in order to process events. Could we have done anything different?
 
On Monday morning we had an OfSTED call for St Edward’s CE Primary in Dorrington. As a DHMAT school, I was onsite for much of the next 48 hours. As is often the case, our brilliant staff worked very late to ensure inspectors saw the school in the best possible light. The executive headteacher’s husband, Chris Lewis. Came into school on Monday and Tuesday evening and brought food for everyone. I think he may have made Kerrie’s lunch for each day too (gold medal standard). These acts of kindness and understanding really got me thinking about how much the education system relies on the understanding, love and patience of spouses and partners. In some households (like mine) both adults work in education. This can help in some ways, as both have a clear understanding of what it is really like. It has its downsides too, as education can easily become the never ending topic of conversation.
 There are so many times when tired teachers and exhausted leaders are propped up by their other half. I certainly have been in every school job I’ve ever had. Many, many times in our 22 years of marriage. I still get support from my parents too. They have to understand how this strange world works when they are suddenly despatched to collect children or let the dog out. The responsibilities which go with looking after other people’s children are huge. We try hard not to compromise our own family lives too much, but we certainly do depend on them in so many different ways to enable us to serve this vocation.

So, I would like to dedicate this bulletin message to thanking all the wives, husbands, partners, parents and any other family members who show understanding and give love and support to all people working in our schools, colleges and nurseries. In an indirect way, you too make a huge difference to the lives of many children and young people. You help us (through pizza and patience) survive inspections and you help us keep going on those crazy days in the asteroid field. We love you and we thank you.
 
Collect for the 2nd Sunday of Easter
Risen Christ,
for whom no door is locked, no entrance barred:
open the doors of our hearts,
that we may seek the good of others
and walk the joyful road of sacrifice and peace,
to the praise of God the Father
Amen.
 
I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful Easter break and have by now come to the full realisation that (unbelievably) we are in the summer term once again. I hope you enjoy a lovely bank holiday weekend with those beloved families.

blessing and best wishes,
 
Andrew

Canon Andrew Teale

8th April 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Love in an Asteroid Field
 
What can I write that will help you today? Would you like me to write about the new government white paper…or the green paper…or climate challenges…or the madness of Russia’s heinous actions in Ukraine? All important. Things we cannot ignore but perhaps those are not for today’s message.
 
Would you like me to express the continued thanks of a grateful diocese for your incredible resilience and highly skilled work in our schools? I have done that many times and it never seems to be enough.
 
Many may not even get enough time to read my writings today and will simply be focussed on ensuring that the term ends well for the children and then head for home as soon as they can. That seems like a great plan to me. You’ve probably had a week like an asteroid field where problems hit you from all directions. Where you don’t see them coming, whichever way you turn. In truth the whole term has been an asteroid field in our schools (once again), but the clearing is now ahead of you. Time for some peace and empty space.
 
As we enter Holy Week, the last week in Lent (or the bit from Palm Sunday until Easter Sunday), there is so much we can write and say about what it all means for us today. So much to say and think theologically. So much we can learn, but I know that school people are a little short on energy, so I thought I’d keep it short today.
 
On Palm Sunday we think about Jesus arriving in Jerusalem on a humble donkey, cheered by the crowds waving their palm leaves. All the time knowing what awaited him as step by step He drew closer to gates of the city.
Humiliation. Ridicule. Torture. Death.
Friends and loved ones looking on. Looking up at him. Pity. Sorrow.

Why did He do it? Why did He continue and not just turn around, head away from Jerusalem and seek safety? He knew what awaited him. He knew what they would do, yet He continued into the very heart of the old city.
 
He did it out of love, of course.
Limitless, unquenchable, abundant, unconquerable, unconditional love.
Love for you and for me.
Love for who you are, as you are.
Love that welcomes you home, no matter what.
Love that lifts you up or props you up or stands you back up.
Love in abundance.
Love that enfolds you.
Love that remains to this day.
 
Our schools are places of abundant love,
Even in the asteroid field of daily life.
Where it gathers and multiplies.
Love which connects and protects.
Love which motivates and inspires.
Love which develops and enables.
Love which forgives and forgives and forgives.
Love which keeps us turning up for work and do the best we can for them.
Love which fuels unending Grace.
Love which affirms we made the right choice as we dedicate our lives to service of children and young people in our nurseries and schools and colleges.
Love which is there for us too, when we begin each new day.
Love which carries us to the last day.
 
Easter Prayer
Lord of all life and power,
who through the mighty resurrection of your Son
overcame the old order of sin and death
to make all things new in him:
grant that we, being dead to sin
and alive to you in Jesus Christ,
may reign with him in glory;
to whom with you and the Holy Spirit
be praise and honour, glory and might,
now and in all eternity.
Amen.

…but I would also like to express the continued thanks of a grateful diocese for your incredible resilience and highly skilled work in our schools this term. You have been a wonderful blessing to the children and families in your community, whether they all know it or not.

Sincere best wishes from me and the education team to you and yours for a Blessed Easter holiday and a well-earned break from the asteroids.

Kind regards,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale

1st April 2022

This week's message from Andrew Teale

Eleven Minutes, Six Seconds.
 In 11 minutes and 6 seconds, Mark Harrington tells the Easter story in a way which is accessible for children of all ages. At the same time, he explains what on earth a chocolate egg has got to do with it all. 

Worship time in school can sometimes be a moment where some staff can get other things done. The children are settled and supervised for a half hour. It might be the only chance in the day to make that phone call or finish that important e-mail or grab a well-deserved coffee. With the staff absence levels still being high and all the cover work being so high, those flexible moments in school are even harder to find and with the best will in the world, not every member of staff will be in worship every day. 

However, for this video worship, if you are in a school and you possibly can, I hope very much that you will be able to sit with the children as they join in with this simple but effective worship session. Our inclusive worship with children has a power all of its own and I think it helps grown-ups and children alike. No one has to pray if they don’t want to but everyone can learn to pray, if they are not sure how to. 

I watched the video by myself this morning. I joined in with the prayers and it made for a wonderful start to my day. A moment of mindfulness to stop, reflect and to feel a little closer to God than would otherwise have been possible. Office 365 can’t do that. 

When we do worship together, as a whole school community…. when we pause together and breathe a sigh of relief, clearing the thoughts of yesterday and tomorrow, grounded in the present moment, it can significantly help our mental wellbeing. The gathering together of all those people doing the same thing seems to act like an amplifier.  It is harder to be still when everyone around you is busy but when everyone stops, it is somehow more comfortable psychologically. 

We manged to get a routine going each Monday morning when I was at St Paul’s. We walked the children the very short distance to church and had whole school worship. 430 children and perhaps 30 staff. Sometimes I would lead, sometimes our vicar or curate or another member of staff. We quickly found that staff valued the experience, just as much as children. The walk, the fresh air, the building of the atmosphere, the music, the prayers, the stillness, the security of a known pattern, the sense of community connection, the Holy Spirit. 

By the way, none of this is for a SIAMs inspection, any more than an MOT is for the the certification you need to get your car insurance. None of it is affected by the latest government announcements or our ever-changing education system. An act of worship (still compulsory each day in every type of school) provides an encounter with God. It is a public act of gathering and at the same time a private spiritual moment of contact. It is about living life in all its fullness.

If you no longer work in a school and you can’t sit with a school community to worship. Don’t worry. The video is for you too. It wasn’t just Mark’s words and images that filled my thoughts this morning, it was the knowledge that across the diocese, in countless schools, thousands of children would be doing the same. They would be coming up with all sorts of answers to Mark’s questions. Just beginning to learn and think for themselves and reflect on important messages and learning the stories we all know so well. I thought of the teachers and support staff who would be sitting (on fairly uncomfortable chairs) around the edges of school halls from Cressage to Whitchurch. They would settle the children into place and, although keeping the radar switched on at all times, might just get a precious moment of worship time for themselves too.
 
The Darkness of the Tomb
Jesus, in the darkness of the tomb,
you were surrounded by love,
by grief and by fear,
as your body was prepared for burial.
Walk with us
May we feel the comfort
of your love for us.
And may we turn outwards
to share that love with others,
with the same generosity and gentle loving kindness
that you showed to all.
Walk with us Jesus,
Amen.
 
Our prayers and best wishes go to headteacher Tim Milne and all at St Mary’s CE Primary Fownhope, who welcomed our friends from OfSTED this week.
 
Blessings and best wishes to everyone in our schools, as well as those who take a keen interest in our schools, for a restful weekend and a happy final week of our Spring term. Our continued thanks for all you are doing in every one of our communities across this diocese.
 
Kind regards,
 
Andrew
Canon Andrew Teale