Scramblers and Climbers

Broadmayne and West Knighton Sunday School. Sunday School! What does the name conjure up? Being bored? Irrelevant? Dry? Dull? That would not describe the Broadmayne and West Knighton Sunday School; actually called Scramblers and Climbers as we are affiliated to CPAS – Church Pastoral Aid Society.

We have been up and running since 1983. The average number of children on the books at that time and now is between twenty and thirty, so the membership has been constant. It is really good to know that a steady stream of young people are starting their lives with a basic knowledge of the Christian faith, literally built on the Rock of Christ, the best foundation for life there is. We use the Scripture Union teaching materials which have a balanced formula of activities, quiet and noisy, meditative and active, drama, mime, games, arts and crafts. All lessons are based on the Bible, but are applied to real life now, at a level suitable to the child’s age. Scramblers are three to five years, and Climbers six to seven years. We follow the same Bible story or theme, but at the appropriate level for their age and understanding. Our meetings take place in the church hall between 11 am and noon on the first and second Sundays of the month during the term time.

A family service is held at Broadmayne on the third Sunday and at West Knighton on the fourth Sunday. A typical Sunday morning starts with an act of worship. We sing a praise song usually with actions and sometimes using the percussion instruments. Unfortunately, at present we have no pianist so we sing along to tapes which works quite well. A child is chosen to bring in the offering box and we offer it to God with a prayer. This box is in the shape of a wooden house and it sits on a chair in the lobby. The children post their money down the chimney as they arrive! Each year we open the box and send the contents to a Christian charity. Next follows the birthday ritual. Anyone with a birthday that month comes out to the front. We have a cake tin that looks like a cake, the appropriate number of candles are lit around the tin and we all sing our version of ‘Happy Birthday’, which goes as follows:–“A happy birthday to you (twice), may you know Jesus near every day of the year, A happy birthday to you (twice), and the best one you’ve ever had.” The candles are blown out, everyone claps and the child chooses a sticker to wear. We also give a birthday card. We have another song and then prayer time. The leader will usually say a prayer, phrase by phrase with the children following, so that it becomes their prayer too. We try and make the subject for prayer topical and relevant to them. We always finish with everyone saying the Lord’s Prayer together. We are trying to make prayer natural, uninhibited and real. At this point Climbers and Scramblers split up into their two groups for their own activities. The hall is separated by dividing doors so we cannot see each other, which is great, but they are not exactly sound proof! Keeping the noise levels within bounds is sometimes a problem! There is often a lead-in activity to introduce the theme; then the Bible story which we tell in a variety of ways, acting, using puppets, mime, straight story telling. Games, arts and crafts follow to back up the truths being taught and applied to the real world of the children’s lives. The parents come at 12 noon to collect their offspring who are usually deeply engrossed in finishing some work of art.

During the year, as well as the regular Sunday morning meetings, we have four highlights to prepare and look forward to. The first is the Nativity Play at the Family Service the Sunday before Christmas. Every year we wonder what on earth we can do to make the Christmas Story fresh and meaningful to all present, and each year the miracle happens, and indeed the wonder of God becoming man in the baby Jesus does become real. ‘The Grumpy Shepherd’, ‘Jesus’ Christmas party’, ‘That’s a surprise’ and ‘The Star who couldn’t Twinkle’, are the titles of the past four years. The next highlight is our annual New Year Party held in the Church hall about mid-January just when everything begins to feel rather flat and dull. It’s a regular children’s party with balloons, paper hats, music, games such as pass the parcel and Simon Says, plus a nice tea with jelly and cakes. Everyone seems to enjoy it. The Mothering Sunday Service is rather special, it always seems to be held in St Peter’s, West Knighton, and is so popular that the gallery is full too of happy families. The children usually sing some of their praise songs and sometimes we have a word search, but the best bit is of course the children collecting a posy of fresh spring flowers from the chancel and giving them to their mothers. The flowers are given by generous people in Broadmayne and West Knighton from their gardens. The final highlight of the year is the summer picnic, usually held at the beginning of the summer holidays. It’s a family occasion; mums and dads, grandparents, the Explorers come along too and even babies and toddlers as well as friends. For the past few years we have been down to Castle Cove in Weymouth and have had a really wonderful time. This year there was a competition to dig the biggest hole in the sand; it ended with the quickest time to fill it in! So what do you say? Is Sunday School dull, boring and irrelevant? I’ll leave you to make up your own mind. Who are the present leaders? Mrs Carol Wightman heads the Scramblers with junior leader Angela Milree to help her. Miss Gillian Pratt leads Climbers with Susanna Milree ably assisting her. Mrs Pat Cozens has been coming along for the past term to see if she would like to join us. We are always pleased to have parents stay to see what goes on.

Gillian Pratt, July 1999

St. Martin's Church, Broadmayne
St Martin's Circle
Church Flower Guild
Explorers
Pathfinders