Easter CrackedOver the last couple of weeks we have been delivering our Easter Cracked workshop to over 300 year 6 students in 8 different...

Easter Cracked

Over the last couple of weeks we have been delivering our Easter Cracked workshop to over 300 year 6 students in 8 different junior schools. One of the real strengths of the workshops are all the volunteers that come and help from many different churches across Hitchin. We thought it would be interesting for you to hear what these workshops were like from their point of view and why they get involved. So, over to Bekkie from HCC to tell you more:

For the last 2 weeks of March I have been helping Phase to run their Easter Cracked program. This is a Year 6 presentation where we communicate the message of Easter. The students are introduced to Easter through symbols and how much of the gospels actually cover the period from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday. It was great fun to watch the students see how close they could get to the actual answer! The Easter story is discussed in small groups, each of those groups feedback what they have learnt to the others leaving each student with an account of the events.

We then have an Easter Egg hunt and I am always keen to see how many students are already leaving their seats before you have finished telling them the rules. In fact I’ve never seen students move so fast! We then have our own fun when the team tries to remember where we hid the eggs so that everyone gets one!

Four of the eggs have clues attached to them and this allows us to look into the Easter miracle in more detail and the evidence we have for the resurrection. The children then get to ask us any questions about Easter or the Easter story. This year we had a few questions about where Easter and the Easter bunny originated from. Luckily my colleague Mary had done her research and was able to answer this one.

The workshops are fun and interactive, they allow children to explore a subject that they may have not known anything about previously. For some it allows clarification of a subject they have been brought up to know. Either way the whole process is just so rewarding. The children look forward to us coming in and always remember us from previous times. I enjoy thoroughly the work that Phase allows me to be involved in. I feel as though we are playing a vital part in a critical year for the children. Easter Cracked is just one of the workshops Phase offers, they also help the students prepare for the transition to year 7. Having a daughter in year 6 myself I have been able to see the benefits of the support that Phase offers to students. I couldn’t be more grateful to be involved with such a worth while project.

If you would like to know more about the year 6 programme, how you could help or even get involved, then contact Paul Harris.