Two, one day conferences led by Lucinda Neall
for clergy, youth & children’s workers, and anyone concerned to engage with boys
Wednesday 18th November 2009 in Luton Saturday 21st November 2009 in St Albans Cost just £10 - inc lunch
I am often asked how to help engage boys more effectively in the Sunday group, youth group or some other aspect of church life. At all ages we seem to struggle to bring the best out in boys and often many of those working with children and young people in our churches are women. This workshop will help you to think through how you engage with boys, not at the cost of the girls, but so that everyone can be helped to reach towards their God given potential. This is an exciting opportunity and we have invited Lucinda Neall to lead 2 days for us. Lucinda has had a varied career but her work in the education sector, her passion for effective communication, and the birth of her son, prompted her to analyse what makes boys tick and how to motivate them. To date she has written t wo books on the subject, Bringing the Best out in Boys - Communication Strategies for Teachers and About Our Boys. The books show that respect and communication make a difference and, by addressing issues earlier rather than later, we can all assist boys to grow up into caring confident men. Encouraged by the success of her books for teachers and parents, Lucinda’s thoughts turned to the community, and she has set up the ‘Creating Safer Communities for All’ project, where adults are encouraged to see the best in young people and engage positively with them. The aim is to foster mutual respect bet ween generations, set up facilities for young people, and promote a sense of well-being and security in the neighbourhood. We would hope that parishes would pay for those attending. Limited places so early booking advised. Cheques payable to: St Albans DBF
For booking & information contact Julie Reeves: Diocesan Youth Service, Holywell Lodge, 41 Holywell Hill, St Albans, Herts, AL1 1HE. T: 01727 818160 E: youthoffice@stalbans.anglican.org W: www.voicemail.org.uk
Hi everyone! I don’t know about you but the days seem to be pounding by at an ever increasing rate. We seem to be inundated with lots of good things that are going on and I would encourage you to find out what is going on in your area. As I write the news has just been featuring evidence that girls achieve at university better than boys. Boys are a concern for a growing number of people; for many they are deemed as a problem, which is part of the issue! We are running two, one Dave’s Page day workshops that focus on bringing the best out in boys, led by JUNe 2009 Lucinda Neall. I heard Lucinda in a radio interview, bought her books and believe that she can help us think about how we might better engage with boys of all ages. I am often asked about discipline and boys, keeping the attention of boys – here, ladies and gentlemen is a major contribution towards answering that. Have a look overleaf and find out about the days - good value. I am excited by the work that the 2.67 project is doing. Many people know Mike Palin and he is doing a great job of networking youth & children’s workers in and around St Albans. We are planning a day conference together for children’s, youth and schools workers on Saturday 12th September, another worthwhile training event. Details elsewhere in the mailing. I mentioned in our last mailing that I was heading to Sweden to visit our link diocese Linkoping. A small group of 6 of us had a great time and met lots of youth workers who are keen to build relationships with parishes in St Albans Diocese. In fact whilst we were away 70 young people visited St Albans Abbey and in May 15 visited Barton-le-Cley, both as part of their confirmation preparation camp. You may remember that another small group visited Paderborn, a link diocese in Germany during December and it looks as if a small group will be visiting St Mary’s, Watford during August. It is great to see young people meeting and sharing with each other. If you’d like to be involved in any way please get in touch with me and we can include you in the dialogue. Earlier this year Darren Collins, Chaplain for Young People at the Abbey asked if I’d like to get involved in organising an overnight event which could be opened up across the diocese. The result, we have a ‘lock-in’ at the Abbey overnight from Friday 30th to Saturday 31st October. Flier is in the mailing and this will be a great evening for young people aged 13+, leaders are free, and that includes breakfast. You will see that we are experimenting with a transport option if that is helpful. This came up a number of times when I visited deaneries for Let’s talk Youth. All we can do is try these things and see if it helps you engage with some of the things going on. More than Sundays – is a report looking at the contribution of the Church to the Children’s Workforce in England. That is government speak but tells a positive story about the engagement of churches with children and young people around the country. It provides some examples of what churches are doing and as it was researched by the Family Matters Institute in Moggerhanger I will be meeting with them to learn more about how we can use this around the diocese. The report can be downloaded from the internet: http://www.familymatters.org.uk/doc/More_than_Sundays.pdf Have a great summer - and remember that Julie & I are here to support you - so get in touch. Yours Holywell Lodge, 41 Holywell Hill, St Albans, Herts, AL1 1HE. E: youthoffice@stalbans.anglican.org W: www.voicemail.org.uk
T: 01727 818160