After a year of intensely difficult pandemic restrictions, Churches across England and Wales are planning to celebrate Education Sunday on the 12 September. Timed to begin just after the start of the school year, the yearly ecumenical event involves Christian Churches of all denominations saying prayers for pupils and teachers and has been observed for over a century.
Churches Together in England said: “The theme for Education Sunday this year is ‘A word in season’, taken from Isaiah 50:4. We find these words in the midst of the Servant Songs where Isaiah was writing prophetically about the ministry of the coming Messiah, explaining that the One who was to come would be an anointed teacher, who would be able to speak “a word in season”, the right word at the right time, to the weary.
“But Isaiah 50:4 is a particularly interesting verse as it speaks of being awakened to hear as well as being equipped to teach. After the challenges of the last eighteen months, it is clear that those who teach are as much in need of a refreshing word as those who learn from them. This is what makes Education Sunday this year so important. There are education issues all around us that cannot be ignored, from both the perspective of the teacher and the student.”
The Catholic Bishop’s Conference of England and Wales said: “Education Sunday gives us the opportunity to give thanks to God for all who teach and all who study, for all who continually have to find the right words and deliver them with enthusiasm and graciousness.
“This is all the more poignant as we attempt to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. Teachers, pupils and leaders in our schools have suffered 18 months of disruption and uncertainty. For the second year in a row, GCSE and A Level students have been Centre Assessed or Teacher Assessed – a challenging situation for both teachers and pupils.”
“On 12 September, we pray that God will fortify those working to make our schools places of learning and sanctuary – not just teachers and leaders but all the support staff whose tireless work sometimes goes unnoticed. We pray for all our primary and secondary pupils – particularly school leavers who have had such a difficult journey in recent times – not to mention students in higher education and vocational training.”
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