Delabole Slate May 2022

A Methodist Minister’s View
The Ukrainian situation is the main item in our television news bulletins and newspapers at the present time and will be
for the coming months as the situation unfolds. Amongst all the news stories of destruction, devastation and death
however there are good stories of the ways in which people are responding to the crisis through helping with the refugee
situation on the front line as they are in Poland and Moldova for instance. Also impressive has been the response to
the appeals for funds through such organisations as the Disasters Emergency Committee and the offers of
accommodation for those who have left the war-torn country.
You may have noticed that Royal Mail are now franking our letters reminding us of the on-going appeal for funding. All
that most of us can do is to continue with our giving and our prayers for the people of Ukraine.
I have a concern that the emphasis on Ukraine may have a serious impact on the appeals for funds of other organisations.
One Week in the month of May is used by Christian Aid for its major funding appeal and this year Christian Aid Week
starts on Sunday, 15th May. Of course, Christian Aid is very much involved with the Ukraine situation but also has an
on-going programme of work in many parts of the World through the numerous projects which it supports, enabling
communities to develop by the provision of basic facilities and education programmes. Imagine living in a village without
running water available or having to make the most of a small parcel of land to produce food for the family with very
basic tools. Such things are the realities of life, still, for many people in our 21st Century World. For some these realities
are compounded by the impact of climate change. Many of the projects supported by Christian Aid and other
development agencies need funding over an extended period of time to realise their goals and any loss of funding has
consequences for those who live in desperate situations which we would find difficult to tolerate.
I am also conscious that we have organisations in this county and country which need on-going funding such as our Air
Ambulance and the Cornish Hospices. All of this faces us as we wonder what the future holds for us with increasing
energy and food costs. I can only ask you to think on these things and respond as you are able.
Every blessing,
Bryan Ede
Deadline for June
is
10th May
Delabole School
What does it actually mean to have an Enquiry curriculum?
We see ourselves fundamentally as guardians of childhood and our aim at Delabole school is to ‘unlock’ the natural
dispositions for learning that children possess and their amazing capacity to live beautifully in the present moment. Their
curiosity, sense of wonder and their spirit of adventure are the catalysts for our curriculum, and we teach them that the
most important element of learning is not always knowing the answer, but actually asking the questions.
And so, no matter what their starting points, from the moment children enter our school, we invite them to connect with
the world by looking closely – very closely – and by wondering and questioning. They learn about themselves first through
the experiences and the relationships that are the closest to them, and then gradually, like growth rings on a tree, we
lay down knowledge each year through increasingly complex encounters with the world, so that by the time they leave
us in Year 6, they have developed a world view and care enough to want to make a difference.
We cannot know at the age of 7 or 10 what a child will become and how their life journey will develop, but we do know
that there are no limits to the knowledge they can accumulate along the way; knowledge that could be the beginning of
becoming a Scientist, an Artist, an Author, a Linguist. Our core responsibility is to plant the seeds of that knowledge so
that children learn through ‘Being’ any of these things, moment by moment, in the present.
This term, if your Reception child returns home to tell you about Luke Howard - ‘The Namer of Clouds’ - they are exploring
‘Being a Meteorologist’. Year 2 and 3 children may talk to you about Leonardo Da Vinci because they are ‘Being’
Scientists, Artists and Inventors as well as Historians. Year 4 and 5 children are following the majestic journey of a river
whilst ‘Being’ Geographers and Year 5 and 6 children will talk to you about Isambard Kingdom Brunel because they are
‘Being’ Historians. Each and every one of them are learning about great visionaries under our umbrella value of
‘Aspiration’, because our future depends on young people who can see the world differently and navigate a way through
all the challenges we anticipate. We want them to ask the biggest questions of our time and know no limitations to the
possibilities they can bring.