And Archie came too . . . . .

Setting up the displays for the Celebration Evening gave us a chance to look back and reflect on all we have enjoyed this past academic year. Maggie, Joan, and I have bonded so well together and we have great fun planning exciting assemblies and lessons. We have appreciated so much working alongside so many people and have gained many friends.

Our assembly display table had Archie, our puppet, dressed as a Wise Man. Archie is a great favourite with the children and we are reprimanded if we happen to forget him! Alongside Archie were several props we use at assemblies and also a file called "God at the Centre" which is the new collective worship guidelines for all church schools in Surrey.

We have had the chance to participate and lead a great variety of lessons and we displayed a few of the crafts and poetry the children have produced. Again we must thank everyone who has helped - including husbands who have carved wooden mounts for the children's tiled crosses and cut up turfs for Easter gardens!

Puppets were displayed on another table as we are delighted to be able to include Carol Harnett and her puppet shows into school lessons and assemblies. Carol has hand made all the puppets and is developing stories with them around bible characters.

Wall hanging made by pupils from Potters Gate School

You may have seen the beautiful felt wall hanging at the entrance to our display area. This artwork stands in its own right as a stunning piece of group work by the Year 5 pupils at Potters Gate C of E Primary School. However there were weeks of preparation by the school, Jane Llewellyn the feltmaker and ourselves to ensure the success of the project and all it involved. Joan had produced a beautiful photo album of the project from beginning to completion which was on display. It was the first time we had taken a group of pupils to see the Stations of the Cross at Wintershall and found it to be a very moving experience. Following the Celebration evening, a few other schools have asked us to organise a similar visit.

We really enjoyed putting on an assembly called "This is the Star" which is one of our Christmas favourites. Great fun was had by the audience and especially by the participants as they donned costumes and animal masks and joined in enthusiastically.

Silk painting Harvest pictures - a beautiful addition to FAST lessons

So, thank you to everyone who has been involved in any way in FAST this last year. Thank you to allthe schools who welcome us in so warmly and the very positive feedback we receive. We are constantly developing new ideas - one of which has been silk painting pictures of fruit for Harvest which we will offer to other schools next year.

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Pool and X-Box at the Celebration Evening

The youth team had a great time at the Celebration Evening, with lots of laughing, chatting, seeing old friends and making new acquaintances. Both Nicola and Chris felt the evening had gone really well, Nicola commented that she felt it was, "relaxed and well organised", and Chris thought the evening, "felt fresh and vibrant, with a new life about it".

The youth team had worked all morning setting up their area - even battling with the old stone church floor to avoid a wonky pool table - eventually succeeding! All credit to Gemma and Chris for getting the table there in the first place! It wasn't just pool that could be played in the evening but table tennis too - on the X-Box and the Battle of the Bands video was being played on loop. Young people had been invited from the different youthwork areas that the team work with and Gemma commented : "There was a real buzz about the evening, it was especially exciting to have the young people we work with helping us with the evening".

It was good to welcome Steve Delves and Rachel Deadman to their first CE and Rachel with her Dance Movement display seemed to be permanently busy! Talking to Steve after the evening he said, "It's a real encouragement to celebrate the work some of the Christian community are doing across the town. It was also a fantastic opportunity to network with others and share great stories of how God is working in Famham". I personally loved seeing everyone come together and enjoyed a quick wander around the church looking at the other teams' stands and displays. Let's praise and thank God for His goodness to us over the past year and wait in expectancy to the next!