The start of a new school year

The FAST Team are really excited about the start of the new school year. We already have a number of assemblies and lessons booked this term.

Welcome to FAST Farnham Blog

Who are we?

Established over 10 years ago, Farnham Assemblies and Schools Team (FAST) is a group of people from a range of local churches who aim to support local primary schools with Christian education.

Currently the team is made up of part time salaried employees who develop appropriate lessons and assemblies and liaise with the schools, supported by a group of about 20 volunteers who help to deliver the lessons and assemblies to the children. All staff and volunteers are CRB checked.

Initially the team was fully funded by the Farnham Christian Community Trust but now the Trust is looking to reduce its input to established projects so that it can concentrate on start

What do we do?

We work in primary, infant and junior schools (children aged 4-11) in the Farnham area. Currently 16 schools are visited by the team on a regular basis, some of these are church schools others are not.

Assemblies: Bible based or theme based with a Christian dimension. For example Christmas, Easter, Pentecost, friendship etc. Assemblies can take the form of drama, puppets or power point.

Lessons:  These adhere and reflect RE curriculum followed by the individual school and are age appropriate. The volunteers who deliver the lessons are fully briefed but are not necessarily qualified teachers themselves.

Church Trails: The team regularly supports schools by accompanying children on a church trail around the town visiting different places of worship to help them to compare and contrast the churches.

Prayer Weeks: Several local schools have held prayer weeks when all children have the opportunity to visit a dedicated prayer area and spend time considering what is meant by prayer. This activity is principally run by another local charity but FAST supports this by supplying lessons and craft activities to underpin the message of the week and people to be with the children in the prayer area.

Crafts: Many lessons include a craft element. This allows children to chat about the issues raised and take something home to reinforce the lesson and, hopefully, lead to further conversations. The team supply the crafts and help in the classroom to support the children as they work.