We often spend a lot of time exploring, talking about and planning our What … our programmes, structures and environment … but how often do we think about what holds that up – our values and the approach that we bring?

The thing is, of course, the What is super important. We need helpful tools and resources that support us in journeying well with every child in our groups. But, if we want to create space for flourishing, it is vital that we also know our Why and articulate our How.

And so, the Flourish model is a tool to help teams explore just that!

It’s called the Flourish model because, not only is it about supporting flourishing, it also uses the analogy of a flower.

The flower head is our what – our practice – and explores the programmes and tools that we use as we reflect on structures and environment that we create.

It is important to remember that practice is rooted in the Why – understanding our values – as we discern our passion and purpose.

And, a super important but often overlooked part of our flower is that practice is supported and held up by the stem – our How – as we define our approach and think about how we journey and engage with the children in our groups.

Know your Why.

• In Session 1, we’ll use the Wonderful Me! ‘My Values’ resource to help us begin to explore the Values that we hold as individuals and within our teams as we reflect on our Passion and Purpose.
• In Session 2 we will build on our Values work as we begin to shape our Why. We’ll reflect on some of the needs within our communities, as we think about Trauma and the impact of the Pandemic – and we’ll consider the role that the church can play in building safe spaces within our communities that create opportunity for healing.

Articulate your How.

• In Session 3 we will begin to reflect on the importance of defining our approach as we explore PACE –  a useful tool to help us begin to talk about our How within our teams.
• In Session 4 we consider the importance of self care in healthy children’s and youth ministry as we reflect on how caring for ourselves enables us to bring a safe and calm approach as we journey with struggling children.

Reflect on your What

• In Session 5 we will begin to explore the beautiful world of sensory processing as we consider how we can both soothe and engage the senses through our programmes and spaces.
• In Session 6 we will finish on a very practical note as we unpack the Wonderful Me! STARS of safety tool and explore how we can enable every child to feel safe in our space.

An important part of healthy, relational, person-centred children’s and youth ministry is reflective practice – that, as practitioners, we are able to prayerfully reflect on what we are doing – recognise what’s not working so well and what is working well – and allow those reflections to shape and inform our practice moving forward.

The great philosopher, psychologist and educational reformer, John Dewey, once said,

‘We do not learn from experience, we learn from reflecting on experience.’

So, in each session we’ll be using a different reflective practice tool – some that are helpful for individual reflection, some that are helpful tools that we can use in our teams as we journey together.

The course includes six 2 hour sessions which are usually delivered online, one evening a week for 6 weeks.

Training materials include a hard copy of the Reflective Practice journal which accompanies the course, along with a link to the My Values resource and a My Values card deck tool.

While the course will usually cost £85 – funded places are available for this first cohort which are available for just £5 to cover P&P of resources.

If you would like further information – Get in touch!