One Giant Leap for... Step

When man first landed on the moon, it was considered a giant leap for mankind. Last week, I appropriately saw the moon exhibition at the cathedral in a gap between two historic lessons for Step.

There are ‘firsts’ at Step fairly often. It may be the first time we deliver a course at a particular school, ran a Step Day or when we launch a new lunchtime club, and each time we like to celebrate.

Last week, we had another momentous ‘first’ as I taught our first ever lessons at St Albans School. Over the last couple of years, I’ve made a small connection with the school through a teacher I knew from her previous school. I accepted her request for us to help her with their annual collection for Verso Care and arranged a trip for some of the boys to visit and volunteer at the church.

As we have expanded our team, St Albans School was on our radar to develop our work further. And I had the privilege of taking on leading this new adventure for Step. After being put in touch with the Head of RE, a phone call on the first day of this academic year resulted in a number of bookings - the first ones being a series of Who is Jesus lessons with their Year 7s last week. We delved into whether Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God and the Messiah were true or not. The boys were enthusiastically asking questions, which meant we didn’t always get through the material, but the discussions were worth their weight in gold and I think they warmed to the nature of a Step lesson.

The boys were offered Good News for Everyone Bibles and although some returned them, which is to be expected, many took them and some even wanted extra ones for their siblings.

The teachers seemed positive about their first experience of Step and it felt like the start of a great relationship.

Geoff