Thursday 4th February 2016, 4-6pm; Notre Dame RC Girls’ School, SEl 6EX (close to Waterloo, Lambeth North and Elephant and Castle stations)

Teachers and chaplains from Catholic schools are invited to attend a free professional development session based around the new SMSC resource ‘Fly kites not drones’.

The session will include:

• demonstration use of the materials by groups involved in their development (including ‘Quaker Peace and Social Action’ and ‘Voices for Creative Non-Violence UK’)
• young people from the school’s ‘Justice and Peace’ group sharing their learning and action about this issue
• copies of the resources for all participants
• a moment of reflection
• time for networking and sharing (over food!) about ‘justice and peace’ in schools

To register please email education@columbans.co.uk before the 20th of January.

More about Fly Kites Not Drones

On Sunday 17 January 2016 the church in England and Wales celebrates Peace Sunday. Around this time Pax Christi encourages schools to pray in a special way for peace. For Peace Sunday 2016 Pope Francis encourages us to reflect on the theme Overcome Indifference and Win Peace.

This assembly recalls the actions of a group of women who refused to be indifferent to the suffering of their brothers and sisters around the world.

Download the Assembly Script  (pdf)
Download the Assembly Slideshow (pptx)

Other Resources
Film:  SEEDS OF HOPE – Women Disarming for Life and Justice
Film: Ploughshares: How to destroy a warplane with a Hammer
Peace People – The Seeds of Hope Ploughshares (pdf)

Other prayer and liturgy resources for Peace Sunday 2016 are available here

Pope Francis’s message for World Peace Day 2016 is available here

We have just sent out the November edition of our Peace Education Newsletter to our subscribers. The newsletter – which includes details of three new education resources – can be read here.

In the newsletter you will find news of a brand new lesson about the work of Pax Christi, an assembly from the Peace Education Network for Remembrance Day, and details of the excellent Fly Kites Not Drones pack.

Read the Newsletter

 

 

Subscribe to our monthly peace education newsletter and ensure you get all the latest Pax Christi peace education news directly to your inbox.

Fly Kites Not Drones is a creative non-violence project for young people. At its heart is the true story of Aymel, a boy who never really knew his father because of a drone strike. Teachers and anyone who works with young people can find resources here to learn about human rights and the effect of armed drones in the skies above us.

A kite in the sky is a beautiful image wherever you are.  Whether pieced together from bin bags and string, or manufactured with high-tech fibres, when we see a kite fly, part of us flies with it. The lives of the people holding the string can be very different, however. In Afghanistan, the perfect blue skies children would use to fly kites are feared because they are also perfect for armed drones.

Fly Kites Not Drones is a joint project of Pax Christi, Voices for Creative Nonviolence UK, Quaker Peace and Social Witness, and Drone Campaign Network.

The latest edition of Justpeace – our members’ newsletter – has been sent out to members and supporters today. This edition is focussed on peace education and includes articles by Ben Griffin of Veterans for Peace UK, and John Harding, Head of RE at St Bede’s school in Lytham.

The newsletter also includes a word of thanks to Chris Gabbett, principal of Trinity Catholic School in Leamington Spa, who walked the The Camino Inglés during the summer to raise money for the Christian Peace Education fund. There is still time to support Chris’s fundraising efforts.

A particular concern of this newsletter is how members can support, encourage, and promote Pax Christi’s peace education work in schools and with young people. A leaflet enclosed with the mailing showcases Pax Christi’s work with schools and explores how members can champion this work in their local area.