In Depth:  Vic Hawkins

The traditional ‘Sunday School’ provides a safe environment for children of any age to learn from the Bible in an age-relevant way while their parents are taught in church.

But what happens when a child is unable to engage with their teaching because they have Special Educational Needs? How does the Sunday School maintain faithful Bible teaching which is inclusive and accessible for all? Sometimes this means supporting children in their classes, and differentiating teaching material.

So the students are returning. It’s late September/early October and they’re taking over the city: the supermarket’s run out of value baked beans and the pubs and clubs are full to bursting.

Some students are at university for the first time, nervously arranged in groups discussing for the 7,000th time what course they’re doing and where they’ve come from. Follow that with a game of who had the most exciting gap year or the best A levels. I have to say, the first day at university almost two years ago was probably the scariest of my life. Yes, for some it’s the most exciting — but for the majority it’s frightening. I felt physically sick for hours on arrival. However, as a Christian, I knew one of the first things I wanted to do was settle in to a good church as soon as possible. I left a loving church I’d attended all my life, came to Sheffield University, and wanted to get stuck in. I arrived in halls on the Saturday and started looking for a church the next day.