Gathered Time
Peace School is a community of learning; the residentials are the gathered times of the community.
The summer school is a time of building relationships as much as a time of learning and discussion, and the weekends bring the community back together again to reflect on, learn from, and support one another on our own journeys.
The residentials provide a balance of structured time, socialising/community building time, and the opportunity for personal time if desired.
Food, and the celebration of eating together, is an integral part of Peace School. The residentials include all food. In order to keep costs down to a minimum, and also as an important part of community building, all participants and facilitators play a part in preparing the food and cleaning up after meals! (time is allocated for this so no-one misses any sessions). The food is (as much as possible) organic, locally sourced and fairly traded. The menu varies each day with some days having a focus on simplicity and others on feasting! Any dietary requirements can be catered for, please let us know when booking.
Accommodation is included too, and is in dormitories of two to six people sharing. Rooms are separated into male and female dorms; however we will do our best to accommodate any requests for sharing if made in advance.
The programme for the weekend residentials starts on the Friday night and finishes on the Sunday afternoon (Friday evening to the following Friday morning for the summer school). Timetables for the programme structure on residentials are available here.
Summer School
The Peace School year begins with an introductory summer school that runs for a week in August. The dates for the 2008/9 year are:
1st August – 8th August 2008
The summer school is held at the Beamsley Centre in North Yorkshire, near to Bolton Abbey between Harrogate and Skipton.
Participants
arrive for the summer school on the Friday night to register, settle in
and share a meal together. Programmed activity begins on the Saturday morning
and runs through until the following Friday morning. The days will usually
include eight hours of structured time including discussion, reflection
time, small
group
work and teaching. Evenings are less structured though optional activities
such as extended Q&A sessions, film showings and discussions, or trips
to the pub, are arranged. One afternoon during the week is also designated ‘free-time’ and
a relaxing group activity is arranged for those who wish to take part. Time
is also set aside each day for prayer and worship for those who wish to join
in.
A timetable of the programme for the summer school is on the following page.
Directions and details of the venue are available on the Beamsley Centre website. Lifts will be available from Harrogate and Skipton railway/bus stations to the centre.
Weekend Residentials
The weekend residentials begin on the Friday evening with the first session taking place after dinner. The Saturday runs the same as a day during the Summer School, and the weekend finishes mid-afternoon on the Sunday.
The dates for 2008/9 are:
17th - 19th October 2008
23rd - 25th January 2009
17th - 19th April 2009
19th - 21st June 2009
Weekend residentials take place at the Chellington Centre in Bedfordshire, details and directions are available from the centre’s website. Lifts will be available from Bedford rail and bus stations.
A timetable of the programme for the weekend residentials is available on the following pages, though these programmes will be open to change as the community gather during the summer school and discuss areas to focus on during the weekends.
