This is a x-post from the blog by participants at the FSSE Summer School taking place this week. All 70 of the participants are aged 11-14.

Expectations were high as everyone piled into the assembly hall to be quizzed about Quakers! Teams were formed, and ‘interesting’ team names were thought up, such as Nobbly Bobbly, Burnt Sausages and Wow, as everyone prepared themselves for an evening of fun and entertainment. There were many different rounds, ranging from the Olympics to staff gossip. Soon everyone had got competitive and the competition was on to win the first prize. At first, it seemed as if certain teams were sure to come in first, second, and third places, but towards the end of the evening the scoreboards started to shift as teams unexpectedly started scoring high points. The race was on to win the trophy. Tension was high as the final scores were read out, with no-one certain about who was going to win. Trophies were awarded to the exited winning teams, with a first place prize, and a joint second. Although every team wanted to win, everyone had got something out of the evening, and learnt something new, such as which member of the staff used to be a chorus girl, and what the difference is between a frog and a toad.

Lila says ‘It was like “Yeah! Woo hoo!” ‘.

‘I found it really fun, and I got really stuck in and it was fun to learn things with my friends.’ says Amanda.

Lydia commented ‘It was really fun!’

‘It was really fun and Samantha was awesome!’ says Bethan.

Overall, it was a fun and lively evening for everyone, and the Quakers had definitely been Quizzed!

Summer School is a week long Quaker gathering for young people aged 11 to 14. It is an exciting and busy week packed with activities and a chance to meet new people and have fun. Summer School is a chance for young people to make friends and be together in a Quaker environment.

Days begin with meeting for worship and end with an epilogue, in between they are filled with plenty of activity.

There are a variety of fun, creative and active workshops, including music, art and craft and sports as well as swimming. There is also an afternoon out and a day trip to Cambridge; lively evening entertainments, discos and a bonfire.

We explore the theme with visiting speakers and through simulations, workshops and small group discussions. Everyone is part of a small supportive base group which meets each day to get to know each other, play games and talk about the theme (and many other things).

At the end of the week the young people at Summer School draft an ‘epistle’. This is an informal report that aims to capture the spirit of the week and to describe what happened. You can see previous epistles here.