Prayer changes things!

Many of you will have heard Highgrove Church being mentioned at Woodlands (and you'll hear some more at the ACM on Tuesday). I go there with Ruth on a Sunday mornings. Its local catchment Secondary School, Portway, has just come out of special measures. Thought I'd share what was in the news this week with you as an encouragement to all who meet to pray in the workplace:

2006 has brought about some exciting changes and success for Portway School. Ofsted have said that Portway no longer requires Special Measures and have been given a Notice of Improvement. Ofsted 'have confidence in the schools capacity to make lasting improvements'. Mr Hebden (the new Head) has been said to have 'brought fresh hope to the school and has focused, with great success, on the most urgent issues'. The report mentions significant improvements in behaviour and the management of challenging behaviour by staff.

In recent days, the turnaround at Portway has been in the local press. In the article, Mr Hebden acknowledges the impact of the Pray for Portway events:

...And he was astonished to find dozens of people from local churches, who meet regularly in the school, were praying for it to overcome some of its difficulties. "I'm not a religious person myself, but that was amazing," he said.