Welcome to another new and exciting term! I’ve got so much to share with you, but I’ll try to make it brief.
Firstly, you may be aware that the Federal Government commissioned an independent study into the efficacy of school chaplaincy in the lead up to this year’s Federal Budget announcement.
The Kantar Public report highlighted what we in the chaplaincy world have known all along – school chaplaincy is overwhelmingly endorsed by principals, parents and students themselves.
- 91 per cent of parents surveyed said they supported school chaplaincy services and activities in schools
- 49 per cent of students were said to frequently seek or initiate contact with the chaplain if help was needed
- Students said the main advantages of having a chaplain were:
- They are an accessible figure to talk to and confide in,
- They are someone who provides help and support, and
- They are someone to encourage them in their faith.
- The leading complaint that principals had about school chaplaincy was the lack of hours their chaplain was able to serve; the lack of available chaplains, and a lack of funds to support the needs of the school.
This is all very positive, but it also highlights the vital need to keep raising funds. Thank you for all you’re doing in that space. For the full Kantar report click here.
Federal Education Minister, Simon Birmingham, said he had more than 1000 P&Cs write to him, asking him to extend chaplaincy funding.
So again, I want to thank you for all you’ve done to highlight how vital chaplaincy is for our school communities.
The new 2018 chaplaincy snapshot is now available. If you haven’t grabbed yours yet, you can download it here. Among other things, the snapshot dispels the myth around chaplains being unqualified. The snapshot highlights the fact that not only are your chaplains qualified, 86 per cent of them exceed the minimum qualifications.
I want to say a special thank you to all LCC chairs and principals who came along to our Term 2 forums. It was wonderful to meet you all and to hear so much positive feedback about the role your chaplains are playing in your schools.
As you know, in week three of this term, your chaplains will be away for our annual staff conference, where they will participate in some really valuable professional development.
We’ve already had more than 300 registrations for our Anxiety and School Refusal Workshop, which will be run by Transitional Phase and Support Services expert, Emily Rotta.
Other workshops will focus on cross-cultural training, working with Indigenous students and community groups, and supporting student leaders to reach their potential, plus much more.
Please note that the Department of Education will be contacting school principals later in Term 3, advising them of the steps they’ll need to take to reapply for their chaplaincy funding. We expect this to be a simple, easy process.
We certainly encourage all principals to reapply to ensure your chaplaincy service continues.
The new round of funding for school chaplaincy, beginning in 2019, is linked with the fight against bullying – in particular cyber bullying.
Peter James has been in touch with the e-Safety Commissioner and we now have access to their training resources. The Commissioner is delighted that 2400 chaplains around the nation will now be using the e-Safety Commission’s resources, which encourage parents and students to be safe online.
There’s a wonderful free resource called i-Parent. If you go onto the e-safety site they have a short questionnaire that parents can run through around their child’s digital habits. As they answer each question, they are provided with the latest data and tips for helping parents.
Chaplains, with principal permission, will also be letting staff know about great resources like young e-Safe, which is a set of lessons that can be used in an interactive way in a classroom to upskill students in years 5-9 on safe ways to be online without being bullied.
Finally, I just want to draw your attention to the new principal brochure pack and LCC Guidelines, which you can access here.
Thank you once again for the amazing job you all do in supporting your chaplains. I am constantly blown away by how much you invest into making chaplaincy the success it is in our school communities.
Thank you and have a great term!
Best wishes,
Jenni Dobbin