Chaplaincy Contracts
Following the Department of Education’s exciting announcement that chaplaincy funding will be extended for another five years, albeit under a new name, the National Student Wellbeing Program (NSWP), we have now renewed all SU Australia chaplaincy contracts. Your chaplains should have already received their contract extension letter to continue their employment. However, if you have any questions about this, please email the team at support@su.org.au.
Department of Education News
As you will be aware, there have been ongoing conversations around chaplaincy’s future in our schools, and recent news from the Department of Education states that schools have now been given the choice to decide what kind of support worker they want to hire: a chaplain or a student wellbeing officer. Whichever choice the school makes, they need to be appointed by an accredited employing authority such as SU Australia.
We were excited to hear the news about this new grant, because five years is the longest policy we’ve ever received. It’s a testimony to the effectiveness and value of chaplaincy in our schools, and we are most thankful for your support over recent years.
As reported by the ABC*, the 2022 National School Chaplaincy Programme Evaluation Report found that the NSCP had played a “valuable role in supporting student wellbeing.” More than 10,000 public submissions were made towards the report in just 10 days, with 43% of responders based in Queensland. It’s been very encouraging to see such an outpouring of support from the local community, and if you have time, I encourage you to have a read through the official document by clicking on the link below.
Under the new program, SU has ensured that all chaplains have signed deeds of confidentiality, and we have sent schools Schedule A contract schedules. Chaplains will need to complete their work plans within the first month of Term 1 and ensure they have current student consent forms. Under the new program, there’s also an extra unit of study required in addition to the two mandatory units.
* https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-01-28/national-school-chaplaincy-program-report-released/101902210
Workplan
As many of you will be in the early stages of establishing fundraising plans for the year ahead, I wanted to remind you that it’s vital you include any in-school fundraising plans in your LCC work plan.
We’ve been informed that fundraising activities held within schools need to be communicated to the school community. This means the purpose of the activity needs to be clearly explained, along with how the activity will be conducted, and where the proceeds will be allocated. Please contact us at support@su.org.au if you have any further questions about these requirements.
There’s also a link in this month’s Chappy Matters email which will direct you to our Champion Your Chaplain fundraising page. May I encourage you to take full advantage of this resource, as it’s an easy way to keep track of funds raised for your chaplaincy service. It’s social-media friendly so you can share it within your networks.
LCC Workshops via Zoom
Because school chaplain’s salaries have increased in accordance with statutory requirements, it does mean your fundraising efforts will be even more vital this year. Please also know we are here to support you in this, and we have allocated some dates to hold online workshops, which will cover the purpose of LCCs, and include tips and ideas for your LCC going forward.
Below you will find a few different dates for these events, which will run for approximately 1 hour.
- Thursday, 16th February (4pm) – Contact person: Jeff Howard (jeff.howard@su.org.au)
- Tuesday, 21st March (4pm) – Contact person: Phil Magarey (phil.magarey@su.org.au)
- Wednesday, 29th March – Contact person: Steve Kilah (steve.kilah@su.org.au)
We are so grateful for your partnership and contribution to your local LCCs – we really couldn’t do this work without you, so thank you.
Vacancies / New Chaplains
Over the Christmas break, we were very excited to induct 45 new chaplains to schools around Queensland! We are so excited for these passionate individuals to enter their new schools and communities and see the impact they will make in the lives of young people.
While it’s very encouraging to have some fresh faces around, we do still have chaplaincy vacancies in a number of schools. Please see the link below for more information on schools in your local area.
Thank you so much for your support and commitment to school chaplaincy. I’m really looking forward to this year ahead, and working with all of you to bring belonging, safety and smiling faces to our school communities in 2023.
All the best with the term ahead,
Jenni Dobbin