Pastoral Care in Schools
The Revd Chris Thomason, Chaplain
I hope and pray that you have recovered from the busyness of the festive season and that you had an opportunity to reflect on the message that comes from celebrating the birth of Christ.
As we start this new year I wanted to tell you a little bit about a relatively new service at Anglicare WA. When I say new service, I mean a new way of delivering a service that has roots in antiquity. This ancient service is often called chaplaincy.
Chaplaincy is about providing pastoral care. Pastoral care has been provided by chaplains in schools, hospitals, parishes, and military units for centuries.
Chaplains have always been there for everyone whether they are of faith or not. Chaplaincy is and always has been about providing pastoral care. Historically most chaplains have been ministers of religion and as a result the term chaplaincy has developed a connotation of being overtly religious.
Now there is nothing wrong with being religious. After all I am a priest in the Anglican Church and preaching the gospel and sharing the message and teachings of Jesus Christ is what I am called to do. But trying to convert someone when they are in need of pastoral care, takes the focus off the person in need. Being there, walking alongside the person, assisting them with support so that they can find their own way is what Jesus calls us to do, it is pastoral care in the model of Jesus Christ. Today, chaplains are sometimes called pastoral care providers. An example is the Centre for Wellbeing and Sustainable Practice that provides pastoral care at Royal Perth Hospital, and pastoral services caregivers at St John of God Hospitals.
In 2023 a report into the federal government’s National School Chaplaincy Programme found that there were benefits of having chaplains in schools and endorsed plans to broaden the scheme to include a broader definition of the service provided. The programme then became known as the National Student Wellbeing Programme (NSWP). The NSWP supports student and school community wellbeing in over 3,000 school communities each year and has been adopted by the WA Department of Education.
People employed under the NSWP support the non-religious wellbeing of school students through:
- providing pastoral care;
- organising volunteer activities within school communities;
- running programmes such as breakfast clubs and lunchtime activities;
- coordinating excursions, incursions and parent carer workshops; and
- other activities depending on the school and student’s needs.
Given the experience of Anglicare WA in providing services to young people, last year Anglicare WA started providing Student Wellbeing Officers to WA Government Schools that identified a need for this form of student support. Anglicare WA is one of the six providers authorised by the WA Department of Education to provide wellbeing support in their schools; each of these providers can provide either a chaplain or a student wellbeing officer. Anglicare WA supplies the latter where it is requested by a school to do so.
Through Anglicare WA’s services we have seen the growing need for young people to have support so they may navigate and deal with the ever-increasing demands placed upon them.
As we enter this new school year, I ask you to pray that Student Wellbeing Officers and school chaplains are renewed in hope. May the flame of their faith in human goodness and witness to a future of promise burn brightly despite the darkness in our society, social injustice, and cultural division. Amen.