Chappy Week

Ronnie gave a big thank you to volunteer helpers for Tin Can Bay P-10 School’s Hot Dog Day for Chaplaincy Week May 17-25, John Van der Heijde, Margaret Cudahey, Chappie Ronnie and BJ Parton Image Karen van der Heijde

Ronnie gave a big thank you to volunteer helpers for Tin Can Bay P-10 School’s Hot Dog Day for Chaplaincy Week May 17-25, John Van der Heijde, Margaret Cudahey, Chappie Ronnie and BJ Parton Image Karen van der Heijde

This year celebrates 25 years that school chaplains have been providing social, emotional and spiritual support in Queensland schools.

Across Queensland, there are currently 873 chaplains in primary, high and special schools, with 131 schools in the Sunshine Coast and Wide Bay area.

Other areas where chaplains are involved in their schools are with mentoring, role-modelling, educational support, community development and extra-curricular activities.

Each school is different which means that each chaplain’s role is different depending upon their school’s requirements. All chaplains completed a survey in 2014 run by McCrindle Research which has provided a wealth of information about how chaplains are involved in their particular school/s.

The survey found that the top five issues that students face are:

  1. Friendships and peers
  2. Bullying
  3. School behaviour
  4. Family breakdown/parent separation
  5. Mental health, depression & anxiety.

The ways in which chaplains assist with these day-to-day issues are: ongoing pastoral support, developing an action plan, referral to outside agencies, supplying helpful information and support with advocacy. This report can be accessed on line at: www.suqld.org.au/snapshot

We celebrated Chappy Week by hosting a ‘Hot Dog/Hot Chocolate Day’ at Tin Can Bay School and local churches providing morning tea for Rainbow Beach School staff for supporting chaplaincy. Thank you to everyone who contributed and for Annette Collins who organised the event.

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