The chaplain position is very broadly defined and differs in every school depending on the identified needs. Chappy Scott summarises his role as being “to provide friendly support and encouragement to students who are identified as experiencing difficulty in any areas of their lives”.
At our school, Chappy Scott achieves this in several ways, including:
- Developing and facilitating a mentoring program for year 6 captains
- Helping with the breakfast club and talking with the students who attend
- Participating in PE sessions and assisting with swim instruction sessions
- Holding an after-school swim instruction session for students in senior years who haven’t developed a confident style of freestyle swimming
- Providing individual assistance in classrooms to students who have additional support needs
- Providing emotional support to students who may be referred by a teacher
- Developing projects to promote kindness, as a strategy to discourage bullying
- Spending every play break on the ovals to engage with students who aren’t participating in the regular team games
- Implementing physical activity programs such as the Perceptual Motor Program, and Frisbee Club
- Assisting with the provision of emergency food assistance to families
In general, Chappy Scott is available to respond to a wide variety of needs which may emerge throughout each day.