$222m for school chaplains, page-8

Hi zonetrader

Re your post which included;
"... I would imagine that these chaplains would need to have a blue card. ..."

As someone who has worked closely with many chaplains in several schools over a period of decades I find this whole thread rather disturbing.

My last 3 schools employed chaplains on the basis of shared funding between the school, government & the CCES [Council for Christian Education in Schools]. Their employment did not obviate the need for school based counsellors, they were in addition to them because their roles were different.

For government schools the use of a chaplain is a recognition that many students like to access such services on a more informal basis. Those services are not hard a hard push for any religion but do provide students with the opportunity to reflect on what is happening in their lives in the confidence of a concerned adult.

Its important to acknowledge that their services are not forced onto students - the choice to see a chaplain rests with students, sometimes on the advice of teachers & even at the request of parents.

The process of selection and training of chaplains is more rigorous than some suggest herein. As with all people who work in schools they are also subject to criminality checks & to performance review processes.

IMO people need to see the cost & what I regard as minimal risks of such programs as an investment in the social & mental health of our young people. Many years of experience revealed to me that the alternative is greater youth alienation & all that goes with it.