A school chaplain and headteacher disagree. Discuss.
Richard Coton, CVE Scotland Committee member and former headteacher of a large secondary school, writes some helpful answers and ideas in this blog:-
“Help!” an acquaintance who is a school chaplain recently emailed me. “The new headteacher at xxx Primary School (where I’m Chaplain) called me in yesterday. She says she really can’t see what the children learn through Religious Observance assemblies. She wants to teach the children meditation and yoga instead, she’s keen to get other religions to lead assemblies and only wants me in the school to lead assemblies at Christmas and Easter. Oh, and she doesn’t want any singing either!”
“Wow!” I replied. “What did you say?”
Ruth: “Well, I was very careful not to fall out with her. ‘Least said, soonest mended’, you know. So, I just said I was here to help in any way I could, then I started asking her how she was settling into the school. She actually warmed up a bit then. I think she’s finding it quite tough, actually.”
Me: “Really wise. What do you think you’ll do now?”
Ruth: “You know, I think God’s using this to shake me up a bit. I’ve always thought there’s so much more to being a Chaplain than taking assemblies. I should be a vital bridge between the school and our church, but I’ve been so busy taking those assemblies that I’ve never had time. I think I need to go and have coffee again with S— (the Headteacher) and ask her, ‘How can we help you? What needs does this school have that we in the church could work with you on?’ It might be a couple of volunteers to help children with reading each week…and she mentioned they’re really short of space; maybe they could even use our halls for free when they need to.”
Me: “That’s really exciting! You’ll get loads of good ideas on the Serve Your Local School website. And there’s some good case studies on our CVE Scotland site too.
“When I was a headteacher, I was always aware that HMI absolutely require schools to partner with the community, and the largest voluntary community organisations in our catchment area were of course the churches. In fact, they were just about the only ones with capacity to partner with us! So, Ruth, use that sort of language when you talk to your headteacher. Talk to her about her plans for how the school will partner more closely with the community and then ask how you and the church can help.
“It’ll be a brave, or foolhardy, headteacher who turns down such an offer – as a Head, you’re always thinking about your next HMI inspection, and if it gets back to HMI that you’ve been rejecting opportunities of partnership with the community – you’ll be in deep trouble!”
Ruth: “What about her plans to teach the children meditation and yoga at assemblies? And why doesn’t she want us to sing any more?”
Me: “Well, I think she might be right about the singing actually, sorry! If pupils have been asked to sing worship songs, then my take on it as a former headteacher is that pupils shouldn’t be asked to sing or say words that they don’t necessarily believe. Schools have “Time for Reflection” assemblies, not worship assemblies….so what School Chaplains are doing is inviting pupils to explore Christian belief for themselves (with all the support we can give) so they can make their own decisions. But listening to Christian songs is fine, if there’s an appropriate context – I’m thinking of the Christmas and Easter assemblies she’s asking you to lead, for example.
“And I know you’re already careful to explain, ‘Christians pray, and I’m going to pray out loud now to show you a bit of what it’s like – and if any of you want to join in by saying the words quietly inside yourself, you’re welcome to do so – but only if you want.’
Ruth: “Yes, you’re right: my experience of children and young people is that they’re much more likely to come with you on a journey if they feel you’re respecting them, treating them maturely and genuinely giving them a choice.”
Me: “Children really warm to Chaplains who visibly “get” them. I remember at my daughters’ school one of the Chaplains accompanied them to an outdoor activity centre and a photo appeared on Facebook of him wading waist-deep down a river. After that, he really started to get through to every pupil in the school.”
Ruth: “What about meditation and yoga at assemblies?”
Me: “Well, meditation linked to yoga is just as “religious” as any Christianity-based Time for Reflection assembly. So, the same rules apply: pupils shouldn’t be obliged to say and do things they don’t necessarily believe. However, it sounds as though that if you point it out, it might antagonise your headteacher if she has strong personal views. Never underestimate a heedie’s power! It’s always better to make friends with them and win them over.”
“And remember the spiritual principle; God wants to bless your local school (and the heedie!) and as you work with Him the changes will amaze you – they always do!”
Ruth: “You know, I’m excited about what God is going to do in that school. I’ve a strong feeling that this is the start of something really powerful. Even when we talked yesterday, I could see that the headteacher wasn’t expecting a gracious and generous response at all, and she just started to realise that maybe she could work with me.”
Me: “A couple of final thoughts: most teachers are really child-centred, so the more you are focuse
d on the pupils’ real needs, the more your headteacher will relate to you. Have you thought of offering a real learning resource for Christmas like Bubblegum’n’ Fluff (or its stablemate, Cracking the Easter Code)? They’re really interactive which is what pupils are used to rather than listening to someone talking from the front.
“And once you get S—‘s trust, why not offer to help set up a Chaplaincy Team involving pupils? Pupil leadership is another thing HMI are always looking for, and there’s a great template on the CVE website (inspired by a Senior HM Inspector).
Ruth: “Thanks for all those ideas. You remember that saying, ‘When God closes a door, He always opens a window”. OK, I know it’s from The Sound of Music, rather than the Bible, but it’s still true!”
