My name is Bejoy Pal and I would like to personally welcome you to the School and College Pastors website. Please have a look around whether you are interested in becoming a School Pastor, setting up a new area, or just want to find out more.
If you have any questions please get in touch with us, via email or phone, my details are on the Contact page.
I would love to have the opportunity to share our vision more with you!
Bejoy Pal
National School & College Pastors Coordinator
A school pastor cares for and supports a 'school community'. They promote safety and aim to reduce anti-social behaviour. School pastors are there to listen, care and help young people to become good citizens.
What are the responsibilities of a school pastor?
To go on patrol at times and locations agreed with the school.
To listen, be observant and look out for young people that are vulnerable and respond accordingly.
To build links with school community – young people, parents, school crossing patrols etc.
To observe school pastor principles, health and safety guidelines and to only work within the remit of the role of a school pastor.
To be prayerfully aware of God's direction and share that with your team.
Other duties, as requested by the school, e.g. mentoring, attending special events.
The role of the school pastor is also to work with pupils who are experiencing difficulties in some area of their school life. The school pastor will work with, build relationship and develop communication with pupils who are:
disruptive in class;
finding it difficult to participate/engage in classroom learning;
regularly being excluded from class;
on final warnings for exclusion from school;
presenting with a host of social issues.
The aim of the school pastor is to engage with the pupils, identify their concerns and, in liaison with their tutor, develop an individual learning and behavioural support package that will enable personal development and an enriched school experience.
History and Development
Background
School Pastors is an initiative operated by The Ascension Trust, a national Christian charity, established in 2002, that oversees a number of projects. It is best known for the Street Pastors movement, which now has more than 9,000 volunteers in teams all over the UK and internationally.
Inspiration
Revd Les Isaac, founder and director of The Ascension Trust, pioneered Street Pastors because of his belief in the Bible’s challenge to the church to be a catalyst for social action.
The Ascension Trust originally planned School Pastors to be the first expression of their vision for social action in urban communities, but in the end it was Street Pastors that came first and School Pastors took several more years to reach fruition.
Like Street Pastors, the School Pastors initiative helps Christians to be relevant to and engaged with their communities.
School Pastors teams are now operating in sixteen areas across the country, in secondary schools and in the post-16 sector. A number of new areas are at various stages of set-up or information gathering.
Development
School Pastors teams find that there are opportunities to work in partnership with other Christian organisations in schools, for example, with sexual health projects or life coaching groups.
As well as patrolling at the end of the school day, School Pastors teams are also involved in mentoring schemes, leading assemblies and running reading clubs. There are many opportunities, with school pastors finding that once a relationship with a school is established, schools often say to them, ‘We like you … what else can you do for us?’
Our Current Locations
Find here a map of our current locations.
Current Locations
Please click on an area listed below to find out more about it
2013 will see the launch of a pilot School Pastor initiative in Wrexham (we believe this will be the first in Wales) based at Rhosnesni High School. 12 School Pastors started their training in March and will be starting patrols in the new school year this September. These 12 volunteers come from 7 differing local churches.
Wrexham School Pastors will be an extension of the work that Street Pastors have been undertaking, with continued success, here in Wrexham since 2006. Wrexham Street and School Pastors is a Christian initiative with all the volunteers being recruited from local Wrexham churches.
Patrols will start on Fridays and Mondays with our major aim being to cover the close of the school day. This will mean the volunteers are each on site around once a fortnight.
We look forward to a formal launch later this year in September, along with the commissioning of our volunteers.
The school have been tremendously supportive in this set up phase and we have recently been involved in year 6 transition events as well as taking assemblies for each year group to introduce the scheme to pupils and staff.
All set for September.
If you want to find out more, please email Gareth Jones, wrexham coordinator on wrexham@schoolpastors.org.uk.
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Torbay School Pastors
School Pastors Torbay currently patrol on Monday and Friday afternoons every week from 2pm – 4pm. We have a team of a dozen school pastors from a range of ages and professional backgrounds, all of whom have many years of experience in Youth Work and/or education. We normally have teams of 3 patrolling on each day and individual School Pastors may patrol anything from once per month to once per week depending upon their availability.
Our present role at Westlands Secondary School is to patrol the area around school grounds and local neighbourhood. We start outside the school gates at 2.30pm, talking to the pupils as they leave. Once they have left the school, we patrol the area around Torquay United Football ground (which is next to the school), including a large field, children’s playground and streets leading to the main bus routes.
On our patrols we’ve had the opportunity to help out a lot of students and members of the local community, referring to the school any incidents of anti-social behavior, bullying or pupils in need of other assistance. We’ve even helped fix a bike and on one occasion helped a pupil remember where they lived after they’d recently moved house! We mainly enjoy getting to know some great young people, having conversations in which we encourage them and hear about the exciting things they want to do with their lives.
We also have a wonderful team of Prayer Pastors based in a local Church – we like to say that on quieter days, they must be the ones doing the hard work!
Contact Us:
COORDINATOR: Joel Ward TEL: 01803 400403 EMAIL: torbay@schoolpastors.org.uk
Tavistock School Pastors
We started School Pastors at Tavistock College in September, 2012, going in on Wednesday afternoons, to meet the students as they left the College. Various contacts with staff, coach drivers, parents as well as students were made, although the students were always in a hurry to get home, most by coach.
We had a good rapport with the College, and were informed that our presence was appreciated by both the staff and students. We felt however, that more contact needed to be made with the students, and the College was very encouraging for us to come in at lunchtimes, when they were having their break. This half term we have commenced this duty, and have had really good contacts on our very first duty, with students happy to chat and share, with our name now being School Pastas!
Sutton School Pastors
Sutton School Pastors was set up in May 2012 when a team of eight local Christians underwent training with Ascension Trust.
We started patrolling in May 2012 at Greenshaw High School in Carshalton in and around the school from 1- 3.30pm. We started as a team of eight, but we are now a team of ten and seeking to grow further. We have just started [April 2013] to do a similar work in Carshalton High School for Girls. Our work involves interacting with students in the playground - providing an opportunity for individual students to come and talk about any issues for a designated time slot and being a visible presence outside the School as students go home.
Contact Us
COORDINATOR: Mark Tomlinson TEL: 07525 838640 EMAIL:sutton@streetpastors.org.uk
Southampton School Pastors
Southampton Street Pastors’ three years of patrolling the city centre at night provided a proven and solid base on which to branch out into the Ascension Trust initiative 'School Pastors'.
With funding secured for 2012 we were able to appoint a full time coordinator and pilot the School Pastor scheme at two secondary schools chosen by the council. Patrols began after the half term break in February 2012.
Since then we have grown and developed our 3 weekly afternoon patrols, also covering some mornings; we supported the year 6 transition week with a whole week of mornings and afternoons at both schools and did the same during the first week of the new term. We have also developed links with the feeder schools whilst on patrol.
Building on these successes, the police and council have asked us to go into parks and strategic areas and put on additional patrols during early evening. We have successfully piloted this over the summer and are now recruiting for our new teams.
In light of this, and changes to school names in our area (to 'academy' etc.), we have decided to change our name back to Street Pastors and develop a ‘youth & community’ branch which gives us greater flexibility in the range of work we can do with young people to offer safety, reassurance and support, through listening, caring and helping.
Contact Us
Coordinator: Mandy Harding
Email: southampton@schoolpastors.org.uk
Plymouth School Pastors
We patrol on Thursday afternoons one week, and Friday afternoons the following week, and so on. This was done to try and cover days that local Police advised, as well as to use the availability of the various volunteers. We have a very basic kitbag, with mainly first aid equipment and a map, and some bottles of water etc.
Our present role at Plymstock School/Plymstock Broadway Shopping Centre is to patrol the school grounds, to wait at the gates as the students/pupils leave at 3pm. Once they have left the school site, we patrol the groundsagain, then patrol the streets leading to the Shopping Centre, and then we patrol the environs of the Shopping Centre itself. We include the Shopping Centre because this is where a number of students/pupils gather after school; in the past there has been a lot of anti-social behaviour, thefts, fights, general disturbances - with some degree of ill-feeling from the local shoppers towards the young people/and vice versa. The Centre manager reports that within a few weeks of the commencement of our patrols, 99% of all the anti-social behaviour and incidents have completely ceased - even when we are not on duty!
Contact Us Coordinator: Stu Clarke Email: plymouth@schoolpastors.org.uk
Newcastle School Pastors
Here in Newcastle we run a project in Walker Technology College on Friday afternoons with a team of dedicated volunteers.
At lunchtimes we spend time getting to know the students informally and are building relationships with them across all year groups.
In the afternoons we are holding 1-1 mentoring sessions with students who are facing many difficult issues and find it helpful to meet with someone who is trustworthy, caring and non-judgemental.
We want this to have an impact on individual lives, as well as the school and community. The school staff have been very welcoming to us and have helped us to feel that we belong.
At the end of the school day we carry out patrols around the school environment, encouraging students to conduct themselves safely and decreasing the potential for bullying or anti-social behaviour.
We also travel on the local service bus with students into Byker and the City Centre. Being there has made a real difference for the better, giving us opportunities to get to know the main instigators of anti-social behaviour as well as the more vulnerable young people. They have all responded well to our calm approach, and often look forward to us being there on a Friday.
As the Co-ordinator of the School Pastors project, I am extremely grateful for the way in which we are supported by St Nicholas Cathedral. The project office is based within Cathedral House and the Dean of Newcastle is the Chair of our board of Trustees.
Contact Us Coordinator: Anne Fothergill Email: newcastle@schoolpastors.org.uk
Lambeth School Pastors
We are a small team needing more volunteers. We work in and around Archbishop Tenison’s School community. At the moment we only go into the school on Fridays, Patrolling in the playground. We work often in a one 2 one way, listening and mentoring pupils in the school that have often been excluded from their classes. We then liaise with the School management at the gates at the end of the school day. We engage with the young people to make sure they travel home safely and act appropriately using nearby public transport.
If you want to find out more, please email Daniel Stone on:
d.stone@ascensiontrust.org.uk.
Or contact mDaniel by phone on Tues/Fri 0208 330 2809.
Isle of Wight School Pastors
Isle of Wight School Pastors commissioned their first ten school pastors on 9th June 2012.School Pastors on the Island started working alongside the community of Medina College on 12 th June 2012. Medina College is a large thriving secondary school for 11-19 year olds, consisting of 1550 students, 300 of which are six form students studying at a separate campus. School Pastors are supporting the College by currently operating three patrols a week, deploying a team of four school pastors and three prayer pastors from their base within the College at the end of the day.
The school pastors have also supported the College community during their two year 6 transition days for the local feeder Primary Schools.
School Pastors have received a very positive response from the whole community and are already seeing positive relationships forming and trust being built.
School Pastors have now been asked to work alongside the pastoral care team within the College to support the more vulnerable students. We are currently looking at a model for this support.
Hannah Groves, Head Girl 2011/2012 Medina College. Quote from her speech at the Launch of school pastors -
“I believe that one of the most valuable services that School Pastors will be able to provide is acting as a bridge between school and home life. Although the support available at Medina College is outstanding, students can sometimes simply feel apprehensive about opening up to a teacher or prefect about their personal life. It is likely that students would feel more comfortable seeking comfort from someone who they know has the time to listen and who they don’t necessarily have to face every day at school, and so School Pastors could provide the perfect missing link.”
Mr Nathan Thomas Head Teacher Medina College quote from Launch of school pastors-
“If one single student is safer and happier as a result of the work the school pastors do working alongside us as a college then (school pastors) has been a success”
Contact Us
Coordinator: Rebecca Kelly Email: isleofwight@schoolpastors.org.uk
Ilfracombe School Pastors
Contact Us Coordinator: Mike & Yvonne Norris Email: illfracombe@schoolpastors.org.uk Phone: 07532475197
Fair Oak School Pastors
We started with the other pilot projects in October 2009.
We patrol on a campus that has a nursery, infant school, children's centre, junior school and secondary school all on the same site, and currently patrol two mornings and two afternoons.
Alongside this we go into the junior school playground and sencondary school outdoor site one lunchtime a week, as well as another local junior school playground.
Fair Oak School Pastors has also been able to support the Junior school with learning support after a request from a teacher, and support through mentoring within the secondary school.
Our School Pastor team is currently made up of 14 volunteers.
Jono Harvey or Amie Davis can be contacted for more information about our area.
Contact Us
COORDINATOR: Aime Davis
EMAIL: fairoak@schoolpastors.org.uk
Croydon School Pastors
School Pastors, Central Croydon launched in April 2010. The team is made up of a wide range of people from different churches in the area including schools workers, youth ministers, church leaders, care home workers, bus drivers and retired church members. The Central Croydon team specifically works with St Andrews Cof E High School on three afternoons a week. The team primarily work out on the streets as the children come out of school at the end of the day. We walk with the children into Croydon and seek to be a Christian presence out on the streets. As well as making sure that the pupils are kept safe there are regular opportunities to talk to pupils about how they are doing. We have established a good relationship with the senior management in the school as well as the local police. We would love to expand the team with view to beginning to work with other schools in the Croydon area.
Contact Us
Coordinator: Mark Rossell
Email: croydon@schoolpastors.org.uk
Chislehurst School Pastors
Chislehurst School Pastor was set up in May 2011 when a team of four local Christians under the Chislehurst Youth Christ underwent training with Ascension Trust.
We started patrolling in September 2011 at Coopers Technology College in Chislehurst after school at 3pm. We started as a team of four, but we are now a team of five and seeking to grow further. The work we currently do at Coopers Technology College as school Pastors is after school patrol, which we do once a week on Fridays. Also one member of the team attends the Local Resident meetings which are held at the School.
Contact Us
Coordinator: Mike Meynall
Email: cheshirewest@schoolpastors.org.uk
Burghfield and Area School Pastors
We are a small team, and are seeking to expand our volunteer School Pastors and prayer supporters. Since Burghfield and Area School Pastors were first commissioned on 12th May 2013 by the Bishop of Reading, we have had regular patrols at The Willink during Tuesday lunchtimes. We hope to expand patrols to a local feeder school in the near future.
We are supported by the Deputy Head at The Willink and a group of parents who meet monthly to pray together for students across the school. If you would like to find out more about Burghfield and Area School Pastors, we’d love to hear from you. Contact Us
Coordinator: Libby Hawkness-Smith Email: burghfieldandarea@schoolpastors.org.uk Phone: 07778-911-182
