Since September 2022 Steph Richardson has been the voluntary school chaplain at Holy Trinity Church School in Yeovil. She has undertaken this role alongside her work as a teaching assistant. During that time the role of chaplain and the ministry have developed in a very local and bespoke manner serving both the children and staff at the school.
One of the areas that has seen the most exciting development is among the Year 5 children. 25 have now become chaplaincy helpers (a role akin to that of pupil chaplains) assisting with activities each day in support of the chaplain and younger pupils.
The children, together with Steph and other adults, were due to attend the Diocesan Chaplaincy Day in Taunton in November 2024, unfortunately the call from OFSTED arrived and the visit had to be cancelled. Steph says, "I was determined to offer these children the opportunity to explore chaplaincy and so I thought if they can’t go to a wider event we need to do something locally. I planned an afternoon of activities to equip, encourage and thank these children for their role."
Holy Trinity Church, with whom the school has a very positive relationship, agreed to host the afternoon and Revd Dan Crouch and churchwarden Ken Nichols (who also has an active role as a volunteer in the school) along with Year 5 teacher Amy Morley facilitated the activities under Steph’s leadership and direction.
Having been welcomed into the church space the children looked at scenarios where they would need to help others and reflected on what they would do if something happened in the playground or during their activities as chaplaincy helpers. The children really got involved in the activity and demonstrated how well they understand their roles, and how to apply the school’s Rainbow values – Love, Kindness, Cooperation, Trust, Responsibility, Respect and Honesty as part of that role.
Following this the children made puppets which they will use to lead a school worship focusing on their chaplaincy role. They ended the afternoon with a quiet time for reflection. They also wrote a prayer each which they left at the foot of the cross in the church.
Revd Dan then offered a prayer of blessing and commissioning for the chaplaincy team moving forward. He said, "It was a pleasure to welcome the chaplaincy helpers to the church for this afternoon of activities. We are very fortunate to have Steph in the role of chaplain in the school and her impact is tremendous. This impact is acknowledged, appreciated and recognised by the senior leadership and governors of the school. It is her commitment that has inspired and enabled these 25 children to seek to serve as chaplaincy helpers. It was a very encouraging time together and we hope that this might become an annual opportunity to gather our chaplaincy helpers to equip and encourage them."