Another group using the schools, and guess where it is based?

April 20, 2012

/ by Scott

If people here are not yet clear on what is going in Victoria, and really right across Victoria – you should be – evangelical activists are committed to the strategic plan that Evonne Paddison has shared with us in her “making disciples” speech.

Though when asked these groups depend on saying that they are promoting values, and teaching about culture – the truth is really very different.

Behold another group, based in the Church where the Chair of ACCESS is Bishop: Mustard Seed

http://www.mustard.org.au/page/about-mustard

for those of you who don’t read your bibles, the term mustard seed is taken from a parable of jesus and involves taking something small (in this case, other people’s children) and sowing them with faith.

Just another day in the life of a web of groups operating via an inner urban church who are working to be in a school near you … under whatever pretense they can dream up.

News

Comments

Leave a Reply to Sue McLeod Cancel reply

Sue McLeod

April 20, 2012 at 7:20 am

Had a look at their website and only 25 schools signed up at present – most with just one member. The largest have 8 members but only at two schools. The schools are what you might expect – mostly christian schools (though it is a bit of a worry for them surely that Plenty Valley Christian School can only rustle up one member?) Now might be a good time to act to nip this insidious development in the bud. My daughter is at Ringwood Secondary College and they have a chaplain (GGGRRR!) and also breakfast/lunch ‘clubs’ which allow church access, run by who knows whom, to the partakers. My kids have never attended either but I don’t see why they are allowed there at all – the parents are not informed – other than the chaplain having a column in the school newsletter.

Bill Mackay

April 20, 2012 at 9:18 am

I am running a campaign to seek to get the funding for the Chaplains in Schools program cut in the budget. I have sent hundreds of emails via a GetUp/ComminityRun petition. You could add your voice. read on …

Dear Supporters,

It is time to get our message to the seat of power where decisions are made.

At the moment Wayne Swan is having meetings to finalise the budget – can you get in touch with him and let him know that that we shouldn’t fund chaplains in our schools?

Can you please email Wayne Swan today before he makes the final call on the budget?

Wayne.Swan.MP@aph.gov.au

If you’re not sure what to write – there is a default email you can use below.

Thank you for taking action on this important issue,

PS – Please also consider calling Wayne Swan’s office (02) 6277 77340. A call will only take 5 minutes but will make a really big impact on Wayne Swan.

++++Default email you can send++++

The Honourable Wayne Swan

Treasurer
House of Representatives

Canberra

Dear Mr Swan,

I write in regard to the budget which will be presented next month.
I wish to draw your attention to an area where substantial savings can be made. I refer to the National School Chaplaincy and Student Welfare Program.

A review was held into this program but before the review was
finalised, an increase in the order of $222 million was announced by the Minister, Peter Garrett.

There have been some minor changes to the program but the vast
majority of the Chaplains have no or minimal qualifications. The
increase last year included some millions to pay for retraining for
existing Chaplains to complete a certificate, most commonly delivered by a church-based provider.

The Chaplains’ Code of Conduct states that they are not to counsel students. Yet in their job, they ‘deal with’ issues around bullying, family breakdown, relationships and depression – problems that may have serious consequences that Chaplains are not qualified to handle.

Students at risk deserve properly trained Counsellors.

The lack of quality control and benchmarking with the NSCSWP means the program is very poor value for money. This is a very costly program that is not returning commensurate benefits.

Thank you.

Tim Mitchell

April 21, 2012 at 12:34 am

Hi Sue,
I live in the Ringwood East area, and my wife & I chose to send our prep to Ringwood North PS it appears to be one of the very best in the area – so far so good, he’s really liking it.
I attended the Global Atheist Convention in Melbourne last week. One of the speakers was a young uni student, Jason Ball. His experience at Melbourne Uni was there are about 13 different christian groups running various prayer and bible study meets though out the campus. His response was to establish the University of Melbourne Secular Society. Look up: http://www.youngausskeptics.com/on-campus/
I’t would be really interesting if your daughter tried to set-up something similar at Ringwood Secondary. I’m sure the UMSS crew would be willing to assist with advice and encouragement.
Good Luck!

Sue McLeod

April 21, 2012 at 7:51 am

Thanks Tim. I am actually a member (since 2007) of the UMSS with Jason and was part of the group that set up the Secular Students Alliance at the convention 2 years ago. (I’m a mature age student I try to be supportive, offer advice (ha ha) and let the young ones do the actual organising – I’ve done my bit and you have to let them have a go!) You’re right we do have lots of help for people setting up such groups the key is that a teacher has to be willing to be the figurehead/organiser. We have a speaker coming to Vic Skeptics later in the year who is such a teacher and has organised a very active group at his secondary college (I think he also spoke on a panel at the convention?) We would have to find such a teacher at RSC (many of them seem to be linked through church groups of one kind or another – mostly in Heathmont I believe) My son (5 years older than his sister) was active in debating etc at RSC and is also an active skeptic as a science student at Monash but he wasn’t able to generate much interest in a skeptical group at RSC. His sister is not cut in the same mould and has several friends who are VERY involved in churchy groups – even creationism (shudder!) and she is happy to engage with them on a rational level but they seem to end up agreeing to disagree. I endeavour to have all of us be good examples of atheists who don’t have two heads, worship Satan, sacrifice virgins at the full moon etc etc which so far is succeeding fairly well. Perhaps i should investigate at school further? Good luck with Ringwood North – most of the kids I know who have come through there seem great – though some of them are included in the above group!

Sue McLeod

April 21, 2012 at 7:54 am

@Bill Mackay
Thanks Bill I have shamelessly used your suggested email, added to it and sent off the following:
The Honourable Wayne Swan
Treasurer
House of Representatives Canberra
Dear Mr Swan,
I write in regard to the budget which will be presented next month. As a former secondary teacher in both NSW and Victoria, I wish to draw your attention to an area where substantial savings can be made. I refer to the National School Chaplaincy and Student Welfare Program. A review was held into this program but before the review was finalised, an increase in the order of $222 million was announced by the Minister, Peter Garrett. There have been some minor changes to the program but the vast majority of the Chaplains have no or minimal qualifications. The increase last year included some millions to pay for retraining for existing Chaplains to complete a certificate, most commonly delivered by a church-based provider. A certificate which, in my view, will have minimal impact on their practice.
The Chaplains’ Code of Conduct states that they are not to counsel students. Yet in their job, they ‘deal with’ issues around bullying, family breakdown, relationships and depression – problems that may have serious consequences that Chaplains are not qualified to handle. Students at risk deserve properly trained Counsellors, counsellors who are qualified and equipped to assist vulnerable adolescents and their families with more than anodyne homilies or ‘feelgood’ sermons. The lack of quality control and benchmarking with the NSCSWP means the program is very poor value for money and certainly, in my experience, inadequately supervised and monitored. They are not held to account for their implementation of their code or guidelines as, say, professional counsellors, social workers and teachers are. Revelations that schools run by churches, who, for example, conduct assemblies that resemble in every way a church service even when it is not explicitly named as such, are using monies claimed from this program to pay clergy are especially abhorrent and a demonstrable waste of public money.
The chaplains appointed to supposedly secular public schools under a constitution which seems to forbid the establishment of any religion, are seemingly accountable to no-one but their consciences, if they have one and are not driven by agendas of their own which override what they are mandated to do. They are free to deliver their personal world views and opinions, whatever they may be to adolescents and families who are in no position to judge their worth for themselves in the absence of any alternatives being provided. Many seem to see their chaplaincy as an opportunity to recruit for their congregations, if not their religion, and few of them seem even to appreciate the difference between counselling and whatever it is that they are mandated to do (handholding? Consolation? Advice? Who knows – as they don’t have to report on what they do to the wider community) and that they are not, in fact, to counsel students as a qualified professional would do. This is a very costly program that is not returning commensurate benefits and I would ask that you stop the program immediately and either save the monies expended for something that will improve the common good or institute a program of supplying schools with properly qualified and trained counsellors and social workers.
Yours sincerely,
Susan McLeod
Hope we do some good with it!

Tammy Joachin

April 21, 2012 at 11:15 am

@Bill Mackay
Hi Bill,
I also used your suggested email and sent it to Wayne Swan.
Thanks for organising this and for your persistence. I hope we succeed in ending this ridiculous program!
Tammy Joachin

Sue Goss

May 5, 2012 at 4:08 am

Hi Bill and everyone else,
I’ve also sent an email highlighting all the cuts Swan is prepared to make while retaining this program. Police and social services in Queensland have already branded it worse than useless as a means of early intervention and they are often left to pick up the pieces when it is too late.
I also mentioned the confusion the chaplains bring to senior students in their lunchtime rants when they discuss Bible fact vs science theory as fiction. They are very persuasive!
Sue Goss