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In many schools there will be more staff who are not teachers than there are teachers. Many of these people will be active members of local churches, and will bring their own understanding of how their faith affects their life to their work. Often such staff work in posts that carry low status. Lunchtime supervisory staff, caretakers, cleaners, special needs assistants, nursery nurses and school secretaries do not figure in the top ten professions but they are a vital part of the school's work and all of them may have regular contact with children and, in some cases, parents. Some of them will contribute significantly to the caring work that the school undertakes. The care shown for worried parents by a school secretary can do much to help them express their concerns and receive the help or reassurance that they need. At times of sickness in a school the maintenance of a clean environment in general and clearing up after children who have been ill is most important. The responsibility for this rests with the caretaking and cleaning staff. There are some inner-city primary schools where the school caretaker not only has to endeavour to keep the premises secure during the night but must also inspect the grounds each morning before the children arrive to ensure that material used and then discarded by drug addicts does not remain in places where children might touch it.
None of the work undertaken by the support staff in school is easy and all of it is responsible. The people undertaking such work need to know that what they are doing is valued by the churches and the local community. Those who are members of our congregations need to feel that the school in which they are working, and their own contribution to it, are supported and upheld in prayer by their church.
There is every reason why
services of commissioning and recommitment should be
extended to include other staff in schools and school
governors. Two acts of dedication are included in
Churches Serving Schools and may be reproduced
for use in churches or schools, without obtaining
copyright clearance.
Commissioning / rededication services from
Churches Serving Schools, pp. 84-86 (PDF, 64
KB)
The vocation to teach
How do Christians become teachers?
Nurturing teachers
How do Christians who are teachers become Christian
teachers?
Helping Christian teachers grow in their faith and their
profession
The headteacher - a special case?
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