Colm Fitzpatrick
School Chaplain Aoife Daly (right) A new government initiative promoting resilience among students offers “nothing new” and may be a red herring, an Irish school chaplain has said.
The comments come in the wake of the July 20 launch of the Wellbeing Policy Statement and Framework for Practice 2018-2023, which aims to deliver a national training programme to support wellbeing among students across Ireland.
However, according to Aoife Daly, chaplain in Trim’s Boyne Community school, the new policy headed by the Minister for Education & Skills, Mr Richard Bruton, TD, is unnecessary as teachers and chaplains have received sufficient training in this area.
“A large number of teachers and SNA’S (Special Needs Assistants) in my school have done the half-day course years ago and also the two-day ASSIST course, so there is absolutely nothing new about this.
“I think every chaplain that I know is highly trained in this area already. The students that we deal with daily struggle with issues as serious as anxiety, depression, self-harm, and suicide ideation, so chaplains are trained already.”
Concern
Ms Daly added that there is “huge training and time” going into the wellness subject at junior level which is covering the areas Mr Bruton “claims to be so concerned about”.
“He obviously has something up his sleeve that he knows people won’t be happy with and is trying to deflect from this by announcing things that have been in operation for years,” she said.
Commenting on the policy, ‘The School Chaplains’ Association told The Irish Catholic that it welcomes any initiatives which will benefit the wellbeing of young people who the chaplains work with and support on a daily basis.
“Students today are exposed to more external pressures than ever before and it is essential they receive the help and space to develop to their potential and value the preciousness of life.
School chaplains work as part of student support teams and many have qualifications in the area of suicide prevention and dealing with critical incidents.
“Because such training benefits the entire school community, chaplains ensure that they follow current best practice and welcome opportunity for further training to support students in their care.”