Lay Chaplain - Full-time

St Gregory's Catholic School, Tunbridge Wells

• Ref:KCC886-5435-211S
• Posted:27/02/2024
• Pay:KR7
• Start Date:ASAP
• App Close Date:25/03/2024 at 09:00
• Interviews:TBC

Advert

LAY CHAPLAIN

Salary:  KR7 (£25,378 - £28,466 FTE) approximately £22,023 - £24,703 pro rata

Hours:  37 hours per week, Term time plus five non pupil days (39 weeks)

St Gregory’s Catholic School is looking for a driven and enthusiastic practising Catholic to join our flagship Chaplaincy Team as a Lay Chaplain.  We are seeking a practising Catholic with a strong personal faith and the capacity to serve the pastoral and spiritual needs of staff and students in our school. The Lay Chaplain will provide witness to the Gospel by sharing in the joys, hopes and the sorrows of members of our school community and will always remind our school community of its Christian purpose. The Lay Chaplain will be expected to support the faith life of our Catholic students, to develop, encourage and strengthen the faith of all members of the school community.

The Role:

School chaplaincy has evolved from being a sacramentally defined ministry to one that is empowered by personal relationship.  It is the everyday presence of the contemporary school chaplain that best serves to define the role - a “presence in pilgrimage”. In this sense, the “presence” of the chaplain has a triple aspect, which chaplains themselves have defined as:

• the physical presence of “being there for staff and students to come and share with”;
• the charismatic presence of being “a witness to the centrality of the spiritual in people’s lives”;
• the symbolic presence of being “a positive face of the Church” and in so being, encouraging staff and students to “deepen their relationship with God”

And all the while, this nurturing presence is offered “on the move” as students journey through “the most formative part of their own unique way through life” (Felzmann 1984), as with the wider school community they make a pilgrimage towards a deeper relationship with Christ in the world beyond the school gates.

Benefits of working at St Gregory’s Catholic School

• A supportive and caring working environment for staff and students
• Employee Assistance Programme which offers counselling, financial guidance, legal enquiries with access to online health and wellbeing resources

• Training opportunities are provided for all staff
• Access to our Fitness Suite
• Kent Rewards Scheme
• Generous Pension Scheme

You are welcome to contact HR at HR@sgschool.org.uk if you would like to visit the school before submitting an application.For ease of applying, we are happy to accept applications directly from Kent Teach.

Should you be shortlisted for interview, additional information may be requested at that time.

Closing date for applications: 25 March 2024 at 9:00am

This vacancy may close on or before the specified closing date depending on the volume of suitable applicants. If you are unsuccessful, we will contact you accordingly.

Information about the school

St Gregory’s Catholic School is a Catholic secondary school and part of the Kent Catholic Schools’ Partnership (KCSP). KCSP is a multi-academy trust (MAT) established by the Archdiocese of Southwark for Catholic education across Kent and it currently comprises 28 academies of which 23 are primary schools and five are secondary schools.

A seven-form entry secondary school located in Tunbridge Wells, St Gregory’s is a popular destination for pupils from its Catholic partner primary schools in Tunbridge Wells, Tonbridge and Sevenoaks. As an inclusive academy, its dedicated staff, helpers and governance committee members work hard to ensure that every student is supported and challenged to be their very best. Each individual is encouraged to grow spiritually and intellectually, so that unique and positive contributions can be made to society and the world.

In its most recent denominational inspection in June 2024, St Gregory’s was judged as ‘Outstanding’ for Catholic Life and Mission and ‘Good’ for both Religious Education and Collective Worship and, in its latest Ofsted inspection in October 2024, the school was judged as ‘Good’ in all areas. At the heart of the report is recognition of the school's mission to ensure that ‘every child is known and loved’ inspectors highlighted a “warm and welcoming environment”, where students feel valued, supported and able to thrive.

Job Contact Information

• Name:Teresa Chun - HR
• Address:Reynolds Lane, Tunbridge Wells , Kent, TN4 9XL
• Telephone: 01892 240367
• Email: hr@sgschool.org.uk

Documents

Below are documents that have been added to this vacancy.

• Consent to obtain references
• Application pack