Hi, my name is Chappy Matt and I am excited to be a part of the community of this wonderful school Tenthill Lower. Usually I am here every Monday and Tuesday from 8am till 4pm.
My role as a Chaplain is to provide pastoral care through emotional, social and spiritual support when asked by the students, staff and families of Tent Hill Lower State School. How do I do this?
Mostly during the day, I will be found in one of the classrooms helping the teachers and students in normal lesson time. Assisting students to learn is a major focus. If a student is having some sort of issue or is unhappy about something, I may take them aside and let them talk, try to reassure them, help them get into a 'good space' so that they can get back to their job of learning.
At lunchtimes, I am usually on the playground talking and playing games with different students. As they become more used to me and feel more comfortable with me I hope that students with worries or wanting to discuss something will feel happy to come and talk with me. I am open to all sorts of discussions!
I hope in the future to develop some sort of lunchtime activity, perhaps a garden club. More importantly I would like to facilitate a program called A.D.A.M which is short for A Discussion About Manhood. This is a program aimed at boys and teaching them how to be respectful, resilient, courageous, grateful and how to grow up to be a gentleman.
If you wish to contact me, my email address is: mattheww1@chappy.org.au otherwise you can speak to me via the school's phone 54627109 or in person on Monday's and Tuesday's.