Consolation and hope in a time of crisis: Bringing Chaplains together to cultivate human flourishing and spiritual resilience in response to COVID-related losses for year 7 pupils

This report offers insights gained from
• 9 virtual communities of practice (VCoPs) sessions that occurred between June 2021 and May 2023.
• Online surveys explored the participant chaplains’ experience of participation in the VCoPs and webinar participants’ views.
• Five Webinars (2021/2023) with 152 attendees in total.
It shares details of the research process 2021 -2023, which led to four key insights.
• The invaluable role that the school chaplain has in nurturing the spiritual flourishing of year 7 students as they enter secondary school.
• The ongoing consequences of the absence of a smooth transition- induction process on the resilience of the 2020-year 7 cohort.
• The fragility and resilience of the chaplains in responding to the escalating rise of mental health issues among students and staff.
• A sense of hope among chaplains, who are now exploring different ways to nurture the spiritual flourishing of a school community.

It details the dissemination process that has been on-going since the end of 2021. All the findings and resources are available on NICER website (nicer.org.uk) and continue to be widely disseminated at conferences with chaplains, head teachers, teaching staff, academics, and representatives from Anglican and Roman Catholic educational contexts. The team continues receiving invites to share the research with academics and organisations working with chaplains.