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Bishop's School Visitors - Ely Diocese
A volunteer Visitor is attached to each Church School to provide support and a link with the Diocese and Schools Team
Our Bishop's School Visitors come from a wide variety of backgrounds, but they all have strong links with the Church and with Education. They are not self-selecting, but come to the role on the personal recommendation of headteachers, clergy or educational personnel. They participate in regular training days at Ely and have been commissioned by the Bishop for a (renewable) three year term of office.
The chief role of the Visitor is to be a friend to their schools. They are a living link between the Bishop with the Diocesan Board of Education & Training and the Church Schools. They will be especially interested in the various elements of church school life such as ethos, RE and collective worship, and will be able to offer ideas and support in these areas. They will also want to be supportive and attentive listeners, making friends with adults and children alike, sharing both problems and joys. Part of their role is to offer to be a, non-judgmental, listening ear if headteachers or staff want someone to "unload" upon.
There are more than twenty-five Bishop's School Visitors in the Diocese of Ely at the moment, spread between eighty-three church schools. This means that no Bishop's School Visitor is linked with more than three schools, and most have only two partner schools. This allows the Visitors to offer the gift of their time on a regular basis. It is the task of the School and the Visitor together to negotiate the most helpful form and pattern the Bishop's School Visitor visits can take: in some schools a friendly visit a couple of times a year will suffice, or schools may choose to invite their Visitor to join them on school trips, or help with special RE projects, perhaps even become a regular visitor leading collective worship. The permutations are endless! Visitors also have their own particular interests, perhaps in music, science or special needs, and bring these skills to the relationship as well.
Two documents are attached - the first is our present Bishop's School Visitor Commissioning Service, the second, called "Making the Most of your Bishop's School Visitor" is used to introduce Visitors to their schools.
Would you like to know more about becoming a Bishop's School Visitor? Contact Shirley Hall
Related Links
- The Commissioning of Bishop's School Visitors
- Advice to Schools on Making the Most of Your Bishop's School Visitor
- Becoming a Bishop's School Visitor