Update from Andy Stevenson, Head of Youthworks Ministry Support Team (MST)
The Team and I are always so grateful for your support as donors who are vital partners in funding us to resource and upskill churches so they can have a great positive impact in their local schools. Without your generous gifts, SRE would not be happening in many schools now and far fewer students would be attending SRE classes … if it even still existed in schools today!
With multiple activities to oversee—from SRE teachers who need training and accreditation before stepping foot into the classroom and SRE Coordinators negotiating timetables and compliance, to ongoing advocacy with the government—your gifts are helping to secure and improve SRE at every level!
I hope you will be encouraged to read about what has been achieved so far under God, with thanks to you!
The current picture for NSW
As we near the end of a busy term 1, I am pleased to say that the overall situation for SRE has improved significantly and this year student numbers are higher than they have been since 2019!
Previously, SRE was significantly diminished by the government’s change from opt-out to opt-in enrolments in 2017, and by the disruption of COVID-19 and resulting loss of volunteer SRE teachers. Getting SRE back into schools and running smoothly has been a major priority for Youthworks MST.
The Team were deployed to work with every SRE Coordinator and negotiate with as many schools as possible to get SRE going again. Our goals were to ensure classes were timetabled correctly, recruit more SRE teachers, and train and upskill them to fully satisfy the growing number of compliance requirements.
In the background, we put much effort into lobbying for the Department of Education to build an online school enrolment method including the choice to opt-in for SRE, which would replace the broken paper system. After 12 months of operation, in 2024 every one of the 55% of schools now using the online system has seen an increase in student numbers enrolled in SRE!
Stories of success
I talked recently with an SRE teacher at Mt Druitt High School. She is a graduate of Youthworks College, an excellent teacher, and last year had 6 students in SRE across the whole school. My team helped her get the online enrolment system set up in the school and negotiated with the Principal for a better timetable. This year there are 158 students in SRE from Years 7-10, an amazing turnaround!
Another school in South Sydney has never had timetabled SRE and the Principal was very resistant. I was asked to help and managed to persuade the Principal to introduce SRE in 2023 taught by the local Youth Minister, who is a current Youthworks College student and talented soccer coach at the school. The Principal predicted that 20 students would attend. This year they have 112 Year 7-10 students attending SRE and by God’s grace it’s set to grow.
Future plans to enhance SRE
We currently have a long waitlist of churches asking for help to get SRE running better in their local schools, and we cannot meet the growing demand. I’m assisting with the workload in two of our largest regions—South-West Sydney and Wollongong—which have five times the usual number of requests for help at this time.
As this year progresses, our focus is on establishing the online enrolment system for SRE in every school in Greater Sydney by the end of term 2, 2024 ahead of the 2025 intake.
We also plan to launch a recruitment campaign to attract and train NEW SRE teachers because there are growing numbers of students! We are confident that with a cohort of early retirees and the shift to flexible working arrangements more people will step up to take on this rewarding ministry.
Requests for prayer
Please pray that MST would continue to get more effective at negotiating with schools and resourcing churches to equip teachers so that we can improve SRE in more schools.
Pray for safety as MST drive all over Sydney visiting schools and churches and for good relations with the Department of Education, Principals and other providers of SRE.
Pray for more students to join SRE classes, more teachers to nurture their faith, and for protection against those who oppose SRE and are actively petitioning right now to have it removed from the school timetable.
Thanks again for your unwavering vision and regular financial support for SRE. Ultimately, our goal together is to ensure that SRE remains accessible, strong and growing as an integral part of students' educational experience impacting their lives for life.
Andy Stevenson oversees Special Religious Education (SRE) and Youth and Children's Ministry for the Anglican Diocese of Sydney. His role involves leading a team of eight Advisors who train and accredit SRE teachers and work with local churches to advise and improve their ministry to young people at church and in 1,100 primary and high schools across the five regions of the Diocese and beyond.
