Unity College defines Pastoral Care as: “sharing God’s love to engage all students and staff in understanding their identity, values and purpose in relationship with their community.”
Pastoral Care happens through the day-to-day care shown to each person at Unity College as we seek to become the community God is calling us to be. It is a holistic approach encompassing, the physical, spiritual, academic, and emotional dimensions of peoples’ lives. It occurs between adult and adult, student and student but most importantly adult and student.
Unity College’s Pastoral Care centres around God’s love for each one of us, each person’s uniqueness, and that each one of us is a special creation by God given a specific vocation based around our gifts and talents. Corinthians 12:12-27, 13:1-7.
Pastoral Care happens through the predetermined structures of the school including Home Groups and Year Levels and the daily, weekly, and yearly events of school life including Devotions, Graduation and various Wellbeing activities.
Unity College also has pastoral support specialists on staff, including a School Counsellor, Senior Chaplain and Junior School Chaplain who provide a valuable ‘listening ear’, as well as a source of support, encouragement and guidance.
Pastoral Care equally happens through the organic and unplanned interactions between members of our community (e.g. chatting with a student while on yard Duty, sharing joys and concerns with fellow staff members in the staff room, listening to a parent express concerns for their child’s wellbeing). Therefore all members of our community share in the opportunity to care and nurture each other; Pastoral Care is simply part of what it means to be a member of the Unity College community.
