School Pastors is an interdenominational network of Christian charities operating across the UK and worldwide. It is a Church response to assist schools with pupils who are experiencing difficulties with their school life, training peace-makers to bring support and guidance to vulnerable young people in schools, colleges, and on the streets.

Since 2003 Ascension Trust has operated a successful national initiative called Street Pastors, which serves the local community with teams of volunteers out on the streets between the hours 10pm and 4am as an inter-denominational Church response to urban problems.

Working in partnership with the police and local government departments to deliver the Street Pastors initiative, Ascension Trust recognised that criminal activity rose between the hours of 2pm and 6pm, with the majority of victims and perpetrators being of school age.

In February 2007, with support from the Home Office, Ascension Trust piloted the School Pastors initiative in Lewisham, South London, specifically to address this issue. Ascension Trust went on to roll-out pilot schemes in other London boroughs before launching the initiative nationally in 2010.

Where Street Pastors has responded to the needs of the community on the streets at night, School Pastors aims to respond to the needs of the school community in the locality of specific partner schools. We provide a caring presence, listening and helping where we can.

The main things that School Pastors aim to do include:

• Reassurance - providing a calming adult presence in the area around the school
• Safety - helping prevent anti-social behaviour
• Support - available to support the school community at the direction of the school.