Placements

London is one of the most remarkable cities in the world. There is greater diversity in London than in almost any other city anywhere. More than half the people who are now living in London were born in another country. This astonishing mixture of cultures brings plenty of challenges, but God has been at work in bringing Christian brothers and sisters to London from the nations of the world. There are ethnic churches near College and across London, as well as churches with greater diversity than in most other parts of the country.   

The College placements can provide a wonderful opportunity to experience this richness first hand. At some point in their College experience, we are eager to see every student and student family step beyond the familiar, with a taste for adventure, to make a deliberate decision to discover more of God’s grace with help from Christians from other cultures. This can be done either in the weekly placements which last for an academic year or in the optional, shorter placements explained below.

1. Compulsory weekly church placements

All undergraduate students and postgraduate ordinands take part in Weekly Church Placements during their programme, with the nature of the placement tailored to your training needs: for example, whether you are an Independent or Anglican student or whether you are training for ordination in the Church of England. Assessment of each placement will be by means of a portfolio of reports and reflections written during the placement. 

Placements are completed within two modules which provide resources and structure for learning from them: “Introducing Theological Reflection” (10 credits), and “Developing Ministry and Worship in Context” (20 credits).

In summary students take the following placement modules:

Full time undergraduate students:

• CertHE: “Introducing Theological Reflection” in year 1

• DipHE: “Introducing Theological Reflection” in year 1 and “Developing Ministry and Worship in Context” in year 2

• BA (Hons): “Introducing Theological Reflection” in year 1 and “Developing Ministry and Worship in Context” in year 2

Part time undergraduate students:

• CertHE: “Introducing Theological Reflection” in one year of the CertHE

• DipHE: “Introducing Theological Reflection” in one year of the CertHE; “Developing Ministry and Worship in Context” in one year of the DipHE

• BA (Hons): “Introducing Theological Reflection” in one CertHE year; “Developing Ministry and Worship in Context” in one DipHE year 

Postgraduate ordinands:

• “Introducing Theological Reflection” in year 1 and “Developing Ministry and Worship in Context” in year 2

2. Optional ministry experience placements

You may also participate in optional and very flexible Placements as part of which you may observe, evaluate and/or participate in ministry activities under the supervision of a minister or other mission leader.  This gives you the opportunity to have a more immersive look at a particular type of ministry setting e.g. in a prison or immigration detention centre, in a hospice among the dying and their families, or something of your choice overseas. Students also use this placement to widen, over an intensive week or two, their experience of church, sampling for example the breadth of the Anglican traditions or the glorious kaleidoscope of world Christianity gathered in London and described above.

There is also the opportunity of including placement experience in the compulsory Extended Learning Project (20 credits) in the BA (Hons) year of study.

Anglican ordinands do a different weekly church placement in each of your first two years.  If you are staying for a third year, you are free to choose which Anglican church you go to, in consultation with your personal tutor and/or the Director of Placements, and you may decide to stay at one of the churches you were placed at in your first two years.  One of your placements needs to be ‘out of tradition’ - this is a Church of England Ministry Development Team requirement for ordinands to give you experience outside your own tradition and to increase your understanding of the spectrum of churchmanship in the Church of England.  This requirement can usually be met either through one of your weekly church placements in years 1 and 2.

Full time independent students have a weekly church placement for both years of the DipHE and you are encouraged to be in the same church for that time (and longer if you are at College for more than two years).  You may have the option of changing churches for one of your years in order to gain more experience, which would need to be agreed with College.  In the light of your identified goal for ministry, your placement may be tailored accordingly.  For example if cross-cultural ministry is your goal, then you can have a first year placement that gives you a taste of multi-cultural Christian worship, followed by a second year placement intended to expose you to Christian worship in an unfamiliar setting, where the culture is significantly different from your own.

Part time independent students normally undertake your placements in churches with whom you are already connected.  From May onwards, once you have an Assured Place at Oak Hill, you will be asked to provide contact details for the person at your church who you expect to be your placement supervisor.  Again, in the light of your identified goal for ministry, we may discuss with you how best to shape the placements with you.  Where appropriate, there is the option for you to request a College-arranged placement.

For full time students, staying in your home church as your placement would only be in exceptional circumstances, and this would need to be discussed and agreed with College. Placements in a fresh setting are an invaluable and unrepeatable opportunity to ‘breathe new air’ and significantly to deepen our understanding of different churchmanships and cultures. It is a significant loss from the curriculum if this opportunity is not taken. If you flag this as a question when you apply to Oak Hill, we can ensure you have a conversation at the most appropriate time.

There are many churches that are part of our placement scheme and they vary in distance from College/where you are living.  Some students gladly travel up to an hour but most placements are much closer and you will not be undertake a placement which is impossible for your circumstances.

We encourage you and your family, wherever possible, to make your placement church your home church together.  Attending as a family changes your experience and participation in the church, enriches your learning and provides your family with their own opportunity to reflect on different ways of ‘doing church’ which may be invaluable for the future. This is not, however, a requirement and some students separate their placement from their family church very successfully.  We are always willing to discuss this further at the appropriate time.

• In late June/early July or when you have an Assured Place (whichever comes later), you will be asked to complete a Placement Form, which is an opportunity for you to specify your experience, your goals for ministry and anything in particular you want to gain from your placement, particularly in discussion with your sending church minister.

• It is then College’s responsibility to allocate the placements. Andrew Nicholls (Director of Pastoral Care) has overall responsibility for placement arrangements within the College. 

  • Full time students: Allocation is done by taking into account what you have submitted on your placement form, information from your sending church minister, and any other particular requirements e.g. from a Stage 2 Discernment Panel report for Anglican ordinands, and in consultation with any placement church. Your sending church minister may be contacted, and if you are an Anglican ordinand, your DDO may also be contacted.  Andrew may also contact you as well.

  • Part time students: Part time students will be in a variety of situations, but you will normally be in a church with which you are already connected. College will make arrangements for your church to be your placement church, or allocate a different church placement if requested on the placement form

• Potential placement supervisors are provided with a copy of the Placement Supervisors handbook, asked to sign a Placement Agreement and provide Oak Hill with a copy of their Church Safeguarding Policy (for part time students placed at their home church, we ask for this from your nominated supervisor in your home church). This takes place later in the summer before a new student’s programme starts.

We will normally inform you of your placement later in the summer just before you start at Oak Hill, via your Oak Hill student email address, and give you the relevant contact details.  The formal start of your placement will not be confirmed, however, until:

• the paperwork has been received from the placement supervisor (as above)

• you have completed your online safeguarding training

• your DBS clearance has come through (details about these last two items are provided over the summer in the ‘new student welcome information’).

For the purposes of placements, the College takes responsibility for your safeguarding clearance and confirms this to your placement church as soon as it is complete.