Book excerpt: This book is both a celebration of 40 years of the National Association for Pastoral Care in Education (NAPCE) and a forward-thinking volume examining the key pastoral issues of our time. Bringing together a range of expert contributors from a variety of educational settings, the book offers fresh insights and evidence-based strategies which will be of immediate relevance for all educators. This unique volume considers a wide range of themes, from charting the early days of pastoral care in education in the UK and the establishment of NAPCE through to the discussion of contemporary pastoral challenges facing children and young people around the world. This timely volume makes the case for the centrality of pastoral care in education and offers new directions for pastoral education, research, policy and practice.