Schools Workers

Schools need your involvement like never before. Why?

A bit because Schools Workers provide 1000s of hours of additional support at no additional cost to over-stretched budgets (let’s be realistic!)

But mainly because Curriculum for Excellence challenges schools to re-think what learning is all about – and in a much better way than ever before. Progressively all schools are realising what they now need to deliver:

• Holistic learning: children and young people developing spiritually and emotionally, not just intellectually and physically¹
• Learning in partnership with the school’s local community²
• Children and young people being actively involved in their own learning³

Skilled as they are, teachers can’t do this on their own. If you, a Schools Workers offer the right sorts of support, most schools will only too keen to welcome you in. The Schools Workers resources on this website offers all the tools to help you to do just this.

Open our Toolbox

If you’re already an experienced Schools Worker, our Resources section is probably where you’ll want to start. Are you involved with Assemblies or RME or a lunchtime club…maybe other parts of school life as well? There are 100s of resources to look at and download.

What should I be doing (or avoiding)?

You can serve a school in lots of practical ways, but what should you avoid doing? Remember you’re there for one reason only – to support the pupils’ learning.

We go into schools to be a blessing, not to evangelise. But what does that mean in practice? What are the boundaries you mustn’t cross? The Permissions and Boundaries section links to key guidance that every Schools Worker should understand and follow. For example, how does Curriculum for Excellence support your work? Is there a Protocol available to guide what you can do in a school? Is there an Agreement which you could negotiate with a school?

Curriculum for Excellence

Try to wade through the 1000s of pages of guidance for teachers published by Education Scotland, and you’ll lose the will to live! But you definitely need to understand the big ideas, so make sure to look at our Survey of Relevant Themes within Curriculum for Excellence.

Once you show you understand where the school is coming from, they are much more likely to welcome your input. Scotland rightly takes pride in its system of liberal education: schools give children and young people the information, experiences and critical tools to make decisions and choices for themselves – your role is to help children and young people to

• understand Christian beliefs,
• see authentic faith in practical action, and
• develop critical tools so they can make their own informed decisions.

But let’s be practical: where do you go for new approaches? The Approaches & Ideas has links and Case Studies to get you started, while if you’d like direct support, visit the Get Support area…..or go to CVE Community.