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Listen
example 1 - parents and teachers working with a local young people's project
Teachers and parents at a secondary school in Dundee were concerned about increasing numbers of young people drinking. They had tried to tackle this within the school and in families, and thought that a fresh approach would help.
They contacted a Young People's Health Project. Staff from the project worked with young people at the school to develop a peer education programme. Young people designed posters and information cards about looking after yourself, respecting yourself and looking out for your friends. They had material about the impact of drinking, but in this wider context.
One of the issues that the pupils raised through the project was a growing problem with bullying in the school. This has now been taken up as a priority by teachers and parents.
The young people, the parents and the teachers are positive about the benefits of the joint project.
example 2 - a community working together to help the school
Parents at a primary school in the Scottish Borders decided to tidy up the playground over the summer holidays. This included painting the markings in the playground, some inside painting and tidying the woodland garden area.
They put up a poster in a local shop asking for volunteers as well as sending a note home with the children. The work happened over several weekends and there were many helpers.
- The people who took part included a lot of parents who did not have time to help on a regular basis or through the week
- Some older children who were now at secondary school came along to help
- Other people who were not parents came because they were keen to help or because they were friends with one of the parents
- Some people were there on most days
- Others just came for a few hours on one day
- People did different tasks
- Some people handed in food, so everyone could share sandwiches and home baking each day.
One person took lots of photographs. They were all posted up inside the school and some of the best and funniest went into the window of the local shop with a big thank you sign.
Activity
making the most of your community
| Purpose - To identify the resources that are
available to support children's learning
in the community - To share this information with parents
through a community directory or
a community learning showcase
|  | Who will be involved? - Parent Council, pupils
- School staff
- Family Learning or Community
Learning and Development Teams - This might be an activity you could
undertake with other schools in your
area/cluster as a joint activity
|
Step 1:Identify key organisations and community groups
Draw up a list of all the organisations, individuals and groups that members of the school community are already involved in or aware of who may have an interest in the school. If the Parent Council, Pupil Council and Staff Team each produce their own list, this should cover most of the groups and organisations. This will help you identify sources of information already available and will prevent duplication.
The list might include:
- Children's groups; early years groups, after school clubs, youth groups, 'uniformed' groups
- Sports clubs/activities for children and adults
- Religious and cultural groups and organisations
- Voluntary and community groups
- Key services such as doctors, clinics, libraries, dentists
- Community and adult learning providers
- People who represent the community such as councillors, MSPs.
Step 2:Identify those which could help the school, its pupils and parents
Discuss how they already contribute to the work of the school and how their role might be developed. You will have a long list and might want to organise it in some way by grouping them together. Identify those you feel most closely support what the school is trying to achieve and which support parents and promote children's learning and development in the community.
Step 3:Share your findings with parents and pupils
Invite these groups to a community showcase where they can display information about their organisation and tell others about what they do. Invite all parents and pupils and encourage them to come along and find out what is available in their community.
Step 4:Prepare a community directory
Ask the groups to write a short paragraph on what they do to support children's learning and development and collate these into a Community Learning Directory - make sure not to duplicate resources already available. Make this widely available to pupils, parents and staff.
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