A simple and effective idea and initiative from the Anglican Church in Salisbury to develop relationships between the church and their local school.

There are many ways for Scottish churches to engage with their community and local schools. If you need inspiration, why not try some of these top ideas!

The start of a new school year marks a good time to support your local school. A great way to serve them is through prayer, asking for God’s blessing on the school, teachers and pupils as well as praying for their needs.

You might worry how praying for a school might be received, but the majority of responses are positive. Head teachers are often moved to think that someone cares enough to pray for them and their work, and praying often leads to local Christians coming forward to serve the local school community in practical ways.

Beginning something new is always a challenge and can often be exciting and scary at the same time. When you’re just 11 or 12 and are faced with the major change from primary to secondary school, and could be daunted by the prospect, then it isn’t such a bad idea to find out what the new life is going to involve.

Scripture Union (England & Wales) have produced a booklet called It’s your Move which is designed to give Primary 7 children the kind of information that will answer many of the questions they have about going to secondary school.

It all begins It is important to recognise that, when supporting a closing school, it is the school building that is closing and not the children’s lives! Carry on with the activities that you lead or help at, and keep building up the relationships you have with teachers and management. Healthy relationships mean that even though the school building is closing, your work is still appreciated and will continue to be appreciated at a different school (hopefully!).with an idea.

The office staff are the first point of contact in a school. They provide a welcoming atmosphere and help with numerous queries as well as making sure everyone is in the right place at the right time. To show your appreciation of their support you could provide a yearly Office Staff Meal at the Church.

In one church, members noticed that children were turning up to school in clothes that looked dirty, and when they asked they realised some families didn’t own a washing machine, and couldn’t afford to go to a laundrette.

A great way to support and serve your local school is through prayer. From Shetland to Stranraer people are praying for schools, asking for God’s blessing on them, praying for their needs – and seeing answers to prayer. Pray for Schools Scotland has seen a tremendous increase in schools prayer over the past few years, with around 63% of Scottish schools are now registered as prayed-for.

In the ‘Practices and Traditions’ subsection of the Christianity strand in the Experiences and Outcomes of the RME curriculum in Scotland, you will find:

Through investigating the Christian communities in my local area, I am discovering how Christian communities demonstrate their beliefs through prayer, worship and special ceremonies. I am developing respect for the practices and traditions of others.

A great example of how the local church can assist in this is by offering a chance for pupils to visit the church.

Being able to read is something most of us take for granted. However, some children lack the same opportunities and struggle with reading. Paired reading is an activity where a learner and a skilled reader read a text together. The learner takes over reading in sections where he or she feels confident. It is a brilliant opportunity to provide support to children who are struggling with their reading. Adults who can get alongside these children can make a positive impact to their lives by helping them develop this valuable and vital skill.

“Golden Time” normally runs in primary schools for around thirty minutes on a Friday afternoon. The pupils are offered a choice of fun activities in return for behaving themselves throughout the week. The selection available to them varies from school to school but may include such options as baking; playing with construction toys; craft activities or taking part in team games.

Many primary schools take pupils on both educational and leisure outings. These trips require high ratio of adults to children and so parents or other adult helpers are necessary to supplement staff on excursions. Being able to assist by accompanying a class on a visit to a museum or sports festival both provides needed help to the school and allows relationships to be built with staff members and children in a more informal setting than the classroom.

Even within state education there can be a financial burden on families as extra costs such as school trips and residentials appear on notes home in school bags. Why not demonstrate the practical compassion of your congregation by trying to alleviate this stress for families facing hardship so that their children are not excluded from school excursions on the basis of finances? Could your church form a pot of money that the school can use discretely where needed? Or is this a general issue throughout the school, in which case, making arrangements for contributing towards coach costs or providing a gift that will subsidise all places could mean a lot to the Head Teacher.

Before each parents’ evening (there are six each year), your local churches could bring sandwiches and baking into the school, set it up and serve tea and coffee. The food can be provided mainly by individuals from the local churches and Christian parents. It’s great to be able to support and encourage the teachers in this way and get to know and build relationships with them. It gathers the staff in one place before what can often be difficult evenings for them and helps them feel valued. It can make a great impact yet is such a simple thing to do!

Most primary schools will hold school fairs several times a year to help raise funds for the school. There are many ways that people in the church could volunteer to help out:

Sometimes schools need to move premises, or departments within a school will be swapped round. It can be stressful for staff who need to keep teaching as well as sorting out all the resources they have accumulated (sometimes over many many years!).