Embedded in the Community
Knowing where to start in involvement with a school community can be tricky when we don’t know what opportunities are available to us. Often, when this is the case, it is good to be aware of our skills and be open to using these in the community where there are gaps to be filled.
One of the first ways that Michelle Brown got involved with her school community was through exploring the use of Godly play as a means of conveying stories to primary school students in an RME lesson. Using the format of exploring a story and giving the students permission to wonder about the Bible stories in their classes, created a safe space to share an inclusive and welcoming faith story. This cultivated an environment where they are free to respond to the story, but it is not a mandatory task.
There is something really important about building that relationship with young people on the ground, and building up that trust. Michelle reflects that it was often through these relationships with the students that connections would spark with parents at the school. “Students would often say hi to me at the end of the school day, which often led to questions from the parents about how I was involved with the school”. Creating that trusted and known persona with the young people of the school is so important for setting that in the rest of the community, and can allow other relationships to form because of this involvement with the young people.
One of the ways that Michelle’s involvement has changed over the years is the development of the SU group in the school. After running an SU group for many years during a weekly lunchtime slot, a new headteacher at the school wanted to make some changes, one of these was to stop the lunchtime SU group. Michelle talks about how the important thing in that change was to give headteacher options moving forward, “in a way that still maintained that positive relationship with the school”. The decision was made to change the group to an after school club. Although this has led to having less attendees, it has also allowed a bit more consistency and for the group to grow more and connect with the stories on a deeper level. There is something quite important about moving with the school through changes, working together and meeting them where they are willing to receive what you can offer.
Michelle reflects on how her involvement with the school has embedded her more in the community and really made her feel part of the school family, “I’d rather be within the community, being connected to those around me as here it is easier to know the struggles of others and be able to reach out to them”. This so clearly illustrates the importance of being a part of school community to simply be a part of the community as a whole.
