Supporting Your Local School During Covid

Many of us have been wrestling with the same question over these past few months. When the majority of schools aren’t welcoming outside visitors, how can we continue to support our local schools? 

There’s been a sense of waiting for things to return to normal, and perhaps the expectation that in the second term things might become a little clearer. 

However, there is still so much uncertainty that exists for our school communities and for us as congregations and workers looking to support them. There are some practical things that we can do it the meantime.

Prayer

Keeping pupils, parents and school staff in prayer remains vital and is something that we can all do. Pray for Schools have produced some excellent resources to help with this:

10 Ways to Pray for Schools

Prayer walking for Schools

Speak directly to staff

Let them know you’re thinking about them and holding them in prayer. Explore what might be possible. There have been examples where projects and workers (Fischy Music, Wheel Trust, eXp) have been able to continue supporting schools in person.

As schools begin to settle back into a routine, and with Christmas on the horizon, they may be more open to involvement. Take the opportunity to explore what the school might like you to help with. This might be something in person or something you can offer digitally.

Care packages 

Cults Church in Aberdeen have been providing care packages for staff at their local primary school, and have plans of doing something similar with their local high school. I’m sure many other congregations have provided something similar. If this is something you haven't done already, it would be a great way of reminding staff how appreciated they are.

Sharing resources

During a conversation as part of the New Hope Conference, one head teacher mentioned a positive that had come from the Covid period had been staff and schools sharing resources. There are similar opportunities for churches and workers across the country too.

One example of this has been Steve Younger has been producing a series of fantastic videos that can be adapted and changed for use in your own school setting. A simple and effective way of supporting your local school with some great digital assembly materials.

The videos can be accessed HERE

Another fantastic resources comes from Walk Through the Bible. For over 20 years they le has been Bringing the Bible to life for children in primary schools. Check out their brand new and FREE video resources HERE.

Godly Play UK has produced a FREE resource aimed at supporting primary children's wellbeing during the pandemic. It can be used in class but perhaps there's also an opportunity to record these storytelling sessions and offer them digitally to your local school. The resource is available HERE.

Ten Must Know Bible Stories have also produced a new series of digital assemblies Based around Bible stories they are linked to Health and Well being topics, and come with free follow on resources. Find them HERE.

Working with mental health professionals and experienced youth workers, Youthscape have developed a new suite of resources for secondary schools Thrive is a comprehensive ready-to-use programme designed for classroom work in lessons or tutor times. The resource can be purchased HERE. Although costly, non-profits and charities who are interested in using and delivering Thrive should contact Youthscape directly for more information about special rates.

Adapting what you offered before

Rather than waiting for things to return to normal, are there ways we can adapt what we used to provide in school in other ways? For example, could you faciliate your lunchtime Christian Union group online or provide assemblies or classroom content digitally?

While many churches usually host visits from pupils could you create your own 360 virtual tour using Google Tour Creator? Get started HERE.

Training

In this waiting period there may be time and opportunity to pursue training that might allow you to offer some different types of support to your local schools when visitors are allowed to return.

With children’s health and well-being a central focus, one option might be exploring Seasons 4 Growth training and accreditation. They are currently offering in-house training which might be suitable for congregations or something that could be organised by Presbyteries.

Taking the opportunity to participate in emotional or mental health first aid training might be another option. TLG are offering two brand new training opportunities to equip you and your church to spot and respond to the signs of emotional distress in children, teenagers and adults. To find out more, see the available dates and book, click HERE.

Prayer Spaces in Schools and Youthscape ran a conference on schools work at the beginning of October. They've now made all the content (keynotes & seminars) available on a dedicated youtube channel so you can catch up or re-watch at your leisure. There was some really great content, perhaps you could watch these together with volunteers from your congregation on Zoom and explore ways you might be able to support your local schools. All the videos can be accessed HERE. 

Supporting other projects

Finally, are there any other local projects and groups supporting the school and pupils that you may be able to assist with? For example, many have local authority employed youth workers working within schools. Now could be a good time to reach out to them and understand their wider work and how you might be able to support or work alongside them in the future.

Is there a Parent Teacher Association attached to the schoool? How might you be able to support or encourage them in their work and aspirations for the school?  In my own local context, the PTA at one of our primaries set up an Amazon Wish List to help provide the school with extra resources and materials which allowed staff to enhance the work they do in school. The list was able to be coordinated with staff and is updated regularly. The vast majority of schools are having to work within strict budget parameters and the Amazon Wish List would be a great way to offer support when we might not be physically present in the school. Information about setting up an Amazon Wish List can be found HERE.

One other agency that comes to mind is MCR Pathways, a project that offers mentoring to young people within the school setting. They have increased the number of local authorities they are operating in, and are always looking for volunteers keen to support young people.

You can find out more information about volunteering with MCR Pathways HERE.