If you already have significant involvement in a school community, proactively looking for other ways to be involved with that school or other schools in the area is not always easy. But perhaps it’s always good to be asking the question: what else can we be doing here?

Perhaps one of the most important questions when serving in a school community is this: how can we be showing the church’s love in action? Karen Stangoe, the children and families worker at Uddingston Park Church, reflects on the different activities that churches can run in schools, and how sometimes it is through serving in the more mundane school activities that we convey this love the best.

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.

When Gillian Burns started as the Youth Worker for John Knox Church of Scotland, a new headteacher started at Stewarton Academy, the local secondary school, at the same time. Prior to Gillian starting in the role, the school had had a good relationship with the church, but with very little input, mainly at Easter and Christmas events. But things took a massive shift when the new headteacher started and Gillian was able to build up that relationship from the beginning of both of their roles

It’s easy to think that when we are serving schools, we need to be looking for the need that is current, the one that needs to be filled right now and reap near instant results. But sometimes filling a need can be pre-emptive of what might be useful for the future, and what could benefit the community and the school in the long run. Kings Church in Inverness is one example of serving and supporting the young people in the schools by setting them up with skills for the future.

Two of the key things to know when seeking to serve a school are your own skills and the needs of the school. How else can you truly serve if you don’t know what they require? And how can you possibly deliver if you don’t know what you can offer them? Paul Beautyman youth worker in Argyll, reflects that it is always better to “under-promise and over-deliver”, as that leaves space for you to give more. Give more back to the students, back to the teachers, and back to the community.

When we see the big partnerships that have formed between schools and churches already, it is easy to forget that these connections must have grown over time. Schools Worker for St. Columba’s Church of Scotland (Bridge of Don), Sue Thomson came into her role when these connections had already been built between the schools and the church but was under no illusion that these partnerships grew overnight. Even in the midst of all the projects they continue to develop, the core of the work is building these relationships, allowing something to grow and investing in the need that they see before them.

Part of the nature of schools work and SU groups is that you will see a lot of young people come and go, but with all the opportunities available to them these days, it can be difficult to find young people who are able to commit. Gillian Orr has been part of the running of Kingussie High School SU group since 2000 and has seen it evolve in a variety of ways over time. In reflecting on the initial forming of the group, it was clear that starting from nothing provided a lot of challenges in encouraging attendance and inviting people in.

Gordon McBirnie has worked for Craiglockhart Parish Church for a number of years, and during his time has witnessed many changes and challenges in the way that the church seeks to serve their local schools. It’s very easy to get discouraged when it seems like our current work isn’t going in the direction we were planning or hoping for. When SU groups are more difficult and there seems to be little that is actually growing, it could make sense to stop with your involvement or leadership in an area of your school. But maybe it’s important we stick around in the difficult times as well as the good times?

Over 30 years ago Steve Younger was appointed School Chaplain at Auchinraith Primary, and since then relationships have been built and opportunities given, so that he is now greeted as a friend of the school. Three decades is a long time to stay engaged and current with any school these days, especially with the rate that staff teams alter. So what are the things that have allowed Steve to stay in this position as an adopted member of the staff team?