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The School and its Community: Practical ideas for fostering community cohesion

By: 

£45.00

ISBN: 

978-1-906517-41-0

Published: 

Jul 2010

The School and its Community is a practical and relevant resource that provides advice on how to foster community cohesion in your school by placing it at the heart of your community. This resource will promote active engagement with different communities and encourage pupils to develop an awareness of self, identity, community, diversity and cohesion.

Based on the author’s experience as a teacher, headteacher and teacher trainer, The School and its Community not only provides training for teachers so they can embed cohesion in their classrooms, but also develops pupils’ own awareness of the issues of cohesion within their community.

This highly practical resource is relevant to all primary and middle schools, and provides you with achievable and exciting activities to engage your school in the worldwide community.

Books and Training Products: If you are in the UK, your order should usually arrive within 7 working days. Please allow up to two weeks for deliveries outside the UK. Please note that some books and training packs are available to pre-order prior to publication; they will not be delivered until they are published.

eBooks: If purchased by credit card, you will be provided with easy download instructions for immediate download. If purchased by invoice you will have to wait until we have confirmed that your email address and contact details match your school’s. This is typically done on the following working day. Please note that sometimes e-books are available to pre-order prior to publication; they will not be available for download until they are published.

Benefits

The School and its Community contains four sections designed to:

  • examine what is meant by the idea of ‘community’
  • explore the differences between local, regional and national communities
  • provide accessible approaches to engaging with the world as a community
  • develop an awareness of self, identity, community, diversity and cohesion among your pupils.

Summary of contents

The School and its Community offers practical advice on ways of helping your school to make a meaningful contribution to the process of fostering community cohesion.

The School and its Community will help you to:

  • discuss the themes of a shared future, rights and responsibilities, mutual respect and civility and visible social justice in your classroom
  • encourage your students to recognise the differences between people as strengths and to ensure that everyone is treated in fairness and has equal access to support
  • provide comprehensive professional development opportunities for staff at your school
  • initiate discussions about the way your school currently interacts with the community and consider ways in which your school can develop this
    • develop your own strategies for embedding community cohesion in your school
    • provide you with practical resources to implement new policies regarding community cohesion.

Chapter breakdown

Part One: Understanding the Context

Part One comprises three short chapters designed to set the scene. The first chapter considers what is meant by a ‘shared vision’, a ‘sense of belonging’, and ‘community’. The second looks at how schools can contribute to the nation’s mission to build a cohesive community, and the third chapter provides recommendations for additional reading material, including reports and guidelines by the Commission for Integration.

  • Chapter 1: The ‘Complete School Community’
  • Chapter 2: The Role of Schools in Fostering Community Cohesion
  • Chapter 3: A Handy Guide to Reports, Recommendations and References

Part Two: Practical School Strategies to Foster Community Cohesion
Part Two addresses the potential for building a community through different settings and relationships. Chapter 4 looks at the school setting in terms of its ethos, overall values and behaviours, as well as how the attitudes of staff and pupils are shaped. The next chapter covers teaching and learning, chapter 6 considers a school’s relationship with its local community, particularly its parents. And chapter 7 looks at the school’s work within its wider community including the national and international community.

  • Introduction
  • Chapter 4: The School Setting
  • Chapter 5: Teaching and Learning
  • Chapter 6: School and its Local Community (Locale, Town and City)
  • Chapter 7: School and the Wider Community (Region, Nation, World)

Part Three: Supporting your Development Plan
The third part of this book offers a structure for developing this work in schools. You will find, both in the back of the book and on the CD, check-lists to help you to stimulate discussion in staff meetings and to engage teachers, learning mentors, learning support assistants, lunchtime supervisors, governors, parents and others in your work to foster community cohesion.

  • Chapter 8: Strategies to Support School Development
  • Chapter 9: Staff Training: PowerPoint Presentation

Part Four: Resources
This final part in the book provides both resources to use with staff and resources to use with pupils.

With a two-part PowerPoint presentation, comprehensive CPD sessions for your colleagues in the school, a variety of activity pages and training materials all available on CD-ROM, The School and its Community is a comprehensive resource that will support teachers to embed the principles of a cohesive community in your school.

Details

A4 ring binder, 200 pages Accompanying CD-ROM