Schools Coordinator - 'A Few Small Steps' (AFSS)
REPORTING TO: Board of Action for Sustainable Living
MAIN PURPOSE OF THE JOB:
The role of the Schools Coordinator is central to AfSLs vision of supporting individuals and their communities to live sustainably. The Schools Coordinator will oversee the day-to-day delivery and operations of AfSLs Schools Programme (AFSS) in designated local primary schools through the recruitment, training and support of a team of core volunteer staff (+ occasional freelance paid staff) and through nurturing an 'eco-mentoring' relationship with staff and students in individual schools.
The Schools Coordinator will be responsible for ensuring the delivery of a high-quality service to the designated primary schools as well as contributing to the ongoing development of the AFSS service by updating resources and training materials for both AFSS volunteers, school staff and managers. The Schools Coordinator will also contribute to the general knowledge fund of AfSL.
MAIN RESPONSILITIES:
1)Become familiar with the designated schools and surrounding communities in the geographical areas covered by the Schools Coordinators responsibility, identifying key staff, stakeholders and opportunities for delivering the service.
2)Recruit and induct volunteers to work with the programme. Coordinate the on-going training of new schools volunteers.
3)Coordinate two teams of six volunteers to support the delivery of the in-school programme
4)Liaise with headteachers, teaching staff and school managers to schedule work in the schools that are part of the programme
5)As part of 4) above, deliver, or support the delivery of, assemblies, classroom activities, environmental audits, staff workshops and extra-curricular student support work (e.g. Eco-committees) to 6 schools in-line with agreed AFSS targets.
6)Mentor and work with the volunteers both as individuals and as a group.
7)Work with AfSL's Development Worker for Schools to provide additional guidance, resource support and mentoring to teaching staff and school managers, including helping to coordinate input from guest speakers and other linked service providers.
8)Contribute to the design and organisation of AFSS teaching resources and materials, including their upgrading and re-development based around on-the-ground feedback and experience.
9)Evaluate the progress of the programme by agreeing targets with individual schools and monitoring progress on a regular basis
10) Wherever possible, link schools projects to AfSL's work in the local community through effective communication and planning with Local Project Managers and the Sustainable Communities Coordinator.
11) Maintain appropriate records of their own achievements and those of the schools worked with through agreed evaluation systems.
12) Contribute to the ongoing work of AfSL generally, including attending appropriate meetings and training.
Two themes run through and inform AfSLs projects:
1)The need for us all to make significant lifestyle changes if we are to create a sustainable world (Sustainability is here defined as 'the need to ensure a better quality of life for all, now, and into the future, in a just and equitable manner, while living within the limits of supporting ecosystems')
2)The importance of strengthening local links so that issues of sustainability can be tackled from a local perspective. It is essentially a Human Scale approach which can be defined as 'living as if people and their communities really mattered, which implies a shift towards more local decision-making, and local work, food, energy and exchange: it means people taking responsibility for themselves, those around them and the environment they share in common'.
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