Lawyers in Schools facilitates links between legal professionals and schools primarily in economically deprived areas. It provides an opportunity for lawyers and trainees to discuss and explore various legal issues with students from a local school.
This unique volunteering opportunity draws on the core skills and knowledge of legal professionals together with the Citizenship Foundation's expertise in educational partnerships. It offers clear educational benefits for young people and enables volunteers to gain a real insight into the lives of young people and the issues that affect their local community.
Contents
What's covered?
History & Development
Why do we run Lawyers in Schools?
What support is provided?
What's covered?
At each session volunteers use interactive, engaging activities designed to generate discussion around a particular topic of law, and focuses on the key issues and points of interest which are of particular relevance to young people.
The activities are produced by educational experts at the Citizenship Foundation and are updated annually. Each year, new units are also introduced to the set which currently includes:
- Learning about the Law (download this unit here)
- Employment Law
- Consumer Law
- Human Rights
- Youth Justice
- Police Powers
- Discrimination
- Intellectual Property & Downloading Music
- Housing Law
- Family Law (coming soon)
History & Development
The scheme was originally created in 1999 in partnership with Linklaters, an international law firm, with volunteers from the firm working with students from a school in Hackney, East London. The sessions at the school saw volunteers working with small groups of students to lead them through discussion-based activities about the law, the legal system and how it related to the young people. This pilot project was a huge success from the view points of both the school and law firm with both sides recognising the benefits of the scheme to those involved.
Ten years on, Linklaters volunteers continue to work with schools across Hackney to generate debates on the law using the Lawyers in Schools materials. The activities have been regularly updated to reflect changes in the law and society to keep the debates relevant to the lives and concerns of young people today. The project has grown significantly over the past ten years and now sees over 20 law firms and in-house legal teams working with students in schools across the country in areas including: London, Bolton, Leeds, Manchester, Oxford, Swindon and Scarborough.
Why do we run Lawyers in Schools?
Through a range of projects, the Citizenship Foundation has been connecting the legal profession and schools for over twenty years. The projects seek to develop students' understanding of the law and examine how the legal system relates to them as individuals, ultimately engaging them in how the society around them operates.
'Citizenship' was introduced as a National Curriculum subject in 2002 (please click here for more information about Citizenship Education). Many teachers have told us that they find the legal aspects of the Citizenship Curriculum particularly challenging to deliver as they may have little training or previous knowledge of the subject and its delivery. We have found that students engage and respond well to those that have an expertise in the law, reacting to the energy, confidence and enthusiasm shown by the volunteers when talking about the law. Lawyers in Schools therefore directly contributes to the National Curriculum in a unique, interactive and thought-provoking way.
What support is provided?
Participating organisations are fully-supported by the Citizenship Foundation throughout the year. This support includes:
- Initial consultancy for setting up the scheme within your organisation;
- Selecting and contacting a suitable local school and recruiting a coordinating teacher;
- Support in recruiting volunteers ahead of a 2-hour volunteer training session run at your office;
- Provision of an expanding selection of high-quality, engaging, interactive educational resources, updated regularly to reflect changes in the law;
- Setting up the sessions at the school, with a Citizenship Foundation representative attending your first session to deal with any last minute issues;
- Ongoing support, troubleshooting and monitoring of your scheme;
- Access to the members-only section of this website with information about your school, sessions, training and other useful information relevant to your volunteers;
- Produce an individually tailored evaluation report after collecting feedback from the students, teachers and volunteers involved in your scheme;
- Work with you to create a press release for your local media about your work at the school;
- Invite you to an Annual National Celebration Event which recognises the students' achievements across the year and thanks the volunteers for their time and effort;
- Provide each participating student with a certificate and copy of our award-winning publication, the Young Citizen's Passport, an easy-to-read concise guide for young people on their rights and the law, covering much of the information discussed in the Lawyers in School sessions.
- You're not alone! The Citizenship Foundation team have a wealth of experience in running educational partnerships and are always on hand to help. Our expertise in working at the interface between the education and business worlds means that we can confidently resolve issues which arise across the year. A dedicated Project Support Officer at the Citizenship Foundation will also be available throughout the year to deal with any queries or concerns that crop up.
- Our well-respected, tried-and-tested materials have engaged thousands of students over the years. The activities are regularly updated to take account of changes to the law and feedback from participating students and volunteers.
As this programme does not receive any core funding, in order to cover the costs involved in running the programme, and the provision of support detailed above, the Citizenship Foundation charges a fee to the law firm for participating in this project. Further details on this fee can be provided on request, as it varies according to size of law firm, and number of volunteers / schools.