Cross Organisational Support Teams

The CSSC Schools' Support Officers, led by Jayne Millar, are, in addition to their normal duties, fulfilling the roles of Link Officers and Partner Officers. All schools have been assigned a Link Officer to provide consistent information, support in having issues resolved promptly and reassurance during these times of challenge. Working alongside the Link Officer are two named Partner Officers providing a sound network of collaborative support across the organisations. Each CSSC Schools' Support Officer has responsibility for up to 24 controlled schools in the role of Link Officer and up to 100 controlled schools as Partner Officer.

Principals and teachers have been doing amazing work in making provision for continuity of learning for pupils and we are seeing innovative approaches from schools to effectively support and meet the challenges of remote learning. Their willingness to share resources, planning and thinking with colleagues across schools is welcomed by CSSC and we are keen to support this collaboration.

Schools' Support Officers continue to work remotely using the Microsoft Teams platform which enables a live database to be populated and queries and issues raised and promptly addressed.

The Schools' Support Officers maintain regular contact with the Principals of their Link schools. The feedback which we have been receiving is that Principals are delighted to be kept in the loop in terms of the flow of communications. Principals really appreciate the outreach and the feeling of being connected to a wider educational community as they work remotely managing key issues for their pupils, staff and parents. In response to questions in relation to how the Principals are managing themselves we are finding they have been focused on everyone else. It is important that our school leaders are managing their own health and well-being at this difficult time. There is an undercurrent of isolation which our school leaders are feeling now more than ever. One Principal shared with me that, “Remote learning arrangements are working very well, my staff are working tirelessly behind the scenes and my parents are very supportive. This can be managed extremely effectively but the one thing which cannot be managed is the real sense of fear which everyone is feeling. This is the tough nut to crack.”

The Controlled Schools’ Support Council seeks to reassure Principals during this extremely challenging time that they have access to a larger network of support and that the Link Officer is there, if needed, to support them in managing and resolving issues as they arise.

Andrew Brown

School Support Officer

20 April 2020