There are only two Schools Organisers within the Schools Service of the NSPCC in Scotland and one of those is Alex McGillivray. Alex works within the areas of Aberdeenshire and Moray and has only been with the Service since September 2017, however he has been a great asset to our team and has amazing passion and commitment to the NSPCC and the work we do.
What made you want to work with the NSPCC, specifically the Schools Service? –
I’ve recognised the NSPCC as having a strong organisational brand for a long time but it was never on my radar too much until quite recently. I spend a lot of time with my nieces and wholly believe that putting children first is so important. Children are one of the most vulnerable groups in society and I believe we all have to work together to make sure that they can have a happy childhood so that they can go on to lead fulfilled lives. After I left school I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and took up an apprenticeship as a travel agent which I did for over 2 years. I started to get this feeling that I wanted to do something different and give back to society in some way, so I applied to volunteer in Tanzania with the International Citizen’s Service, this lead to me heading out to East Africa in January 2017 for 4 months. I learnt so much from my time in Tanzania, becoming a more grounded person and developing various skills, specifically resilience, even now I am still guilty of taking basic things for granted, and have to remind myself of times when I had to hand wash my clothes, walk 10 minutes to collect water, and having ice cold bucket showers. In Tanzania I was working in secondary schools delivering workshops about employment skills, we created fun ways to learn including role playing interviews, CV writing, and confidence skills. Upon returning home, I wanted to continue the work I was doing abroad and give something back to my local community, so I decided to apply to volunteer with the NSPCC Schools Service, I had the experience of working with children and speaking in front of large groups, and thought it would be at least a little bit easier when the children spoke the same language as me. After interviewing and learning more about the great work of the Schools Service I decided to apply for a full-time position as a Schools Organiser, I could not believe my luck and I am very lucky that the opportunity was available at just the time when I was looking.
Having only been working with the NSPCC since September 2017, have you had any experiences that you have had overcome being a Schools Organiser?
As with every job, working for the NSPCC comes with various demands and responsibilities, however the good days far outweigh the more challenging. Being a schools organiser requires a lot of self – motivation and intuition. It can sometimes be challenging being home-based, we see our colleagues approximately once a month and work mostly independently which can sometimes be challenging, however we do sometimes get the company of our wonderful volunteers and it’s amazing to see them progress and develop, and of course I get to meet so many different people every day. It has been really beneficial for me to learn how to work around home working, what works for me is writing lots of ‘to-do’ lists and a bit of Radio 2 never fails!
As someone who had little background of working with children, I was fairly ignorant to the different types of abuse and I was really surprised to find out that sadly, it is a lot more common that I previously thought. It is a great responsibility talking to children about such important topics and seemed a fairly daunting task when I first started, however I soon discovered that I was to be delivering what, in my eyes, is a top-class programme that is thoroughly thought through and age-appropriate, every day I go in to a school I am proud to represent the NSPCC and the ‘Speak Out, Stay Safe’ programme.
And of course, I can’t go through this question without mentioning something that poses a huge challenge to anyone who is on the road, the great Scottish weather. It can be really frustrating when you have spent time arranging a visit to a school and are all ready to go, and then hearing that snow is forecast and it may be unsafe to travel, or in some cases the school will be closed. In times when the school is still open and I travel to some more rural schools, the journey there and back can be quite difficult on the smaller country roads. Unfortunately there is nothing that we can do about the weather and we just have to be resilient, schools can always be rescheduled and working from home I am still able to get things done from the comfort of the home office.
Finally, what has been your highlight of being a Schools Organiser thus far and do you have any hopes/dreams for the future?
I feel as though there may be too much highlights to mention one in particular. As time goes on I try to take time to reflect, especially at the end of a term, and look back at all the schools I have visited and how many children have received our service, and then I think about my fellow colleagues and volunteers who are doing the same around Scotland and the rest of the UK, this is really inspiring and makes me feel like I am part of something really important and special.
Another of my favourite things about my role is being in a delivery where the pupils are especially engaged, sometimes I have been lucky enough to see classes input to their weekly diaries and they reflect upon what they have learnt, or they will write a letter or draw a picture of our mascot Buddy, this is a great boost and excellent to see them being so mature and thoughtful. In our Primary 6 & 7 workshops pupils are given the chance to have group discussions and form their own ideas and opinions on what is right and wrong, it’s for me this is one of my favourite parts of the deliveries as I can tell they have took on board what was said in their assemblies, and that makes me feel like I have done such an important task in telling them things that perhaps they will never forget. Also, I love to see how engaged the P4-7s get when watching the ‘Childline’ video, I always look forward to showing them it and I am proud to support such a valuable and significant service.
Working around Aberdeenshire & Moray allows me to visit lots of beautiful places that I would have never had to chance to go to, there’s nothing better than the feeling when driving home after a delivery with the sun out and great scenery, it just feels as though the day has been a massive success. Travelling around schools allows me to meet lots of different people and it’s great to see so many Teachers and Head Teachers being so supportive of the service.
For the future I’d like to continue delivering SOSS around Aberdeenshire & Moray and develop my skills whilst doing so, every day is definitely a school day and bring a new set of obstacles. I would feel so proud if we were to be able to visit every Primary school across the area, safe in the knowledge that every child has received our message and that I have done my bit to help the NSPCC reach its goal SOSS reaching every Primary school in the UK.
Every school I visit is different in some way, most are relatively small in size, and a couple are even ‘one-class’ schools, this ensures that no one day is the same and although the assemblies and workshops are the same, I always get different interaction and hear new ideas every day. I enjoy visiting every school, but I can’t deny how good it feels in large schools when I can have 200-300 pupils in front of my all saying together at the end of the assemblies in their louder voices ‘We all have the right to Speak Out and Stay Safe!’, there’s nothing quite like it.
The children had brilliant imaginations and the outcome of the ‘hair-dos’ were amazing!
Soon the P1-3 classes started filling in for their assembly, in their light purple uniforms. Anita Green kicked off the assembly and introduced the massed ranks of children to Buddy and the importance of speaking out if they felt worried or upset about anything. A forest of enthusiastic hands shot up when we asked what grown-ups they could talk to, both in and out of school. After the assembly one of the teachers came up to us in the staff room to say how well they thought the material was pitched for that age group.
We left the school knowing the ‘Speak Out, Stay Safe’ message had been well received and understood. A bonus for us was that the next day all the children would be fundraising for the NSPCC by having a ‘Silly Hair Day’. Judging by the photos the school tweeted there was some amazingly silly and spectacular hair. We are really grateful to the staff and children at Clermiston Primary for their enthusiasm and the warm welcome we received over our two-day visit.
NSPCC Scotland 