SU Support – Planning Your SU
Questions you should ask yourself:
- What is our vision for the group?
- Who is it for?
- What time and resources are available to us?
- What are our aims for this year?
- How can we best fulfil these aims in our particular context?
- How will we publicise and make the SU known?
- Do we need parental permission?
- When do we register with Scripture Union NI?
- How many people could you have (to help with the type of programme you run)
- What might your group might look like?
Other Important Documents:
Structure
Set up:
As the coordinator of a Scripture Union group we ask you to ensure that each of the adults involved in your group as leaders is approved both by the school principal and by Scripture Union. (A leader is defined as anyone regularly involved in the planning and delivery of the spiritual programme.)
In order to be approved by Scripture Union, any new leader is required to apply online. Applicants may not be involved in the group until approval has been given. You can check the progress of any application for yourself by logging in to view details of your group on our volunteers website and checking the application progress details recorded in the ‘leaders’ section.
In order to help us keep touch with you and your leaders, we also ask you to ensure that details of your group are entered correctly and updated each year. You can do that here.
Whatever the style of the programme, it is essential that the core aims and values above are reflected in it and suggestions as to how this might be worked out in practice for each style are included below focusing on; vision, aim, members and practice:
Support
Belong to there SUNI Family
You belong to the Scripture Union family in Northern Ireland. We want to stand with and support one another, both prayerfully and practically. In this section you will find details of the support available to you and of what you need to do as the coordinator of an SU group.
How we Support You
Here are some of the ways we aim to support the leaders of SU groups:
Staff Members
Scripture Union staff members are available throughout the year to take part in SU meetings, share ideas, suggest resources, discuss issues of concern and help strengthen links between churches and schools. We are also available to take part in assemblies, lessons, weekends and one–off events, if this would help complement what you do in SU. Please contact us if we can help in any way.
If you’d like an E3 worker in your area please contact Leanne Dunlop and if you are looking for support for your area and there currently isn’t an E3 worker in your area; for Primary contact Rachel Sheppard, and Post Primary contact Phil Howe.
Prayer Support
A prayer guide listing all the SU groups in schools throughout Northern Ireland is produced each year. The prayer guide is sent to all SU leaders and prayer supporters.
Specific prayer requests can be sent to schools@suni.co.uk for the attention of SU staff or can be shared with the SU Leaders Group on FaceBook if you specify and let us know.