Creative Catalysts
We are seeking creative listeners - individuals and organisations who are keen to work in partnership with learners, educators and learning communities through the lens of the UNCRC. You will actively listen to the needs and thoughts of young learners on their experiences of learning to identify challenges and find creative solutions, acting as a catalyst for change and new thinking within the existing education system.
If you think this sounds like you then we’d love to hear from you. Details of how this work will be procured and next steps for anyone who’d like to be considered are laid out later in this document.
The educational settings we are hoping to work with include:
- Interrupted Learners (online)
- Gàidhlig Medium Secondary School Learners in the Western Isles
- Secure and Residential Learners in Angus
- Refugee, Asylum Seeker and Displaced Learners across Scotland
We are looking for creative catalysts - individuals and organisations who:
- Are fantastic at not only listening to children and young people, but facilitating conversations and workshops where children and young people are fully empowered to think, form opinions and share their views.
- Are keen to innovate and use service design or other creative approaches to generate solutions to complex problems.
- Are keen to develop and sustain partnerships and relationships over an extended timeframe.
- Have incredible people skills, and are able to work across the layers of adult systems around the children and young people to share the learners’ thinking.
- Prioritise listening, especially to children and young people, in order to ask the right questions before attempting to solve perceived problems.
- Bring open-mindedness, curiosity, imagination and problem-solving to their involvement.
The project
Funding of between £10,000 - £12,500 will be available to those creative catalysts that the project chooses to work with. We have four educational settings that we are looking to match with creative catalysts, and envisage that each setting will have their own distinct catalyst. Decisions on who the settings work with will be made by the Project Panel, with representation from the learners, e-Sgoil, Education Scotland and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar (Western Isles Council) and the lead educators from each of the educational settings involved.
Once appointed the creative catalyst will have initial meetings with the educational settings and the learners before drafting a proposed budget and project plan for the work, and gaining approval for the plans based on feedback from the Project Panel and educational setting.
The budget can be allocated to time spent on meetings with educators, workshops with the children and young people, preparation time and reporting. Up to 10% of the funds can be used to cover travel costs and accommodation where necessary.
Regular whole-project meetings will be essential, where creative catalysts and possibly learners can share practice across the different settings.
The project will run from January to December 2024.
Background
The UNCRC Innovation Fund was established to support public authorities to develop a child rights-based approach and embed children’s rights into culture, policy and practice.
The e-Sgoil team at Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, in partnership with Education Scotland, successfully bid for funding for a year-long project which aims to meet the following intended outcomes:
- Children and young people from a range of disadvantaged and vulnerable contexts will actively realise a range of rights within the context of the Scottish education system, with specific focus on Articles 13, 27, 29, 30 and 31.
- Educators and adults working with children and young people will gain experience of working alongside children and young people to co-design their curriculum and learning environments within the context of Education.
- The learning, modelling, tools for change and inspiring examples of transformation will be shared and adopted by educators and young people across Scotland. The work will clearly model how all educators across Scotland might work with their young people to co-create the curriculum to empower children and young people’s rights.
Next steps
The procurement process will be in two stages. This is to allow the educational settings, including young people, to have an opportunity to be actively involved in the selection process.
Stage 1
The project team will select a number of suppliers who could fulfil the brief effectively. Even if selected at this stage, there will be no guarantee at this point that you will be appointed to work with one of the educational settings. If you’d like to be considered, you will need to submit a Quick Quote via the Public Contracts Scotland (PCS) website. As there is a fixed budget for the work, the submissions will be judged primarily on Quality rather than price, with some consideration given to the amount of the budget that will have to be spent on travel costs.
Step 1 – if you are not already registered as a supplier on Public Contracts Scotland, do so here: https://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/
Step 2 – send us an email at e-Sgoil@gnes.net to advise that you’d like to be considered for the project and to confirm the email address and contact name you have used to register with PCS.
Step 3 – you will then receive a link from PCS to upload your submission. This will be a simple form for you to respond to the following questions:
- Why are you interested in this project?
- What skills, knowledge and experience would you bring?
- Some settings may work with the project entirely online, but some will require in-person work. Where are you based and where in Scotland would you be willing to travel for the project?
- Which of the four settings would you be interested in working with? Are there any in particular that your skills and experiences are best suited to?
- How much of the project will you require to spend on travel and accommodation?
The deadline for submissions to PCS is 5pm on Wednesday 31st January.
Stage 2
Selected suppliers will attend an interview with the educational settings. The stakeholders’ preferences will determine which suppliers are matched with which educational setting.
Should you have any questions or require further information, please contact us via the PCS portal. We can then respond to all potential suppliers consistently.
