Street Law is a way for us to provide legal education in schools, but in a format that pupils can really connect with. It's designed to be engaging and really get people talking via themes like street crime and human rights, or formats like mock-trials.
We aim to get all pupils thinking about a career in that law, by raising aspirations and encouraging skills to be used like critical thinking.
As well as an educational programme, it's also a highly-successful volunteer scheme. Our Street Lawyers are all law students studying in Scotland based near local schools. It gives them an amazing opportunity to build confidence, gain presentation skills and work with their communities.
In early 2014/15, Street Law was piloted in five schools in Glasgow. Interest in the project quickly grew and we were soon in many more schools across Glasgow, Edinburgh, East Lothian, West Lothian, Aberdeen and South Ayrshire. Moving into our sixth Street Law year, we continue to work with many of our pilot schools as well as new schools in these areas, Dundee and also Fife for the first time.
We also had a few new developments this year...
- We were broadcast on the BBC in 'The Street Lawyer', a dedicated hour-long programme hosted by Denise Mina.
- We have been recognised as world leaders in Street Law and invited to a university in the Netherlands to share our expertise.
- We ran a pilot 'Street Law in the Community' programme with Project Turnkey, to work with female inmates at HMP Grampian.
Street Law lessons are characterised by rich legal content examining practical law, legal policy and the constitution. Lessons focus not only on what the law is but crucially, begin the discussion of ‘what the law ought to be’.
The classes use the pupils’ inherent interest in law and their own experiences, to develop high-level cognitive, literacy and interpersonal skills.
The programme is covered in more depth in the document: ‘Street Law Curriculum and the Curriculum For Excellence’.
"Trainers were fantastic! Very professional and at the standard you would expect from a teaching member of staff"
"The trainers were very well prepared and professional. The Higher class of 28 pupils were a particularly responsive and vocal group. An excellent experience for all, thank you!"
"Excellent experience for all young people concerned. Pupils were motivated and engaged. Wide variety of different issues explored. Well done and a big thank you!"
"It was great to have a former pupil return to Harlaw Academy as part of the Street Law programme! This was our first experience of Street Law and our senior pupils were very receptive to the programme. Five from the class have been inspired into considering studying law and a career in the legal profession"
Keen to get Street Law into your school?
Street Law is currently generously supported by Pinsent Masons. However to make sure we can continue to expand, we need more support. It's a fantastic way to support legal education, social mobility and the professional development of our Street Law trainers.
If your organisation is interested in finding out more about a sponsorship partnership, please contact Charlotta Cederqvist on 0131 476 8166 or at [email protected]
