Law education project set for expansion in Scottish schools

Following the success of the Law Society of Scotland’s pilot programme, schools across the country from Aberdeen to Ayrshire have signed up to take part in Street Law, which aims to bring the law to life in the classroom by teaching pupils about how the law applies to them through interactive workshop sessions.

Street Law was launched in Scotland by the Law Society last autumn, with eight Glasgow and West Lothian schools taking part in the pilot scheme.

Now a further 23 schools in the North East, Perth and Kinross, Edinburgh, East Lothian, West Lothian, Glasgow and South Ayrshire have sign to up to take part in the project.

“It’s probably the first time a Law Society training session has been described as ‘absolute dyno’ but that was the response from one of the pupils taking part in Street Law,” said Rob Marrs , senior policy officer in the Law Society training and education team (pictured).

Mr Marrs added: “All of the feedback we have had from teachers and pupils has been incredible.

“As a result of the hard work and enthusiasm of our first Street Law trainers – all currently studying law at Glasgow and Edinburgh Universities - and the pupils taking part, other schools across the country are now keen to get involved.

“We want the pupils taking part to realise that law isn’t some alien concept for other people but actually something that affects them every day. Street Law teaches practical aspects of the law, rather than the ‘black letter law’ that solicitors and advocates have to learn, which is relevant to the pupils’ lives. The sessions are engaging and fun but at the same time really stretch them intellectually.”

Following training sessions with the Law Society, the student trainers work with the schools to design a series of lessons for their classes.

Mr Marrs said: “We’ve been lucky enough to get funding from the Legal Education Foundation to help with the training costs of Street Law which included getting Sean Arthurs from Harvard and Efrain Marimon from Georgetown, the home of Street Law and where the world’s most extensive programme is organised, to lead a training weekend at the Law Society. They were really inspiring and full of great ideas and advice for our new Street Law trainers.”

Edinburgh University law student Rona Macleod (pictured right) was a Street Law trainer at St Kentigern’s in West Lothian.

She said: “I have really enjoyed my time as a Street Law trainer. The whole process of planning a lesson, getting everything ready and executing that lesson is very rewarding. Though the prospect of standing up and teaching a class of pupils can be a bit daunting, when the lesson you’ve put time and energy into creating is successful, and you feel that you’ve taught the pupils something useful, it’s a great feeling.

“The extent to which the pupils were thinking about the issues and their analysis really impressed me, and they seemed to really enjoy the lesson. What was really great was that when the bell rang the pupils were still talking about the lesson.”

Robbie Jones, who is studying law at Glasgow University, said: “I thoroughly enjoyed the experience from the training weekend to the teaching itself.

“The expert insight and enthusiasm shown from the trainers and the staff at the Law Society of Scotland got me extremely excited to start taking lessons. Once we arrived at Lochend Community High School in Glasgow we were immediately impressed by the attentiveness of the class and their excellent contributions to class discussions.”