Welcome

Welcome to the Community Relations in Schools (CRIS) website

We are a community relations organisation, core funded by the Department of Education, who work with students at nursery, primary, and secondary levels. We also provide training for student teachers, teachers, parents, and others working in the education sector.

Our workshops are designed to meet the needs of participants and to start the process of addressing issues of difference, division and conflict.

The community relations sessions that CRIS provide are used to support the Schools Community Relations Programme, Education for Mutual Understanding and Cultural Heritage as well as the primary and post primary curriculum.

Mission Statement

CRIS continually strive towards models of best practice in community relations education for children, young adults, teachers and parents. The overarching vision of this organisation is to work in partnership with schools and other organisations to have a positive impact on the community around us. We endeavour to affect the change of an evolving Northern Irish society to better face the challenges of growing diversity, the problems of living in a contested space and the legacy of conflict. The key values of equity, diversity and interdependence will underpin all convictions, efforts and actions of the organisation.

Strategic Aims

• Develop, facilitate, monitor and evaluate community relations education for children, young people, teachers and parents.
• To work in partnership with schools in the delivery of community relations education, through informal education and the formal curriculum. In particular, The Schools Community Relations Programme, community relations elements in local and global citizenship and strand two of the personal development curriculum.
• To identify the community relations needs, priorities and issues and to work in partnership with schools and organisations in meetings these actual needs.
• To facilitate and participate in the ongoing community relations consultation process and maintain a presence and active role within the community relations network.
• To provide quality training to other organisations, teachers, CRIS staff and the CRIS Management committee.
• To build capacity within schools and teachers to enable the community relations education process to become more strategic, dynamic, progressive and longitudinal.
• To work in effective partnership with the statutory and other organisations to enhance collaboration and the implementation of a common agenda.

CRIS Values

The underlying values of Community Relations In Schools that guide our work and the way we deal with each other are:

• People should be treated with respect regardless of gender, age, religion, race, ethnic origin, disability or sexual orientation.
• People have the right to participate in community relations education.
• People have the right to identify their own community relations needs and to participate in work for change on their own behalf and on the behalf of their community.

All work and relationships are underpinned with the core values of fairness, respect for diversity and acceptance of the need for each other.