Scottish Book Trust is a national charity that believes books, reading and writing have the power to change lives. A love of reading inspires creativity, improves employment opportunities, mental health and wellbeing and is one of the most effective ways to help break the poverty cycle. We work towards a Scotland where everyone has an equal opportunity to thrive through literacy.

This is an excellent opportunity for you to join Scottish Book Trust as a Freelance Reading Schools Accreditation Officer, to support our Reading Schools Accreditation process.

Job Summary

You will work closely with the School Communities Manager (Reading Schools) and Reading Schools team to support all Schools and Early Years setting through the Reading Schools accreditation process.

The School Communities team delivers a range of programmes that inspire schools, learning professionals, children and young people to engage with reading and writing including book gifting, author touring and events and awards for learning professionals, as well as creating high quality resources and professional development for teachers.

You will have a knowledge of Reading Schools and the Scottish Curriculum.

Key Responsibilities

• Support the accreditation process for participating schools in line with accreditation framework and respond to enquiries from schools via email regarding submission, evidence gathering and accreditation processes
• Complete accreditations for schools at each level of the programme giving specific and timeous feedback to participants when required
• Complete accreditations for early years settings giving specific and timeous feedback to participants when required
• Report examples of good evidence for future use as Case Studies or Advocacy to the School Communities Manager
• Report or flag any bugs or issues with the Reading Schools website to the School Communities Manager
• Support the work of the wider School Communities team where appropriate

Knowledge, Skills and Experience

• Knowledge of the Reading Schools framework and evidence requirements
• A high level of IT literacy and competence including experience of using the Reading Schools website or similar to support programme participants
• Experience of evaluating evidence in an education environment, making professional judgements and providing feedback against set criteria
• Clear and confident communicator, both written and verbal, with experience of engaging a range of learning professionals
• Be self-driven and able to deliver the tasks and responsibilities in line with programme demands, timelines and deadlines
• Experience and knowledge of current educational policy, literacy, and numeracy in Scotland, with a thorough understanding of local authority and school operating environment.

Other Information

Full training in Reading Schools evaluation criteria and how to use the website will be provided.

The role will work remotely using remote login, email/telephone, Teams/Zoom (and other communications software and apps) as required.

Appointment will be conditional upon securing a Level 1 from Disclosure Scotland.