Validators

Welcome

Thank you for visiting our Validator’s page. We hope that you will find the information here useful in helping you decide whether the role of a validator is for you. Having read the information on this page, if you think this is something you would like to get involved in, please complete the application form at the bottom of the page and hopefully you will hear from us in due course.

Who is a Validator?

In the Oscar Romero Award Trust, a Validator is a person who will review and assess applications from schools or colleges to see if they meet the criteria to be awarded the appropriate level of the Award that they have applied for. For the Participator Level, this review and assessment will be done online. The review and assessment for the Developer and Innovator Levels will take place online as well as a physical visit to the school or college.

 

A Validator will need to:

·  Have an understanding of Catholic Social Teaching

·  Have an empathy and awareness of how school communities work and operate

·  Be sympathetic to Catholic faith, its teachings including its understanding of social justice

·  Have a basic working knowledge of use of IT including the ability to complete validations online

·  Undertake an Enhanced DBS check/Children's Barred list check to ensure suitability to work with children and schools

 

What is involved?

A Validator will be expected to:

  • Implement the policies of the Trustees of the Oscar Romero Award Trust
  • Read, validate and provide a written report online of a school’s application
  • Work with other validators to moderate applications to ensure objectivity, fairness and consistency
  • Visit schools to validate their Developer and Innovator Level applications
    • Contact the Romero Award Lead of each school that applies for the Developer and Innovator Level to arrange a validation visit
    • Discuss with the Lead Teacher the requirements for the validation visit
    • Visit the school and meet with a selection of teaching and support staff, students/pupils, Governors and parents to talk about the activities of the school that promote and demonstrate a commitment to social justice
    • Validators will meet with students/pupils in the company of the school’s staff – they MUST NEVER BE ALONE WITH STUDENTS/PUPILS. The school’s staff will supervise all interactions between Validators and students/pupils.
    • At these validation visits, Validators will speak to members of the school community, they will also visit some classes as well as speak to support staff about what the school does.
    • Validators will only visit schools to validate their application for Developer or Innovator Levels. Other times when Validators might visit a school would be at the request of the school for support with their applications.
  • Suggest and advise schools on developing either their current application or their application for the next level of the award and on where to find resources to support their applications
  • Undertake necessary training relevant to their role as validators
  • Behave in a way that does not compromise or bring disrepute to the goals, aims and name of the Oscar Romero Award Trust.

 

What do we ask of you?

To be enthusiastic about schools being places where the implications of Catholic Social Teaching are felt and lived. Look at the role description above for the details of what you will do.

You will be able to choose where you will work – primary schools, secondary schools or colleges depending on your experience. If you like to, you could work across the primary and secondary/college sectors. We will be able to discuss this during training.