Pupil empowerment
The significant step forward was empowering pupils themselves to look for opportunities. Staff at all stages are encouraged to be alert to possible community involvement within the curriculum, involving pupils in discussion. More importantly, they are receptive to ideas coming from the pupils themselves, as they are to ideas from the Pupil Council. However, to reach this stage, staff had to have the confidence to take a step back and acknowledge pupils' competence. For example, one of our P3 pupils, setting off on holiday, noticed that the train station was unattractive so approached a member of the railway staff to find out if they would be open to ideas on how to improve it.

An early project involved us cooperating with the local shop and the Council tidying up the area around the shop by planting flower beds. This involved the pupils raising money, buying plants and contracting heavy duty help - all requiring external contacts. Pupils are still involved nine years later! Pupils were asked then to assist the Raigmore Community Centre in planning improvements to the estate and also to discuss the local authority Strategic Plan. Pupils do expect that their views will be listened to but they have also learned to be realistic - ideas may not always be implemented. Their confidence allows them to carry on voicing their views despite set-backs as, for example, when the Council dug up one of 'their' flower beds to make a car park without even consulting us!

• The P7 class teacher worked with Highland Healthfoods, Marks and Spencers and Brin Nurseries to source better choices for the Raigmore Healthwise Healthy Tuckshop.
• The P4 class teacher worked with Highlands and Islands Enterprise and Recording Studios to gain the expertise to produce the Millennium CD.
• A Support for Learning Auxiliary worked with the Road Safety Department, Protective Services and the Planning Department, sourcing information necessary for the planned enhanced outdoor play and road safety areas in the school grounds.

Some hurdles along the way
Like everything else, Community Involvement is not all plain sailing. Sometimes we have what we think is a great idea that does not go to plan:

• A group of pupils wanted to produce a Tourist Information Leaflet specifically for youngsters visiting Inverness. It looked great, was relevant and we dreamed of market success! The Tourist Board were polite but not overly enthusiastic and the venture did not develop as we had hoped. Why not? We simply had not done enough research before we started - we had a good idea but not a development partnership.
• For several years until very recently we produced a very high quality School-Community Newspaper. It was hugely successful but it relied too heavily on the commitment of two members of staff. When that became impracticable then the paper ceased production. We hope that it is not too late to resurrect this excellent community link in a sustainable form.
• Another problem can be that new community involvement opportunities do not always appear at the most convenient times for the school. Flexibility is a high priority but even so, not every opportunity can or should be grasped.

Tackling the set-backs and reflecting on failure are part of the process of community involvement and of personal and social development. It will stand youngsters in good stead for facing practical and personal hurdles in their lives ahead.

What it means to us
Community involvement for us is not just about short-term excitement and success. It is a way of thinking and working that is embedded in the ethos of the school. Our pupils are eager to take part in music festivals, sports events and school quizzes. We may not always win at these events, in fact apart from our football we rarely win, but this does not detract from the pupils' enjoyment in participating and in representing their school. We also take a great pride in showing visitors around our school and pointing out our successes and achievements - big and small - which we celebrate regularly through our Achievements Boards, assemblies and standing items at staff meetings. Being involved with the wider community gives us confidence and also offers more diverse opportunities for all our pupils to experience achievement and to cope when things do not work out as planned - as must happen from time to time. Community involvement, we believe, also impacts positively on attainment.

Pupils' and parents' interest and enjoyment speaks for itself but staff - despite demands on their time and energy - and observant visitors also value our community involvement.

Reflections on the benefits to schools in general
The benefits of community involvement are not always easily quantifiable and in a crowded curriculum it can be tempting not to tackle it fully. But it does not need to huge or complicated - even the simplest of involvement will lead to staff and pupil confidence spreading to other areas of the curriculum and, although not all the deeper positive educational by-products may be immediately apparent, they will bear fruit!

It is crucial that the whole staff and especially the Senior Management Team are genuinely committed to community involvement if it is to develop integrally within the school's curriculum and ethos. To reap the full benefits there needs to be a whole school approach.

Because so many of our pupils are transient, we feel that it is important that the skills that they acquire and attitudes that they develop through community links can be transferred to other contexts. What we are hoping to achieve is a population of youngsters who are not afraid to speak up for themselves in attempting to make to make the wider community a better place for all, who are developing positive attitudes about themselves and the world around them and who will, hopefully, grow up continuing to take an active part in their communities in the future.

There is no magic formula to apply to embed community links in the work of any school but there are some key elements: realism, energy, sincerity, flexibility, reliability and a sense of perspective and of humour. Being able to sustain a positive school ethos and genuine community involvement does take time and energy from all concerned but the benefits to all concerned are well worth the effort.