School Ambassadors

Applications are now open for the 2026-2027 OCO School Ambassador Programme.

This year’s theme will be on Ireland’s EU Presidency.

As Ireland takes over the EU Presidency for the next six months, this year’s School Ambassador Programme will have a special focus on children’s rights in the EU.

OCO School Ambassadors

Our School Ambassador Programme sees us partner up with four schools- two sixth class primary school groups and two First Year secondary school groups- who help us promote children’s rights through activities at their school and on our social media channels as our official School Ambassadors.

How schools apply

Schools are invited to apply to take part in our School Ambassador Programme for the upcoming school year during the summer months. A call out is made on the OCO’s social media channels. Teachers/ principals apply online detailing why they think their group should become OCO School Ambassadors

How schools are selected

All schools are encouraged to apply to take part. The OCO selects schools based on the strength of their application, with extra consideration given to schools representing harder to reach groups.

What is involved once selected?

Visit 1: The OCO team visit your school to meet our School Ambassadors for an introduction on the work of the Office and for a workshop on Children’s Rights.

Visit 2: Our School Ambassadors are invited to attend Child Talks at the Helix, DCU on World Children’s Day, November 20th.

Visit 3: The Ombudsman for Children, Dr Niall Muldoon makes a special visit to your school.

Visit 4: The OCO team returns to your school before school ends in June to present the OCO School Ambassadors Certificates

What our Ambassadors do

We will give you suggestions on how to create rights-based activities in your classroom.

For example, this could be through artwork of your favourite right, writing a poem or rap about your favourite right or doing a story competition.

We also want to share your voices and opinions on topics on our social media channels.

We will liaise with the class teacher/ principal on putting together content for social media around important days like World Children’s Day, Seachtain na Gaeilge, Mental Health Week and International Day of Disabilities.

Social media

We love to share videos of our School Ambassadors on our social media channels. This is an important part of our programme because it raises the voice of children and gives them a platform to express themselves. However we also want to make sure children are protected online so they can enjoy their digital rights.

To do this, we:

• Obtain consent and assent of each child and their parent/guardian before we post any content featuring them on our channels, even if the School has signed up
• Turn off all comments on posts with our School Ambassadors
• Limit any personal information posted about our Ambassadors other than their school and first name where appropriate
• We only post School Ambassador content on our Instagram and LinkedIn channels and the OCO no longer posts content on X

Schools will be confirmed by the beginning of September following a quick call to ensure the teacher involved is happy with the commitment involved.