It would be lovely to be able to have volunteers come into school to work with our children and staff. Here is some information for you to think about should this be something you might be considering.
Have you or a family member or friend, ever thought about helping in school but didn’t know what it might entail? Want to start helping?
We welcome all adult support with open arms! Whether you can help out regularly, or on an ad-hoc basis we would love to have you in school. There are all sorts of things you can do and all of it under the direct guidance of a member of staff (you won’t be left alone!). Some of the things our helpers are often involved in are: listening to children reading, playing educational games with groups of children, helping to make resources, mount boards and create displays.
What could you get out of it?
Often volunteers say: ‘Children spend a lot of time at school and it is interesting to get involved and know what your child is doing’, ‘children love to see adults in school and feel proud if mum, dad, grandma, granddad or other friends can come in’, ‘It’s giving something back to the community – it’s good to know you’re an important part of something that’s good’, ‘Just an hour can make a huge difference to a child’s progress – e.g. practising keywords’, ‘you can meet new people and network with other parents’.
What does the school get?
Someone to focus on particular topics with a small group of children, listen to and help with reading, keywords/number bonds/times tables, help with classroom tasks and assist the teacher.
What do I get?
Involvement with school, being able to give something back, seeing what my children get up to during a day at school, improvement in my teaching skills to use in school and when I am helping my own children at home, interaction with teachers and improve relationships with my children’s current and perhaps future teachers, enjoyment of working with children and seeing them excited to learn.
You can do as little or as much as you like. We have all seen what a difference it makes if someone has focused on a new maths strategy with your child, listened to your child read at school or your child has had their keywords assessed and they have a new strip to learn.
Of course if you’d like to come into school to volunteer in the classrooms we’ll do a DBS check for you. You’ll need to pop into school to collect a Volunteer Application Pack which will include the documents you’ll need to complete.
Go on – try it – you might like it!!
