Volunteering

[Pink1981]

Does anyone volunteer at their childs school??

When Sid starts nursery in January i am going to be at a bit of a loose end.. There aren't really any jobs (that i can find) that are from 9.30am until 11.30 am so i was thinking of volunteering at my daughters school in those hours (will be closer to 9-12 as won't have to travel)

What do you do at the school? Is it mainly reading with children and helping out in the classroom?

Would i have to pay for my CRB check?

Is there any chance of office work (unpaid) or would there be a confidentiality issue or anything?

Any info would be greatly appreciated

 

[hannah22]

I help out at a local primary school one day a week. Firstly ecause I aim to become a teacher ad secondly to keep my sanity! I mainly do reading, learning words and spellings, help out in maths and odd jobs for the teacher like photo copying laminating etc. the school should pay for your crb as it is only about £6 for them to have done for a free worker helping them out the actual crb only took me about 5 minutes to fill out and you will need a passport driving licence and a bill to your address as I.d x

 

[littlegenes]

Hey hon.

All schools are different- some will make you pay and some will pay for it themselves- i imagine they will more than likely pay for it either way if your daughter is there. I am sure they will appreciate you help- I volunteered for a few weeks when I was wanting to be a teacher and loved it .

The only thing that would concern me about it if your daughter is there is she might get upset if she has to go there some days and you aren't going to be there- might be a little confusing for her. And depending how shy she is she might always run to you rather than try and make friends.

Maybe volunteer but work with another class?

 

[Pink1981]

I help out at a local primary school one day a week. Firstly ecause I aim to become a teacher ad secondly to keep my sanity! I mainly do reading, learning words and spellings, help out in maths and odd jobs for the teacher like photo copying laminating etc. the school should pay for your crb as it is only about £6 for them to have done for a free worker helping them out the actual crb only took me about 5 minutes to fill out and you will need a passport driving licence and a bill to your address as I.d x

Thanks!

ID might be a prob then. I only have an out of date passport and a provisional driving license (in my maiden name)

 

[Pink1981]

Hey hon.

All schools are different- some will make you pay and some will pay for it themselves- i imagine they will more than likely pay for it either way if your daughter is there. I am sure they will appreciate you help- I volunteered for a few weeks when I was wanting to be a teacher and loved it .

The only thing that would concern me about it if your daughter is there is she might get upset if she has to go there some days and you aren't going to be there- might be a little confusing for her. And depending how shy she is she might always run to you rather than try and make friends.

Maybe volunteer but work with another class?

Yeah that would worry me too... I would probably request not to be in her class.

I would ideally like to work in the office really but not sure if that's possible. I'm definitely happy to help out in classes though!

To be honest it would be doing me a favour, the school is 2 and a half miles away and I don't drive so 6 trips a day would be a mission. Doing volunteering would cut out 2 of those trips x

 

[isil]

Hi,

I don't have a passport or a current driving license (I really need to get it renewed but I'm being lazy because I don't have a car at the moment!). You'll just need 3 forms of ID like your birth certificate, a letter from the council (council tax maybe?) and a bank statement or something similar, or a letter from tax credits...that kind of thing. The school will pay for it.

I've recently stopped working and go into my son's class one afternoon a week, although I try not to work with him (for him, seeing me around school sometimes doesn't cause problems at all - he's only 4 and he understands so I'm sure you'll be fine with your daughter). I also do intervention work with year 5s in maths a few mornings a week. I do have a lot of experience though and completed the majority of my teacher training before having my son.

They'll probably get you to work with a group doing different things, or hear readers

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I do and they paid for my CRB. I do reading and phonics group work. They even sent me on a phonics course with some of the TA's and paid for it. I also attended a sign language course. I have been helping there for about 4 yrs so I have gained alot of trust with them now and they use me on trips etc too.

x

 

[RachA]

I help out at my boys schools. They paid for the CRB check.

I don't do that much at the moment as i still have my little girl at home with me.
Last year i helped out with year 1 and i did mainly reading. A few times i helped out with other stuff they were doing.
This year i am doing year 2 as my son is now in year 1 and they prefer you not to work with the class your child is in. My son loves me being there though. A lot of the stuff i do is in one of the corridors and he usually comes past at some point and gives me a huge hug!!!
With the year 2's i am doing some reading but mostly i am doing handwriting practice with them. This will more than likely take me until Jan so i am not sure what i will do then. I am willing to do anything as i am going to go back to work as a TA once DD is at school so i need all the practice i can get!
Usually the school will tell you when they need parent helpers. I was given a long list of Year groups, day and time and i just chose when i as available to help out.

 

[Midnight_Fairy]

I have always worked in the same class as my kids lol xx