Parent volunteers

[Tigersteeth]

What jobs do you give parent volunteers in your primary schools? Since the publicity about budget cuts we've had a lot of offers, but I'm struggling to think of genuinely useful jobs they could do...
Maybe sticking in?
Obviously the old classic of 'hearing readers', but is that really helping anyone?!

Honestly, there's not many jobs where completely unqualified people turn up and expect you to find them work and be grateful! Politically, it's hard to turn them away though. Any good ideas?

"Owning a child"?!???

I wouldn't want you anywhere near my DC!

I'll come back later and read through but of the top of my head

•make a brief list of volunteers skills (any previous jobs that may be relevant)

•create a welcome pack for volunteers with important info especially re safeguarding - most of it will be obvious and second nature to staff but things like not being alone with children, what to do if child makes a disclosure, first aid info, not discussing children/progress with their parents or any other outside people etc

• could you organise for children under SENCO to prepare snack for the reception children maybe 2/3 times a week it's only prep but could lead to cooking in future

•create a lamination station in appropriate place with trays for separate classes

•create a list from staff of what they'd like to see volunteers do/where the class needs most support/needs doing

I think it will take a lot of work in the short term but if organised well then could save you and staff a lot of time in the long term

TA aren't there to support the teacher - they are there to support the children - first time every time

I've volunteered at school. I have done;
the weeding/planting in the gardens.
Collected litter up from the playground/field and emptied bins.
Put the chairs/benches out for assembly/sports day/plays and put them back again.
Washed and handed out the fruit at break times.
Sold break time snacks like jubblys and ice pops.
Made milkshakes to order at break time
Set up and put away science/art
Made paper flowers/decorations/posters
Photocopying and even some typing specific class letters
Tidying and labelling cupboards/draws
Looking online for new offers/websites/online education tools/potential trips that support the curriculum
Helped create displays and remove old ones
Put the books back in order in the library/bookcases
Listened to children read
Made play doh in different colours for classes
Cleaned out class pets
Swept/mopped the floor
Sourced items for the topic trays (shells for the beach topics / leaves for the tree topics etc)
Helped on trips
Sorted lost property (at least attempted to return it to its owners)

I'm glad that everything I have done has been valued by the staff and worth me giving up my time OP

I used to be a parent volunteer at DS's school. My duties included: reading/introducing a new reading book at the start of the week, listening to children's reading, taking smaller groups of children out of the Classroom for maths/language activities, one-to-one activities with kids that required extra support. I also helped out at gym time and on class trips.
I found it challenging at times yet I did really enjoy it. Additionally all volunteers at the school were PVG checked -and attended training sessions beforehand, with ongoing training throughout the year in areas such as first aid courses and child protection. I don't having a teaching degree but consider myself fairly well educated- with a social science degree. Whilst parents are in a sense 'unqualified' they will have a range of skills and attributes that will be of use in the classroom and a good teacher should recognise this. If the school has a volunteer coordinator it may be useful to try and match volunteers skills and preferences to class needs.

I see parents changing the reading books and keeping a record - plus tidying up the shelves

Some kids need extra reading sessions

Lots of parents that help out - please value them because they are rare

Tiger, the parent volunteers at my school are an absolute blessing.
They are just as 'qualified' as other parents are at home to hear their children read. The more children read, the better. It doesn't have to always be with someone 'qualified'.

Also, parent helpers are great to help keep children in task. Their education isn't being handed over to unqualified people. The TEACHER is there and he/she should be doing the teaching.
My parent helpers do all sorts of very helpful things.
Preparing snacks
Marking mental maths tests (against a given scheme)
Sticking work in books
Listening to readers
Photocopying
Cutting and backing display work
Supporting at tables
Listening to readers

I could go on. Your OP does cover over as quite ungrateful even if that's not how you intended it to be. Most teachers I know jump at the chance of an extra pair of hands.

Op you say you've considered putting on cooking activities but the shopping/organising puts you off...surely this is EXACTLY the kind of thing a volunteer could do?

Have you thought about asking the parents if they have any particular skills? Obviously the jobs have to be appropriate but they might have some good ideas and some might have skills you lack within your team from their own professional experience.

My DH is a charted engineer and he goes into secondary schools to teach lessons on combustion and energy transfer every year as part of the Science Ambassador initiative.

I read with pupils on an individual level for a year and then had some training on guided reading and do that with year three now. I'm a lawyer in my day job so not qualified in your sense of the word but equally no fool and able to take direction and feedback.

I was approached about learning to do guided reading so I guess they thought I was doing a good job on an individual level.

Perhaps I'm flattering myself but I'm always told I'm helpful and the children seem to really like a different face for 15 minutes or so.

For the past two years I've given a presentation about my job and how the court process works as part of a career focus for the older children. That has always been well received.

I don't think the Op is saying parent readers aren't useful but that a qualified person (Teacher/TA) will still need to listen at some point.
I think the Op is saying apart from the obvious reading what else can be done....but there are some fantastic suggestions on here

Ps I'd do your shopping if you asked me to! A list of things you want to make in the term agreed in advance and a budget and I'd be able to do it and bring it in.

Apart from 1:1 reading which I have been asked to do again and again so I can only assume it's helpful...
Organising the library - and keeping it organised, including putting up book displays that support current curriculum topics
Going on school trips, not just the fun ones but the walking bus to off site clubs
Collecting lost property from around the school
Sorting through the lost property
Putting up displays
Preparing art and crafting materials

I would never expect to be active within a classroom, nor to see a child's work - I am not a teacher, and I don't wish to be. In particular I would not expect to be asked to support a child with special needs without significant instruction. However I am absolutely capable of organising and sorting things independently (following instructions). And I can certainly listen to readers and write comments for the teacher on how it sounds to me. I am really irritated by the OP's attitude. If you don't want volunteers just say no.

Ignore the lot bashing you OP.

It may be that volunteers can give attention to those not in your vulnerable groups. They may not be the ones you would choose to focus extra qualified resources, but It might be valuable to those children.

I get this! I'm a trained teacher and work with SEN children; I go into school in my dds (7) class to help and do sometimes feel like a spare part (teacher hasn't even learnt my name yet this year). In previous years I've felt useful; taken groups to do art activities,cooking etc. This year I've heard the same children read every single time (but my dd never reads to an adult at school..has done twice all year) and do the filing / sticking in / organising cupboards. I actually don't mind as it's one less thing for teacher / TA to do and I always get asked to help on trips / fun day activities / swimming (and in other classes too) as I know the children really well. But it does sometimes feel a bit pointless when you read posts like above!!

Fundraising. WritIng newsletter. Writing grant applications. Researching funded trips to exciting places like museums. Compiling databases.

Tigers teeth, I am really quite horrified at your attitude. I don't know where your school is, or the background of the children you have, but I was always happy to have additional adults in my class and the children I tried to push them towards were often:
The children who never read their book to anyone at home
The children who never had help to do their homework
The children who I suspected were never spoken to much at home, and when I say spoken to I mean listened to as well.
The children who spoke English as a second language and who needed time to practise talking to and listening to an adult native speaker speaking in sentences and using a wider vocabulary than their peers.
The children who were shy or anxious about speaking in front of a large group but who were happier in small group activities when they would speak and hopefully develop confidence.
The children who while confident and articulate needed to be taught to listen to and respect other children's opinions and often needed an adult to mediate in group situations.
All of these are skills which I think are hugely important, listening and speaking skills are often overlooked in class, they do not need trained teachers to 'teach' them, but they develop abilities which I found impacted enormously on both the ethos of the classroom and on individual children's self esteem, confidence and contribution to the class.

I know there are teachers who think that the children are the only learners in the classroom, I hope you are not one of them.

I'm based in the USA and our elementary school (700 pupils between 5 and 10 yo) uses hundreds of volunteers a week doing the following:

Library duty (shelf stacking, shelf reordering, checking books out and in, covering books, preparing seasonal wall displays)

Lost property

Room Moms - organising class social activities, gifts for teachers etc) they organise the class contributions to teacher appreciation week and the staff Christmas lunch. They write a monthly newsletter too.

Math challenge volunteers - 2 or 3 parents one hour a week to help uppity children's math challenge games

Reading volunteers- one volunteer per week per class to read a story/poetry to whole class

Class prep - variety of work including stapling, preparing wall displays, separating worksheets, laminating. One or two hours required per week.

Photocopying - a list of copy requests are left by teachers in the copy room and volunteers come in each day to complete on a rota.

In addition we also have committees of volunteers who plan, run, decorate for and recruit others for the following:

Annual Fall and Spring book fairs
Annual sponsored run
Annual Science fair
Annual Science day "camp"
Annual school movie night
Annual Spring fundraiser (similar to a fete)
Yearbook (huge amount of work)
School store - sells school t-shirts, water bottles etc
Run the PTA website.
Organise photo days
Organise school supplies sales. (You have to provide all note books, pens, scissors and glue etc here)
Field Day (sports day)
School Concerts
Junior Business programme

Why not survey your colleagues- see what help they need and then see if there is a way for volunteers to fulfil it?

The volunteers at our school include scientists, lawyers, engineers, teachers, professional artists and musicians, accountants and IT consultants. Many of whom are now SAHMs or SAHDs and have time and energy to contribute.

These are serious people - our PTA raises more than $200k each year.

uppity don't know where that came from! "Mark" the math challenge games.

Wow 700 pupils!!!!

'Yesterday 22:27 Tigersteeth

Bora, it directly replaces teaching, when we take them out of carefully planned, thoughtfully differentiated lessons to read with a parent helper.
Children miss the input, or they miss the chance to put their learning into practice. If we use the afternoons, they miss the foundation subjects. Is reading to a nice grown-up more valuable than a trained practitioner?'

I've only read up to page two so far so forgive me if this has massively moved on since.

Firstly our parent readers did a course in school on how to bring on readers before they could start.

Parent reading was done outside of vital learning times. So while there was free play or a creative subject for five minutes.

There's a million jobs they can do and be useful. Laminating, photocopying, putting displays up, helping to swap library books, washing paint pots, cutting out for wall displays, copying spelling lists into books. Reading a story to the class while you work with a specialised group in the same room,sorting out book corners, sticking stuff in books, I could go on...

In regards to paint pot washing. Thirty four year olds try to wash their own but make a hell of a mess usually!

If you don't want volunteers please do not grudgingly make up stuff for them to do and then expect them to be grateful to be allowed into your classroom.
Be honest, say "We do not need classroom volunteers". Just because these parents have some spare time, doesn't mean that they are gagging to have you waste it for them. There are plenty of other organisations who need motivated volunteers. Wasting people's time and goodwill is verging on criminal.

The sorts of things I've been helping with in DD2's Reception class include:

• hearing readers (probably 1/3 of my visits)
• helping with handwriting practice
• helping the children write 'number sentences' based on simple stories
• filing artwork
• helping make assembly costumes

Volunteers come in in the afternoon, presumably when the children are likely to be doing less intensive work anyway.

When DD1 was in year 1 I did all sorts, including helping small groups with small research tasks on the computers and maths games. A friend at another school used to help on PE mornings in the early weeks of Reception when they needed help getting changed/unchanged. Parents also help run the library. Maybe, like a PP said, we are more useful in the infant year groups.

I have to say, if I thought the teachers held the view that I was 'completely unqualified and expected [them] to be grateful' then there are a million other things I could be getting on with at home/for fun instead. Most of the other helpers in DD's class are fitting this in around full-on jobs (doctor, senior corporate type, civil servants) or during the limited free nursery hours of younger siblings. People's time is precious and the best thing you can do if you really can't use their skills and enthusiasm is politely and gratefully decline their offer of help.

I'm immensely grateful for the parent readers at DS's school. His year is massively mixed in terms of ability and he is one of the more able. I'm very aware that other children need the teacher and TA's support more regularly - but small kids feel it if they hardly ever get one to one reading with an adult at school, and the regular practice at school has definitely reinforced the idea that school cares about him reading regularly with an adult as well as at home.