Primary school numeracy supporter

[Employer hidden — view at passion-project.co.uk]

Every child deserves a good education, leading to better opportunities in life; numeracy, like literacy, is a crucial part of this. Because many children have difficulty acquiring maths skills in a classroom setting, we established [Employer hidden] to support children in state primary schools who have fallen behind in the subject. We train volunteers to help children aged six to eight (school Years 2 and 3) to acquire confidence, skills, and a sense of achievement in maths. Success in this one area can improve a child's overall educational and life chances. Following training, our volunteers work one-to-one with each child to help them improve their confidence, enjoyment, and skills in maths. Sessions are weekly, in school time but outside the classroom, and are for 25 or 30 minutes. Volunteers typically support three children, for a total time commitment of an hour and a half weekly, for the full school year. (We recognise that volunteers will generally have to miss a week here and there for personal reasons.) You should also allow some time for preparing sessions. As a volunteer, at each session, using games and other creative activities, you will support the child in learning or improving skills and in gaining confidence in their own ability. The role is very much about helping the child learn, rather than you teaching. Former and current teachers, volunteering with us as ‘Mentors’, deliver the training and will give you individual support during the year as required. We also have online group update sessions each half term, where a Mentor or guest speaker speaks on a particular topic and runs a question and answer session with volunteers. Schools have consistently evaluated a highly positive impact on the children our volunteers support, as shown in our annual reports (published on our website). We are now recruiting volunteers for school year 2024-25, when we will be partnering with over 31 schools across 15 London boroughs, with about 120 volunteers supporting 360 children. The key requirement for volunteers is that they have the interpersonal skills to relate to young children and to encourage them to engage in learning. Of course, you should also be confident in working with very basic arithmetic. We will train and support you in how best to help children one to one. We want volunteering to be a rewarding experience for you, and we aim to provide social and developmental opportunities. Working with young children is rewarding and fun! We welcome - and we have - volunteers from a wide variety of ethnicities and backgrounds, reflecting the diversity of London.

What difference you will make

Children fail to keep up with classroom maths lessons for a variety of reasons, and once they fall behind they can lose confidence in their own ability and develop excuses for not learning. This can lead to 'maths anxiety' and permanent failure in the subject - with negative impact on their broader education and on their opportunities as adults.

You will help children gain confidence in maths - and by extension in other areas. With increased confidence the child is better able to acquire and practise skills and this will encourage them to re-engage in classroom lessons.

The overall goal is to improve the child's engagement with education, and thus to improve their educational and life chances.

Teachers have consistently identified improvements in confidence and achievement across the group of children our volunteers support. These evaluations can be seen in our annual reports, published on our website.

What additional skills or experience you should have

You should be able to engage positively and creatively with young children.

Listening is a key skill.

You should have a real interest in helping children engage in learning.

You will have confidence in basic arithmetic - adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing to 1,000!

We ask you to commit for a full school year with weekly sessions in school time. (We recognise that volunteers have take holidays too.)

We will apply for a DBS check for you.

What training we will provide for you

We will give you training before you start. This will be for about seven hours, half online or prereading and half in person. This will cover how to work with young children, how to use concrete objects to help children understand and acquire maths skills, and other relevant subjects such as safeguarding.

We also run online sessions for volunteers each half term. At these there will be an update on a particular subject and an open question and answer session, so that you can ask your own questions and also hear what other volunteers are doing.

We also provide a great deal of support material online, and you will be allocated a Mentor - an experieced teacher volunteering with [Employer hidden] - who will give you advice on request during the year.

What you will get out of volunteering for us

Satisfaction from helping children achieve their potential.

Improving your coaching and interpersonal skills.

Getting involved in your local community and making new connections.

Fun! Working with young children is generally a joy.

For some volunteers, this is a stepping stone to a career in teaching.

Not sure which role suits you or need a little friendly help? Please contact Angie at [contact hidden] for London or Rebecca at [contact hidden] for Manchester.