Class Helpers at OLQP

At Our Lady Queen of Peace, we believe :

• Education involves partnership between staff, parents, the

parish and the children. Helping in and around our school sends

positive messages to the children and helps keep you informed

about happenings at the school. 

• Parental assistance is essential to ensure programs are run

effectively within the school. 

Class Helpers in the K- 2 Learning Space

In 2013, we are focusing on promoting Reading in the school. We are looking for volunteers to enhance learning experiences for all children. Class helpers may be involved in tasks such as:

Listening to children read.

Playing games with small groups to enable turn taking and providing oral language support.

Helping individual children or small groups with a reading activity such as a text reconstruction, big book response.

Working with individual children on a needs basis. ( Maybe reading to a child and encouraging a conversation about a story.)

Key Considerations

Ideally you would be assisting within your own child’s class, however, if one class group has few volunteers we may ask you to work with another class group.

You may not necessarily get to work with your child. We are aiming to give all children the opportunity to work with parents/grandparents.

Unfortunately babies and toddlers cannot be catered for in the learning space as they often become a distraction.

If you have some extra time to give, we will be looking for volunteers to work in the primary learning spaces at a later date.

Duty of Care

A duty of care applies while students are under the care of the school. This duty applies equally to school based activities and out of school activities. The same duty of care applies to employees and volunteers who volunteer their services to the school.

All class helpers will need to have completed their online Child Protection training.

An online training module for use by volunteers is now available. After successfully completing the module, an email notification will be sent automatically to the volunteers email address and to the school email address. This email is confirmation that the training has been successfully completed by the volunteer. The Child Protection for Volunteers is valid for 2 years and must be updated at the time of expiration.

The Child Protection for Volunteers module may be accessed via the following link

http://ceo-web.parra.catholic.edu.au/asp/volunteerscpmodule/index.asp

If the children tell you information of a sensitive nature, please maintain a high level of confidentiality and report your concerns to the classroom teacher or member of the school executive.

Important Information

All volunteers and visitors are expected to officially sign-in at the classroom. Introduce yourself to the children and tell them what you wish them to call you (first name or Mr/Mrs etc).

Ensure you are clear about the expectations of the task and seek clarification if necessary. Be willing to assist all children or group of children within the classroom. This could mean that you may not always work with your child. Set out clearly your expectations for the children in terms of the activity.

The classroom teacher is the primary source of discipline within the classroom. Should the children show any forms of disrespect please notify the classroom teacher immediately and the teacher will deal with the situation.

A high level of trust is essential when working as a volunteer. Discussions concerning a child’s progress should be directed to the class teacher and not with other volunteers or the child’s parents.

Remember you are a role model for the students so please listen when the teachers are addressing the group.

As classroom routine is very important please endeavour to be punctual to ensure classroom activities are not delayed. Should you be unable to keep your volunteer commitment please notify the school as soon as possible. Remember class time is precious and this is not a time for you to discuss your child’s progress.

Hints for listening to Children read Make sure you are sitting next to the child and that they are holding the book.

Ask them to what the story is about and ask them to read the title or read it for them. Encourage the child to look at the pictures ! Pictures HELP tell the story!

If they are unsure, read the first page to get them started.

For beginning readers, make sure they are pointing to each word as they read.

If they get lost or stuck, ask them questions that may lead them to solve the word. Eg: What is Baby Bear doing?

Get you mouth ready to say the first sound. ( NOT sound it out! ) DO A SLOW CHECK !

If they make a mistake but it makes sense, such as “The dog is sleeping/ asleep” let them keep reading!! Maybe highlight the word after the reading.

Many beginning readers read books word by word. Remind them that we  “read like we are talking” . You might need to model a page to them, and let them practise the phrasing.