For Teachers
How does Primary Futures work?
Once your school has registered by clicking on the button at the top of the homepage and following the instructions, you can contact a growing number of enthusiastic volunteers from different professions and sectors waiting to be invited into school to talk, work with and inspire your children. Teachers are able to view the profiles of different volunteers in their locality and contact any they would like to come into their school.
How to use volunteers in a Primary School
This short guide has been developed by primary school teachers in the UK to help other primary school teachers and staff think about new ways to use employee volunteers in the classroom and gives tips and suggestions on how to use volunteers to enrich the primary curriculum
Please download the guide here (PDF)
What could the volunteers do in my school?
- Talk about their jobs and enthuse the children about the range of opportunities open to them and how important reading and numeracy were in their school days bringing learning to life and making it relevant.
- Talk about the different background and cultures they come from and in doing so help broaden young people’s horizons and raise aspirations.
- Take part in a literacy or numeracy activity with a small group of children to contribute to improving basic skills and confidence.
- Maybe act as judges in projects and competitions e.g. enterprise or environment schemes or get involved in the activities using their expertise.
Of course this list is not exhaustive. There are many other ways to work with volunteers. You might find this UK program guide
(PDF) useful in planning your Primary Futures activities.
That’s the beauty of Primary Futures! Once you have joined us it’s up to you to decide how you would like to work in partnership with your volunteers. When you contact them that is the start of the relationship. There are many ways they could work with the children – maybe in small groups, in classes or even year groups. Primary Futures could be a one off event, although experience tells us that when it’s built into the school year as part of the curriculum it is even more effective in meeting the children’s needs.
There are a number of ideas of how other schools have used Primary Futures in the UK that can be viewed here
We will be adding more information from schools in Australia about their experiences as the project develops.If you have any questions about how to register or contact volunteers please contact us.
Overview of Primary Futures in the UK “Headteacher Update”
The free Primary Futures program offers a way to discuss skills and delivers a feel for the wide world of careers with primary pupils. Former Head Teacher Steve Ireldale in the UK explains.
Read the full article here
Useful UK websites to stimulate ideas for Australian primary schools