"From the Number Partners sessions I have learnt to be more confident in my maths. I know it's helping me to learn more."

Student

Notes for school coordinators

First steps

All schools taking part in Number Partners must appoint a school coordinator to take responsibility for the way it runs at school. As a school coordinator, you will need to:

  • register your school on this site to become a member of Number Partners and receive updates and useful information
  • understand what your school hopes to achieve by establishing a relationship with a local business or employer
  • agree your school's commitment with the head and teaching staff in order to release students from their timetabled lessons or over lunchtime
  • consider the minimum and maximum numbers of volunteers that you will need for the programme to be viable
  • find a local employer able to provide volunteer Number Partners
  • find a suitable space and time for Number Partners sessions to take place each week
  • with assistance from other staff, choose suitable students to take part in the programme
  • have an initial meeting with your business partner's volunteer coordinator
  • meet and brief the volunteers before their first session with students; this may also be an induction to your school
  • check that all volunteers have successfully completed their Number Partners training and assessment and police or criminal record checks by asking to see a copy of their Number Partners certificates and police disclosure or CRB documentation
  • liaise with volunteers as often as possible to keep up to date with progress, and to advise on students' performance and behaviour; you may want the volunteers to write in existing learning diaries
  • stay in touch with the volunteer coordinator on a regular basis to suggest and hear ways of improving or developing Number Partners sessions, to discuss holiday dates in advance etc.
  • if requested by the programme administrator, help evaluate the programme at the end of each year and, perhaps, undertake evaluation as part of your own approach to ensure that objectives are being met
  • discuss any evaluation with the volunteer coordinator in order to identify ways of developing the programme in the following year.

Evaluation

As a school coordinator, you may be contacted by the Number Partners administrator responsible for evaluating the programme. You may be asked to consult those involved in your programme at the end of each year, so that it can be properly appraised. For example, you may be invited to distribute evaluation forms amongst your students to obtain feedback. Volunteers are also invited to be involved in the evaluation.

You may wish to use comments provided to find out if any changes can be made to improve the programme and make sure that students are making the most from their sessions.

Request registration for your school with the Number Partners programme here.

Take a look at the resources available for those involved in the programme here.

Download the Coordinators Handbook.