Volunteers
First steps
The Number Partner programme is all about students and
volunteers having fun with numbers. Volunteers don't need to be
mathematicians to take part! There are a number of easy steps that
all volunteers can follow in order to prepare themselves fully and
make the most out of the programme. Even current volunteers will be
able to refresh their skills and learn new ideas for the
programme.
If you wish to volunteer, you'll need to:
- register on this site to become
a Number Partners volunteer
- prepare yourself, following registration, to become a Number
Partner by working through the online
training available on this site
- familiarise yourself with resources, strategies and appropriate
behaviour for your Number Partners sessions during your
training,
- use the self-assessment tool to check your readiness to be a
Number Partner
- print out your Number Partners certificate when you pass the
assessment to show to the school coordinator before your first
session
- arrange a police or criminal record check using one of
the organisations recommended on this website - this is essential
for those going into schools and will need to be presented to the
school coordinator before you work with any students. Note CRB
checks are only valid in England, Wales and Northern Ireland - for
Scotland, you must get your check completed through Disclosure Scotland.
- attend an induction session at the school, if possible, with
fellow volunteers and your volunteer coordinator to discuss
practical issues as well as the needs of the students you will be
working with
- familiarise yourself with appropriate numbers
games to meet your partners' needs with the help of the school
coordinator.
Don't worry! There is comprehensive, step by step advice
available in the online training
section. If it's a long time since you've been in a school, you
may also be interested in the section about education which will help you
find out about the curriculum in primary and secondary schools. You
can also contact
us if you have any questions regarding the programme.
Download the Volunteer Handbook for lots of useful
information.
A typical Number Partners session
"I usually arrive at the school five or ten minutes before
my session starts, so I can have a quick chat with the teacher and
catch up on what's been going on with my kids. Pamela and Abdul
collect me from the main corridor and we go along to the library
with the other Number Partners. It usually takes a while to get
them going, so we have a chat about what they've been doing in
class in the past week. Then, we choose a game which we play
together for about 20 minutes. I try to get them to tell me how
they arrive at their answers, and they're sometimes not very
confident, but now that I've been working with them for three
months, they're getting better. At the end of the session, we fill
in the diaries which I leave for their teacher, before heading back
to the office." A current volunteer