What happens in a Number Partners session?
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
What will happen once a volunteer has successfully completed
the police or criminal record check, training and assessment?
Volunteer Number Partners will:
- be put in touch with a member of staff - a class teacher, maths
coordinator or business coordinator - at a local school which has
expressed interest in the programme
- arrange an introductory visit to meet the school coordinator
and find out more about the school and your partner students
- visit that school for between half an hour and an hour, usually
during school lunchtime, once a week for at least one term
- play numeracy games, preferably with the same two or three
specially selected students, each week
- help those students to enjoy, develop and improve their
numeracy skills through fun activities.
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, as well as a number of
educational policies and issues relating to numeracy and personal
finance education.
Request registration with the Number Partners
scheme.