Dear volunteer,
Thank you so much for volunteering to support The Grown-Up School in helping our partner schools!
By joining us at a school workshop, you will be helping to deliver invaluable support to teachers and young people during some very difficult times.
We are so grateful for your support, and would love to continue working with you again in the future.
We hope you have an amazing experience!
About the workshops 👩🏫
The workshops are classroom-based and very interactive/conversational with students – often involving quizzes, games, and activities. 🤹♀️
Classes can involve groups up to 30 students – they are usually very friendly and we love working with them!
On occasion, some classes may be a bit shy and take some time to get to know you, but please do not take this personally. 😳
Workshop booking information 🗺️
Your facilitator from The Grown-Up School will meet you at the school reception on the dates/start times listed on your booking form.
As a visitor you will not be permitted to be alone with the students, so please do not venture anywhere throughout the school without your facilitator from The Grown-Up School!
- Arrival time⌚ Please aim to arrive 15 minutes before your workshop start time, to give us time to sign you in as a visitor at the school.
- Dress code👖 Smart casual – no offensive words or logos
- Car parking 🚗 Our partner schools usually have parking facilities. Please familiarise yourself with these in advance as school car parks can often be difficult to find. Please be extremely careful when driving in or near school property and be wary of students walking around.
- Accessibility requirements ♿ If you have any accessibility requirements please let us know as soon as possible in advance of your workshop, so that we can support you.
What we need from you 🙏
The good news is that other than reading this briefing, you don’t need to do any preparation!
We do however need the following from you on the day:
- Open to sharing 📖 Students love meeting new people and hearing about your work experience, so if you’re comfortable talking about it, that would be fantastic!
- A mini Q&A session🎤 For each workshop we put time in for a quick Q&A with you, so students can ask questions about your career/work – please let us know if this is something you’d rather not do!
- Keep it simple ✅ You’ve learned a lot since you’ve left school, and this might be quite scary for our students. Please try to avoid using business jargon, and use simple language for the benefit for our students! If you have a confusing job title, please make an effort to explain it to students.
- Positivity ☀️ Some schools don’t get a lot of external visitors, so we want to make this a great experience for them. A big smile and enthusiasm is often all it takes to brighten the day for our students!
- An open mind 🧠 We work with a brilliantly diverse groups of students, from all walks of life, backgrounds, and experiences. Please be understanding and accepting of the individuality of our students.
- Sensitivity 💖 As we all know, teen years can be especially difficult. Many of our students are going through particularly emotional experiences such as bereavement, family conflict, mental health struggles, and gender reassignment. Please be conscious of this and sensitive in discussions with students.
The value you bring ✨
We are so excited to have you join and support us, and this is why!
Inspiration and aspiration 🤩
Hearing your firsthand accounts as a professional can inspire students to aim higher and pursue diverse career paths. Exposure to real-world experiences can help them set ambitious goals. 🏆
Career exploration 🕵️♀️
You provide an opportunity for teenagers to explore different career options, helping them understand the wide array of possibilities available to them. This exposure can assist in making informed decisions about their future.🧠
Skill development 🛠️
Meeting you helps to emphasize the importance of soft skills at work, such as communication, problem-solving, and teamwork, which are crucial for success in any profession. Students can learn how these skills are applied in the workplace. 🗣️
Real-world relevance 🌍
Hearing about real work experiences makes classroom learning more exciting and relevant. Students can better appreciate how the knowledge and skills they acquire in school can be applied in practical settings. 🚗
Motivation 💪
When you share stories of your challenges and successes, this can motivate students to persevere in their studies and overcome obstacles they may encounter on their path to success. 🏋️♀️
Community engagement 💖
By supporting your local schools, you foster a sense of community involvement and corporate social responsibility. It shows that businesses care about the education and development of future generations. 🌍
Diversity and inclusion 🤝
The diverse backgrounds of our volunteers can promote the importance of diversity and inclusion in the workplace, encouraging students to embrace diversity as they plan their careers. 🤗
In summary, you play a crucial role in shaping the aspirations and skill development of teenagers. Your insights and guidance can have a lasting impact on students’ academic and career journeys, contributing to a brighter future for the workforce and the community as a whole. ☀️
Workshop structure 🛠️
Your workshop facilitator from The Grown-Up School will be responsible for:
- Leading the workshops and guiding you through the day 🙋♀️
- Providing all resources for the workshop ✏️📄
Please be aware that we are not responsible for the management of student behaviour in the school, and this responsibility lies with the school.
Details for our specific workshop lesson plans can be found here.
COVID-19 safety 😷
As visitors to schools we are led by their expectations in terms of COVID-19 safety.
Visitors are typically permitted to enter the school without masks, however COVID safety measures are subject to change.
You may be required to follow measures such as:
- Completing track and trace forms at the school – providing your contact information
- Maintaining social distancing
- Wearing a mask for the duration of your visit
These measures will be outlined for you at reception on the day of your visit.
If you are experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms on the day of the workshop, please do not attend, and contact us to cancel via email at laura@thegrownupschool.com
Safeguarding 🛡️
We have a responsibility for ensuring the safety and wellbeing of the students we work with.
For this reason, we have the following rules in place:
- No videos, audio recordings, or photography can be taken at the school premises except by The Grown-Up School’s facilitator, who will ensure that appropriate permission forms, safeguarding measures are in place. 📸
- Volunteers are not allowed to establish or seek to establish social contact with pupils, children, or young people. 📵
At the workshop, you might also notice concerns for the safety of students. 🛟
If at any point during the session you become aware of any safeguarding concerns for students, please let your workshop facilitator or the school teacher know as soon as possible.
This could include things such as:
• A student displays inappropriate behaviour e.g. inappropriate language
• A student says something that gives cause for concern
• A student appears mentally or physically unwell
For more information, you can usually find a copy of the school’s safeguarding guidance on their website.
Keeping in touch 📱
Due to safeguarding responsibilities, volunteers must not establish or seek to establish social contact with pupils, children, or young people. 🚫
This extends to the use of social networking sites such as LinkedIn. 📵
If you’d like to reach out to the school or send them any feedback etc. after our session,we would be more than happy to pass this forward for you! 📧
Feedback and social media 🔊
We love keeping in touch with our volunteers on social media, so please feel free to post about your experiences and tag us!
We want to encourage as many people as possible to take the steps you’re taking to volunteer with their local schools, so spreading the word about our workshops can help to encourage them.
You can find The Grown-Up School on:
You can find our founder Laura Abraham on:
Work with us again! 🔁
If you love volunteering, this workshop doesn’t have to be the end of it.
We have plenty more schools looking for sponsorship on our workshop page here!
Questions? 📞
Hopefully we’ve covered all the information you need above, however please do let us know if you have any questions!
Feel free to get in touch via email at laura@thegrownupschool.com