From phonics practise to teaching the actions for a Christmas show, sixth formers at Derby Grammar School are choosing to spend their free time helping younger pupils at the family-focused school.
At the school in Rykneld Road, Littleover, sixth form students are given duties they are expected to carry out once a week in their lunch and break times. And for several students, this means working within the school’s primary department.
But the volunteering has proved so beneficial to both age groups, that several students are choosing to spend more of their free time helping with younger pupils.
Matt Thompson and Grace Salt are both in Year 13, and while they are busily studying for their A-levels, they are balancing that with spending several breaks and free periods a week supporting staff in the Primary School building.
“It helps the teachers out by having an extra person here and the pupils also get someone else to help them and play with them,” said Grace.
For Grace, it is also practical experience she hopes to use going forward as she plans to study education with teaching training at university.
“We’ve been supporting them with phonics and maths and other learning and it’s given me a lot of experience. It’s confirmed this is something I want to do for a career,” said Grace.
And while Matt’s career aims do not include primary education, he says the skills he’s learned from working with the children are completely transferable.
“I’m planning an apprenticeship in finance and accounting,” he said. “Being around children has shown me that you only really get one chance to explain yourself, so you have to slow down and do that clearly. I think that’s really helped me when I’m doing interviews, exams and presentations, just knowing to slow down and think ahead what you need to say.”
And while the sixth formers are seeing the benefits of their responsibilities, primary teacher Mrs Wheat says so are the younger children.
“For these children, the sixth formers are like big brothers and sisters to them. I might try to tell them that it’s okay to make mistakes, for example, but if they hear that from someone like Matt or Grace, they are more likely to believe it. It’s like being told by a big brother or sister.
“It’s also the same with the Christmas show they’ve just put on. The children may have been nervous about wearing elf costumes or standing on stage, but Matt and Grace and some of the other sixth formers we have in here, were there every step of the way with them. They learnt all the moves with them and were happy, even as young adults, to wear elf costumes and stand on stage, just so they could support the children they work with. It really was so wonderful to see.”
Mrs Wheat said the primary pupils also list the sixth formers, by name, as a trusted adult they would talk to if they needed help.
“That is the benefit of being a small, family-like school, it is really like they have older siblings here looking out for them who they trust and can talk to. It really is lovely, and it makes me so, so proud,” she said.
This month marked International Volunteering Day and the sixth formers said they would recommend volunteering because it gives experiences and skills that can be put on CVs and UCAS applications and will last a lifetime, such as understanding responsibilities and timekeeping.
Mrs Wheat said: “If the students have made a commitment to come down and work with the children, they won’t want to let them down so they will make sure they keep their word and therefore they learn to balance the other pressures they are under so they can still be here when they say they will. That really is something which will stand them in good stead when they are working.”
