Parent Helpers

THANK YOU for your time and commitment. Your help is important as it enriches the life of the children in our school and is invaluable to us.

To help you feel part of our school community as quickly as possible, we have listed some guidelines:

Always sign in the Visitors Book and wear the badge prominently
Reporting incidents: Never put up with any misbehaviour from the children – always refer back to the class teacher immediately. Should you be concerned about any inappropriate information given by a child please refer to the Headteacher.
Physical Contact: Ensure any contact with children is appropriate, necessary and of limited duration, e.g a hug or pat on the back my be appropriate for a distressed child. Always work in an open environment, never work unsupervised.
Using the Internet: Part of our user rules state that children should never give their name or address through the internet.
Confidentiality: We appreciate you will understand the need for confidentiality, please ensure information about the children e.g reading ability , behaviour etc, stays in the school.
Images of children: At the beginning of each year parents may state that their child’s image should not be used for publicity purposes. Please do not take photos of the children when working individually or in small groups (unless asked to do so by a member of staff)
Dress and personal details: Adults in school should promote a positive image appropriate to their role. They should dress decently, safely and appropriately for the tasks they undertake. Clothing should not carry political, offensive or contentious slogans.
Relationships with pupils: Please remember to maintain a ‘professional’ relationship with the children while you are in school regardless of your relationship with them outside (No children are allowed to call adults by their first names in school).
Although it is possible that you will build healthy ‘working’ relationships with children especially if you are a regular helper, can we just remind you that it is not appropriate to develop these relationships outside school.

How can you help suppport children's reading?

Here are just a few ideas, not all will be relevant every time

  • Think about the kind of text. Is it fiction or non-fiction? How do you know that? What has sparked an interest in choosing this book?
  • Before reading the text, ask what has already happened. What characters have been presented? And also what types of situations have arisen. Thinking also about what might happen in the next chapter or page.
  • If you are only just starting the book, read the blurb on the back and see if you can predict what might happen.
  • It is a good idea to have a dictionary to hand, so that any tricky words can be explained.
  • If you have finished the book try thinking beyond the text. Could you have had a different ending? What might the sequel be like?

Strategies that can be used to help children with their decoding skills in reading include:

  • Using pictures for clues
  • Rereading a sentence
  • Splitting an unknown word up and then blending
  • Missing the word out and trying to guess, using the context of the passage
  • Using knowledge of phonic sounds to build a word
  • Using rhyme, as children have an ability to store rhyme