Notes for Link Teachers 

Thank you for agreeing to be the Link Teacher for your school.  Many of you will be very familiar with the scheme however for those teachers who are new to the scheme here are a few notes which you may find helpful.

The aims of the scheme are:-

  • to help raise the aspirations of pupils and encourage them to consider continuing their education and training after they leave school.
  • to provide extra resource in the classroom, allowing more support for pupils in small groups or individually.
  • to give opportunities for students to develop a range of interpersonal skills and to improve their communication and time-management skills.

 Role of the Link Teacher

The Link Teacher acts as  liaison between your school and the University  ‘Students in Schools’ co-ordinator and is expected to:-

  •  Inform staff about the scheme and make sure they are aware of its aims and principles.
  •  In discussion with  school staff determine which teachers would like the help of a student volunteer, in which subject and at what level as well as identifying any particular skills required.
  •  Consolidate and submit your school’s requests for volunteers.
  •  Provide feedback to the University co-ordinator and if possible attend one of the ‘Students in Schools’ training sessions where you will have the opportunity to meet a number of potential volunteers as well as the chance to present your school to them.
  • email  the relevant class teacher when you have received an email from Students in Schools confirming a volunteer’s start date date
  •  Make sure all teachers participating in the scheme understand that the  students must be under the direct supervision of a qualified member of staff at all times.  They must not be asked to have sole charge of the class, a group or an individual at any time.
  • Act as the main point of contact for volunteers.

 Allocation of Volunteers

We will recruit and train volunteers at one of our training courses held between October and January each year.

When a volunteer has attended the training and submitted their DBS application they will be allocated to a school for a specific request.  You will be emailed to tell you there are volunteers allocated to your school which need your confirmation or rejection.  These volunteers will have a suggested start date (a date by which we expect they will have received their DBS certificate).

To accept your volunteers via the SiS website you will need to access the  View / Confirm Volunteers page and use the comments box to reject or confirm each one  (adding any additional information you would like the volunteer to have).  If you are confirming a volunteer you also need to add the date you would like them to start (which may or may not be the same as the  proposed start date)

We  ask schools to confirm, amend or reject a volunteer as quickly as possible.  Once you have confirmed your preferred start date for a volunteer they will be automatically notified and asked to confirm.  When they do, you and your school office will automatically receive notification of their confirmed starting date.

Raising Awareness

A key objective of the scheme is to raise awareness of higher education and to help raise schoolchildren’s aspirations. This is why we attach so much importance to you introducing your students to their class as from the University and when appropriate providing the opportunity to talk about University life.

To help raise awareness that our volunteers are University students we provide them with ‘Students in Schools’ branded T-shirts and name badges to wear on each of their visits.

Messages and Absence

We make it very clear to all our students that it is their responsibility to email or telephone in advance if for any reason they are unable to attend on a particular day.  Please pass on any such messages you may receive to the appropriate teacher.

Student’s Commitment

We always stress the importance of commitment to our volunteers and make it clear that they are expected to behave in a professional manner throughout their time in school.   Before starting in school they are asked to sign a ‘Code of Conduct’ and are given a FAQ making clear what is expected of them.  Copies of both of these can be found at the on this site.

Visit Records

In addition to signing your own school visitor register we provide you with a QR code to display in your reception area.  We expect our students to scan this on arrival and departure each time they visit, to  record their volunteering hours electronically.

It is important that we have an accurate record of how many hours our students spend in schools.  This information is needed  so that:-

  • We know when a student has completed the scheme
  • We can confirm their volunteering hours which also count towards the University’s  RED Award scheme.
  • We can give recognition to volunteers who exceed the requirements of the scheme.

If  a student has forgotten or  been unable to log in, your office staff can log their visit details for them at Add/Amend a Volunteer Visit

Please email sis@reading.ac.uk if you have any problems or questions on any aspect of the scheme.