Many of our Student-Led Projects work with partner organisations – if that includes you, please familiarise yourself with these guidelines. Below are important points you should consider when working with community organisations in order to deliver your project successfully.

COMMITMENT

  • Be reliable and consistent. The organisation will be relying on you to turn up on time each week. The participants will be let down if your programme is cancelled, even if it’s just for one week. Cancelling will also disrupt the momentum of your programme and may lead to participants losing interest and dropping out.
  • Make sure you complete a PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT FORM so that both you and the organisation are clear about what has been agreed.
  • Be clear about when you are available for the entire length of the project and consider when students will be unable to volunteer during exam and holiday times.
  • Deliver what you promise. Be clear about what you can deliver and what support and supervision you will need from the organisation.

PREPARATION

  • Preparation is key to delivering a successful programme. Make sure your sessions are well planned and all volunteers know what they will be doing. Have a pre-session meeting or, at the very least, send an email confirming your plans.
  • You should draw up a session plan. You can obtain blank copies from the SLP Forms webpage.
  • Develop a good working relationship with your key contact at the organisation and meet with them at the beginning to discuss your programme. They will be able to give you guidance to ensure your programme is age appropriate, engaging and relevant.
  • If your project works with children or at schools, you and your volunteers must complete our Online Volunteering with Children course before you start volunteering.

COMMUNICATING WITH THE ORGANISATION

  • Keep in close contact with the key contact. Establish the most effective way of contacting them e.g. phone call/text/email etc.
  • If you are working with a school, remember that teachers are very busy and the best times to contact them are 8.25 - 8.45am, in the lunch-break (usually 12 - 1pm), or after 4pm.
  • When emailing the key contact at the organisation always copy in your Project Supervisor.

BEHAVIOUR DURING THE SESSIONS

  • Maintain boundaries and act professionally. You are a role model for the participants.
  • Do not use inappropriate language with each other or with the participants.
  • If you are delivering a session without anyone from the organisation present, you must know how to contact them if there is a problem.
  • Avoid laughing at comments participants make, unless it’s clear that they intend to make a joke.

PROGRAMME DELIVERY

  • For in-person sessions, make sure there are at least 5 volunteers per 25-30 participants (this allows for 1 volunteer per table if you are working in groups). This is specially relevant if you are working with children or in schools.
  • Make sessions interactive and focus on group work rather than lecture style.
  • Use participant's names from the start. Use name stickers for yourselves and the participants, if delivery in-person.
  • Be aware of different cultures/backgrounds and don’t assume a person has previous knowledge about your topic.

If you are working with children, consider these additional points:

  • Use clear and simple language when giving instructions. Use large print when giving written instructions and provide extra support to the children who have difficulty reading.
  • Give lots of praise and encouragement and develop a reward system to acknowledge the children who have achieved or have tried hard.

Working with a school?

If you are working with a school, consider these additional points:
1. Ask the school about their behaviour policy and talk to your key contact about how your volunteers should deal with behavioural problems.
2. Try to keep your email communications with the school concise and to the point – teachers are likely to be very busy.
3. Set boundaries and expectations during the first session.
4. Keep in mind that school term dates do not align with UCL term dates. Be sure to mark these in your calendar in advance, so you have them at hand when planning your sessions.
5. Remember that schools may require your volunteers to be DBS checked, so advise your volunteers to start the DBS checking process as soon as possible – the DBS process can take time.
6. Manage expectations and timelines – for example, if the school requires DBS checks but the project is time-sensitive, consider discussing alternatives with the teachers such as having a member of staff present at all times, or having specific volunteers obtain DBS checks and having them supervise non-DBS checked volunteers.
7. When marketing your project to schools, research their priorities and try and align your project with the National Curriculum and individual school priorities.
8. Start liaising with schools early in the academic year, so that they can incorporate your project into their school timetable.
9. If your project involves taking pupils out of their school setting, provide as must notice as possible, so that the school can liaise with parents and complete their own risk assessment, if required.
Last updated 2 weeks ago Read time 4 mins