All members of the Sixth Form are required to designate one session per week to help in the life of the school or the wider community. Examples include helping younger students with reading, assisting classroom teachers, helping in the library or reprographics departments or supporting staff with administrative tasks. Community leadership can also take place outside the school, for example at a local primary school or an out of school club. We encourage students to put their hours forward for a Millennium Volunteer Award. We also include a report on what has been done in the students' annual report.
Previous Community Placements include:
Helping out in a Year 7 or 8 lesson
Acting as a subject mentor
Helping out with Year 7 Induction
Helping out with a Music or Media Club
Leading a sports team or practice session
Helping out at a local Primary School
Helping out at a local Youth Club
Leading a Brownie or Cub Pack
Teaching sex education to Year 9 students through the APAUSE project
So how do you get a placement?
Discuss your ideas with your tutor, parent(s) and friends. Ideally, your placement should help support a future job or university application. What do these people think would be a good placement.
Once you have a sound idea contact the relevant person in person or by letter. Outline what you would like to do and why you would like to do it. Let them know that this would, ideally, be for an hour a week (unless you want to devote more time to it).
If this person agrees you should then let your tutor know what you will be doing, when and with whom. If the placement is external to Wrenn we need to know that you will be safe and insured.
You are now ready to start. Good Luck!
Previous students' comments on their Community Leadership Placements:
"I have helped Year 5 children at my old Primary School to improve their reading skills. I have helped with activities at my senior school, including Parents' Evenings and new students' induction days. These activities improved my ability to communicate with different age groups. I also helped to refurbish the Sixth Form garden, improving the facilities and doing my bit for the Sixth Form Community".
"I chose to work alongside my dance teacher assisting classes of 12 - 15 year olds where I learnt many new techniques of how to work with younger students".
"I participated in an after school Film Club because I ahve always been interested and passionate about films, in particular, the creativity that is required to produce a good picture. I felt that taking part in this club would widen my knowledge further and would be invaluable in later life. I also took part in clay modelling animation lessons, where I learnt and taught younger pupils of the school how to create a 10 second animated cartoon".
"Currently I am attending a local Primary School on a weekly basis as a classroom assistant. I am analysing the behaviour of the children and the various teaching techniques. This has made me aware that controlling a class of thirty children can be quite difficult but with the correct approach and patience this can be done. I am enjoying this experience and the primary teachers have commented on my natural teaching flair and confident handling of the pupils".
"In the past few years I have given my support to the lower years in many different ways; I assisted a Science teacher by supporting some pupils in her Year 7 class every week. I also took part in the induction days for the new Lower Sixth. This involved the setting up of team building activities and giving instructions. This activity gave me a lot of satisfaction as I knew these days made a difference to how the students would settle into the Sixth Form. I have also enrolled for subject support for Psychology, in which I talk to younger students about what the subject entails to help them make a more informed decision regarding their choice to study this subject. I can capably work with children from a range of ages and different social backgrounds".
"I helped at a learning support centre at Rushden and Diamonds Football Club one evening a week for several months. Here Year 8 students who found it challenging to learn at school were encouraged to learn in a style to suit them. I feel that I helped their education by motivating them. This was shown through the positive feedback I received from the students, their teachers and the learning support assistants at the centre. This has increased my drive for success in my A Level and university results, so that I may become a teacher in the subject that I love. I also taught sex education to Year 9 students where I attended the 'APAUSE' course and learnt how to teach the subject, then planned and led classes over 8 weeks".
"For Community Leadership I attended a local infant school where I worked with children between the ages of 5 and 7. I spent time helping them with their school activities such as learning about measurements, artwork and reading. I thoroughly enjoyed working with them. This helped me to get experience of what teaching is like in a real school setting. The experience I gained while working with young children has given me great knowledge and understanding of what goes on in the classroom. I also helped out on an Enterprise Day that took place in my school, where I worked with a Year 7 class, doing a variety of activities for instance: martial arts, fencing and sports. I benefitted from this day as it helped me to see the differences in being around different age groups".
