Our Lady of Peace School

Parent Volunteer

Orientation

You are one of the many keys

needed to open the future of our youth.

Opening Prayer

And the Lord said,

"Let the little children come unto me."

Lord; guide our steps as we work with each of the young leaders at the school so that we might follow in your path.

Grant us your wisdom and patience so that we can understand best how to help them learn.

Help us to remember how special all learners are and that they are each made in your image.

Amen.

WELCOME As partners in the important process of helping your

children learn, educators and parents form a powerful

team.

As a volunteer at Our Lady of Peace School, we feel

confident that you will find it to be a satisfying

experience.

Everyone who comes into the school has a valuable

part to play in making this the very best learning

environment it can be for the students.

When we work together, not only do the students

benefit a great deal but also our own lives are

enriched.

Enjoy your time here with us and do not hesitate to

let us know how it is going.

Piece of the Pie

• When you are in volunteering, remember, you

are seeing only a small slice of the pie of what

may be happening in the class.

Possible Jobs For Volunteers

Classroom

Member of School Council Executive

Learning Commons

Technology

Field trips

Food events

Special days

Catholic Community of Caring projects

HELPFUL INFORMATION Parking is available across the road from the school

and at the community centre parking lot.

In the interest of security, please stop at the officeevery time you are volunteering to sign in and pick up your nametag.

Your workspace will be determined by the staff member for whom you are volunteering.

In keeping with school protocol, we ask that you do not bring younger siblings when you are volunteering.

Please feel free to enter our Staffroom for a refreshment while you are volunteering. (We ask that you avoid lunch time as staff members often have confidential documents that they may be working on.)

DECISIONS ABOUT THE USE

OF VOLUNTEERS Individual teachers shall decide whether they wish to

utilize the services of volunteers.

Volunteers are here to support and supplement work that is already being done with our school, volunteers are not there to replace paid staff,

Volunteers are asked to NOT use their presence in the school as an opportunity to dialogue with teachers concerning their own child’s situation.

All volunteers’ work is done under the direction and immediate supervision of a teacher.

Each volunteer has the right to refuse a task if they feel that they are not properly prepared to do what is required

After an initial orientation, volunteers should direct their questions or concerns to the staff member with whom they work.

CONFIDENTIALITY

Maintaining confidentiality is crucial for everyone working at the school. It is important to remember that children’s problems or responses are not to be shared in the community.

Volunteers must not share information about students, staff, or other volunteers with other people.

In the course of their service in schools, volunteers may learn personal facts about students, their families and their problems. As a result, volunteers must agree to keep this information confidential and not discuss it with people in, or outside the school, other than the school administration

ENCOUNTERING

PROBLEMS . . .

If volunteers have a problem with a student, they should redirect the matter to the student’s teacher.

If volunteers have a problem with a teacher, discuss it first with that teacher, and if necessary, then speak with school administration.

POSITIVE ROLE

MODELING

Remember that you are a model for problem

solving, decision making, showing respect for

others and many other processes.

Volunteers are expected to try their best to build a

school climate that will reflect the Catholic

commitment of the school.

PLEASE BE RELIABLE

The teachers and students rely on your support. You

are missed when you cannot fulfill your commitment.

We understand that due to unforeseen circumstances

it is sometimes impossible for you to attend, however,

we greatly appreciate advance notice so that we can

make other arrangements.

Please call the school to notify the teacher.

ASK QUESTIONS IF YOU

ARE NOT SURE

The teachers carefully select the activities they ask

you to do with the children. All of the activities are an

integral part of each child's program.

This means that it is important to have consistency

between activities done with the teacher and those

undertaken by volunteers.

The best way to ensure this is to ask and get

clarification.

INFORM THE TEACHER

Please jot down the child's spontaneous discoveries

about an activity, special difficulties or particular

insights so that you can share them with the teacher.

Inform the teacher should problems occur while you

are volunteering.

In some cases, this may mean asking an individual to

return to the classroom until you have a chance to

touch base with the teacher.

SCHOOL RULES

Remember our school rules and refer to them when it is appropriate.

The role of volunteers is assistance . . . not evaluative.

CLASSROOM SAFETY

Upon entering the classroom, please ensure you

familiarize yourself with the following safety issues:

Emergency exits and procedures

Medical/allergy issues in the class

Procedures for washrooms, drinks

All volunteers are expected to participate in Fire

Drills, Lockdowns and/or Evacuations if any should

occur while they are in the school.

CONSISTENCY

As mentioned earlier, consistency is an

important part of maintaining an effective

learning environment

ACTIVE LEARNING

The most effective learning for children occurs

through personal experience and active involvement.

This means that the learners must be the "doers of

the action." They must be the ones to hold the

pencil, turn the pages, cut the lines and make the

decisions.

Please remember that whatever the children can do

for themselves they should do, even if it is quicker

and easier for an adult to do it.

LANGUAGE

Language is powerful. As a volunteer the type of

language you use can serve to encourage student

risk-taking and task ownership. It can also serve

to undermine confidence and discourage effort. It is

very important to be aware of the type of language

that will facilitate the former rather than the latter

type of student response.

I wonder what would happen if ……..

What do you think? What do you usually do?

Hmmmmmm, that's a tough one (pause to allow the

learner to take the lead)

FIELD TRIPSField trips are a vital component of the learning process.

Some of the expectations we have are as follows:

Punctuality is crucial.

Be aware of the goals and objectives of the field trip so that you can enhance the children's learning experience.

You are responsible for the safety and well being of the students in your group.

Discipline and control of the students must be maintained at all times.

Any incidents must be reported to the teacher promptly.

We can only take a limited number of volunteers on a field trip.

Volunteer Health and Safety

Information

Health and Safety on our premises is of the

utmost concern. We consider Occupational

Health & Safety legislation to be the

minimum requirement.

Responsibilities:

The volunteer must ensure that they

have received the appropriate training

in Health & Safety to ensure that they

are competent to perform all required

work in a safe manner.

The volunteer must immediately

report ALL accidents, incidents, and

near misses to a staff member.

Rights:

Volunteers have the right to know about

hazards/conditions which could cause

immediate serious injury to any person.

Volunteers have the right to refuse unsafe

work if the worker believes that it will

cause an imminent danger to the health or

safety of themselves or another workers.

Emergency Response:

Each work site has its own response plan.

Be sure to go over this with a staff member

and become familiar with it prior to

commencement of work.

Rules:

While on site the following rules apply:

Sign in/out at the main office

Wear a visible Visitor ID tag at all times

Walk, do not run

No smoking on school district property

Forms:

Please advise the office that you have

reviewed the information and you are

prepared to sign the following forms:

Volunteer Acknowledgement Sheet

Volunteer Confidentiality Agreement

Volunteer Health and Safety Information

Sheet

Volunteer Acceptable Use Policy for

Network (Internet, Intranet, server) Use

Driver Authorization

If you are volunteering to drive junior high

students to and/or from athletic events you

are required to sign a Volunteer Driver

Authorization form.

A copy of your insurance and passenger

endorsement rider must be provided.

A driver with six demerit points or more

cannot become a volunteer driver.

Thank you for giving your

time.

Together we are providing

students with opportunities and

opening many doors in the future.