Programmes for Primary Schools
Inspire is committed to giving young people contact with the world of work throughout their education, from primary school onwards. We aim to offer a progression of learning opportunities that are of a high quality, safe and relevant to the needs and interests of young people and to the wider world outside of school.
The core activities that we currently deliver for primary schools in Hackney are Work-related learning through our Work Week and Brokerage Services and Primary Mentoring schemes.
Our Primary Mentoring schemes bring volunteers into school to support children with particular subjects, skills or activity areas. Most schemes are made possible through ongoing partnerships between a business or other organisation and a particular school. Reading Partners visit schools regularly to help children practise their reading. Number Partners play number games with children to help develop their confidence and mental maths skills. Volunteers for our Transition Mentoring scheme provide encouragement and support as children move on from primary school to secondary school.
We work with a wide range of local businesses and other organisations that can support In-School Activities or host Workplace Visits that give students an insight into the world of work or support their learning by showing how school subjects are relevant in the wider world.
We also enjoy working with individual schools and companies to develop new ideas and activities that will enrich children’s education and offer valuable experiences and beneficial partnerships to businesses and their employees.
Work-related Learning
Work Week continues to be one of our most successful programmes, with a total of 5,286 children from 18 schools taking part this year. The week has been designed to raise children’s awareness of career opportunities, show the links between learning in school and later life, and develop children’s financial capability and their skills for cooperation, enterprise and problem solving. A major development this year has been the introduction of a programme of work for the Foundation Stage (Nursery and Reception children). We also built on our work with Downsview and Ickburgh special schools this year and delivered bespoke programmes that met the complex needs of their students. Feedback from children, teachers and employers taking part in Work Week across the borough was extremely positive, with 64% of pupils giving Work Week the highest rating of ’excellent’ and 92% of teachers stating that they would like to participate again.
22 schools signed our service level agreement in 2008/9, giving them preferential access to the activities offered through Inspire!’s Education-Business Link Brokerage Service. The service researches, develops and promotes opportunities for primary schools, their staff and pupils to benefit from business link, work-related and curriculum enrichment activities. This year we delivered 85 workplace visits for 2,460 children. New opportunities included a hands-on look at jobs in the medical profession at the Royal London Hospital, making architectural models at Hut Architects and a tour and film screening at Rich Mix Cultural Centre. In addition, 3,007 children from 17 schools benefited from in-school activities. We were delighted to offer a newly expanded portfolio of arts activities, including performances by Chickenshed Theatre and the Shaolin Monks. Inspire! also supported schools and teachers through The Brokerage Service, sourcing 5 professional development opportunities and organising ‘Team Challenges’ in partnership with the East London Business Alliance, which improved the environment in three schools.
Primary Mentoring
Primary mentoring involves employee volunteers visiting primary schools on a weekly or fortnightly basis to support children on a one to one or small group basis with a particular subject or skill area, most commonly reading or maths.
Our Primary Mentoring schemes bring volunteers into school to support children with particular subjects, skills or activity areas. Most schemes are made possible through ongoing partnerships between a business or other organisation and a particular school. Reading Partners visit schools regularly to help children practise their reading. Number Partners play number games with children to help develop their confidence and mental maths skills.
Many students experience a dip in their confidence and academic progress as they move from their primary school to secondary school and do not maintain the progress they were making in primary school. Transition mentoring aims to support pupils through this period so that they are more able to achieve their full potential at secondary school.
Employee volunteers work on a one to one basis and with small groups of Year 6 students in their last year at primary school to explore and help prepare them for the transition to secondary school and continue to meet with them for at least a term once they have started at their new school.
Volunteers who have been Reading or Number Partners for Year 6 pupils may choose to change the focus of their support to Transition Mentoring for the final term.
Inspire! helps schools and companies to set up and manage their schemes. We provide volunteer recruitment materials, volunteer training and guidance materials, a volunteer check service with the Criminal Records Bureau and advice and support for scheme co-ordinators.