I work in a Primary school with children from the age of 3 (Nursery) to 11 (Year 6). I have been doing volunteer & paid work here since 2010. It started of being my placement for both of my college courses;
Level 2 Childcare CCYPW (1 Year long)
Level 3 Health & Social care diploma (2 Years long)
Then I volunteered for a few days a week last year, now I do every day of the week, some of it is paid work as supply or cover. I do 3 days a week in nursery from 9am till 3.30pm working with children aged 3 – 4. I do 1 and a half days in Year 2 (children aged 6 -7) & an afternoon in forest school with Reception (Children aged 4 – 5). I also do 2 evenings a week in the afterschool club building blox, they have a range of children from Nursery to Year 6.
This means that I get a range of experience working in different learning environments. In the nursery I am in charge of helping the children with the activities that are available that day, doing assessments on their writing, cutting and learning skills. I will also normally do ‘snack’ with both the morning and the afternoon children; this involves them coming into the kitchen and having a drink and a piece of fruit. I will occasionally help the nursery teacher with group time and putting up and making displays.
In year two I work with children from the age of 6 – 7 years old. I help out with their reading, maths & English lessons, I join in with the games in P.E which is always fun & I help the teacher with marking and setting extension tasks. This class is a very big class with 36 children in it, they all have individual learning needs and