Volunteering in schools
Interested in helping support children at school?
LJMU works with a number of schools and colleges to provide opportunities for you to help pupils with their maths or English, help out as a teaching assistant, mentor, after school club facilitator or offer subject support. Whether you're interested in pursuing a career in education or just have some spare time to offer, helping a child to develop is an incredibly rewarding experience.
Primary schools
We work with a number of primary schools in Merseyside offering volunteers the opportunity to work with children one-to-one or in groups to help them with their literacy or numeracy. The time commitment is very flexible and this is a great opportunity to build experience working with children in a classroom environment and will suit anybody seeking employment in teaching, youth work or planning to apply for a PGCE.
LJMU also invites primary groups to visit the University. These visits are largely run by students which allows them to gain experience working with children. During the visits, student volunteers can also design and deliver their own taster sessions.
Secondary schools
Secondary schools are looking for teaching assistants, face-to-face mentors or after school club facilitators, search for these types of opportunities via the Careers Zone 24/7 online platform (login required).
Volunteers are also required to offer group support in certain subjects, inside and outside of lessons so if you are confident in assisting students in your subject for GCSE then use your knowledge to gain this vital experience.
E-mentoring
E-mentoring matches LJMU students with sixth form students, normally in year 12 continuing into 13. These students need advice on guidance on areas such as revision tips, budgeting, choosing a university or course, the UCAS application process, moving away from home and so on. Mentors will communicate with their mentees on a weekly basis electronically. As a result the time commitment for this project could be under an hour a week but you can very easily build up months of mentoring experience for your CV.
School governor roles
If you're interested in serving as a governor or trustee in a school, take a look at the Inspiring Governance website to find out what's involved and how to sign up.
