Early Years Support

Family Gateway volunteers make a vital contribution to our aims. We recognise the added value that volunteers bring to our organisation and those who use our services. Our volunteers inform our work and help us to develop, and we can support volunteers to learn skills and achieve personal development during their time with us. We recruit volunteers using our “Barefoot Professional Model” which means we recruit people from our local community who have a range of life experiences that they can use to support other people who come to Family Gateway for support. A description of the Early Years volunteer role is below.

Early Years Volunteer

Our Early Years provision supports children aged 0-7 years old by providing a range of activities that supports their physical, mental, social and emotional development, as well as creating peer support networks for parents/carers. As a student on placement within that team, you would be expected to;

• Work as a member of a team to provide at all times a safe, caring, stimulating environment for the children, in line with The Early Years Foundation Stage or as guided by your placement lead
• Support with the planning and delivery of a range of activities for children aged 0-7 years
• Provide a wide variety of activities for the children that are suitable to their individual stages of development
• Ensure the provision of a high-quality environment to meet the needs of individual children regardless of any disabilities, family backgrounds or medical history
• Undertake certain domestic jobs within the setting, eg. Cleansing of equipment etc and the cleaning of rooms to ensure the space is kept clean and tidy
• Record accidents/incidents on the correct forms
• Ensure that any information is collected and stored appropriately on our CRM system in line with our GDPR policy
• Engage with parents/carers and offer advice, support and guidance where appropriate
• Support with completing risk assessments to ensure the safety of those taking part in activities
• Evaluate sessions/activities that take place and adapt them where needed
• Act as a spokesperson when out in the community or with other professionals and encourage them to access Early Years activities within the Hub
•  Have a knowledge of other services that we offer in order to best support the individuals/families in the local community
• Attend team meetings and events where appropriate

Skills

• Passionate about working with children
• Kind and caring nature
• Ability to work with others as part of a team
• Good communication skills including active listening skills
• Good observation skills
• Patient and can remain calm in stressful situations
• To have a sense of fun and have lots of energy
• Reliable and organised
• Creative and a good imagination to help develop activities for children