Students in Schools Co-ordinator

This role co-ordinates the day to day organisation of the University’s Students in Schools Volunteering Scheme which places undergraduate volunteers from the University into local Reading schools. The scheme provides classroom support for pupils in local primary and secondary schools. The support is dependent on the requirements of the school, but typically is aligned to core skill of reading or maths, and increasingly we have seen support requested for pupils with English as an additional language, including refugees and asylum seekers.  For those particularly vulnerable groups it is a valuable piece of support and often a critical intervention to enabling their engagement in school life.

Team Structure

The role sits in the Global Recruitment Team ( UK Student Recruitment & Outreach.

Main duties and responsibilities

1. To recruit, train and place and monitor student volunteer with local primary and secondary schools this could include:

1. Attendance at University volunteering fairs, departmental presentations and overseeing the production and content for social media throughout the year
2. Organising and delivering training sessions for volunteer applicants, establishing their school preferences
3. Conduct DBS checks and guide them through the process
4. Providing starter packs with information
5. Provide regular updates via emails and termly newsletter to encourage ongoing engagement
6. Maintaining online records through web based database and website information

2. Day to day to day liaison with schools and colleges could include
   1. Maintaining effective daily communications between schools and volunteers through email
   2. Placing students and confirming start dates through the online database
   3. Termly newsletters and social media updates to school staff to maintain school engagement

3. Liaison with a wide range of University stakeholders and departments to promote the scheme and to ensure we can offer the widest range of opportunities for our students

4. To produce and develop materials to support with recruitment and training such as recruitment posters, starter packs and other training materials
5. To manage the students in schools annual budget
6. To set up and oversee a student led ‘Student Management Group’ a small number of past  volunteers who support the scheme in some recruitment, training and administrative activities, such as social media
7. To produce annual progress reports on the students in schools scheme, analysing data and implementing changes to the scheme as appropriate
8. To carry out market research surveys to test the perception and effectiveness of the scheme and to identify future improvements
9. Planning and organising an annual event to celebrate the completion of the scheme by participating students
10. To work with guidance from colleagues from GRTUK to align the volunteer programme with Access and Participation Plan objectives
11. To support wider Global Recruitment Team activities such as Open Days and Clearing as required
12. To undertake other duties as required by the line manager

You will have :

• Knowledge of the UK Education System and its challenges for schools and students from under-represented groups
• Experience of delivering presentations to a variety of audiences
• Experience in building a wide range of strong working relationships both externally and internally within an organisation
• Strong administrative and organisational skills, including accurate and methodical recording keeping and attention to detail
• A high degree of computer literacy – MS Office especially MS Outlook, Excel and use of databases

Contact Name: Amy Fairbrother

Contact Job Title: Student Recruitment & Access Manager

Contact Email address: a.fairbrother@reading.ac.uk

Alternative Contact Name: Judy Macdevitt

Alternative Contact Job Title:  Students in Schools Co-ordinator

Alternative Contact Email address: j.macdevitt@reading.ac.uk

Closing date: 26 August 2024

Interviews will be held: 5 September 2024

If the successful candidate already holds a Skilled Worker Visa sponsored by another organisation and it was issued before the 4th April 2024, by reference to the applicable SOC code for this role, sponsorship may be possible under the Skilled Worker Route. There is further information about this on the UK Visas and Immigration Website

The University is committed to having a diverse and inclusive workforce, supports the gender equality Athena SWAN Charter and the Race Equality Charter, and champions LGBT+ equality. Applications for job-share, part-time and flexible working arrangements are welcomed and will be considered in line with business needs.