Volunteer FAQs
Will I be volunteering online or in person?
Our Virtual Ship is open! We are running daily sessions on our Virtual Ship. When restrcitions allow we will reopen our Hackney and Haringey Ships – watch this space.
What days can I volunteer?
We run sessions Monday to Friday during term time, generally 3:45pm-6:15pm. We also have holiday workshops that run during some of the school holidays and these tend to take place over lunchtime.
How often do the children attend?
The Literacy Pirates is a year-long after school literacy intervention for children aged 9-13. The children attend once a week for a full school year and they typically attend on the same weekday every week.
Can I volunteer if I have no experience as a teacher?
Our Volunteer Crewmates come from a variety of different professions and most have no teaching experience at all. At your training sessions, we will provide you with basic teaching techniques that will help you support our Young Pirates. You will have a trained Session Leader in each session that will guide the class through the session and will be on hand for any additional support you may need.
Will I work with the same young person in every session that I volunteer?
If you sign up to be a regular volunteer, we aim to group you with the same children each week. If you join us on a more flexible basis you will work with different children each time you volunteer. Either way working with an adult is a great way to build the Young Pirates confidence.
Are you running in-person training sessions for new volunteers?
Not at the moment. All of our trainings are currently taking place via Zoom.
Can I volunteer straight after I attend training?
You’re nearly there. You will need to have a 15 minute call with us so we can view your ID documents and process your DBS application and get to know you a little. It typically takes a week to ten days for your DBS to come back. Once we receive notification that your DBS has been completed you will be able to book your volunteer sessions.
Can I observe a session before I volunteer in my first session?
If you feel like you would benefit from observing a session after your training, please do let us know and we can see what we can do.
How do I sign up for sessions?
Once you have completed your training sessions, and received your DBS form you will receive an email with instructions on how to book volunteer sessions. This will link to our Shift Calendar where you will be able to see which sessions spaces available and choose those that fit around your schedule.
Will I need to bring anything to sessions?
Just your enthusiaism. All our sessions are led by trained teachers who provide the resources and plan the activities for each session. All you will need to do before you join is read the session Sailin Plan outlining what will happen in that week’s session. The Session Leader will refer to this during session.
How often can I volunteer?
You can join us on a regular basis (every week for a 5-6 block) or a flexible basis (as and when). All we ask is that you do at least 10 sessions in total, at a rate that suits you. You can also move between to the two if you find your schedule changes. Just keep us posted.
Can I continue volunteering after I’ve completed 10 sessions?
Please do! After your tenth session you are welcome to continue volunteering for as long as you like and at a rate that suits you.
If, of course, you wish to stop volunteering (whether on your 10th session or your 100th!) please let our Volunteering Team know so we can change your profile and take you off our volunteering mailings.
Existing volunteers
I would like to volunteer but I haven’t been in session for a while, do I need to let the Volunteering Team know?
We’re always happy when our Volunteer Crewmates return after a break. If it’s been less than nine months since we last saw you, you can sign up for sessions as normal. If it’s been nine months or more we ask that you complete a new DBS application (free of charge). If it’s been over a year, we also ask you to attend another training session as well as completing a new DBS.
What should I do if I need to cancel a session?
Please keep us updated if you think you might not be able to make a session. We plan how many Crewmates we need for our Young Pirates and so it’s really important that we can rely on you to turn up to your session. If it’s a week or two before your session, please email us at volunteering@literacypirates.org to cancel. If it’s an emergency, you’re ill, or it’s 48 hours before a session please give us a call or send us a text to 07547660108 (Hackney) or 07706002254 (Haringey).
Anything else?
We’re here to support you and we hope that you will find any questions you have answered above! If it’s not covered, get in touch with the Volunteering Team by email.