Volunteering Opportunities
Bishop Gilpin is extremely lucky to have a very engaged and involved parent body and an active fundraising group, Friends of Bishop Gilpin (FOBG).
Parents and families get involved in the life of the school in many ways, not only through volunteering in class and after school but also through FOBG activities such as baking cakes, doing half an hour on a rota at a fair, joining a gardening day, or serving coffee at a nativity play.
Class and school trip helpers
We hugely value those volunteers who come into class regularly to do a variety of jobs to assist the teachers. Tasks include listening to our children read, changing reading books, helping arrange class displays, overseeing art projects, etc.Groups of parents are often required to accompany our children on one-off excursions, such as visits to museums or galleries. This can often be a half-day or a whole-day commitment.
Anyone who regularly volunteers and/or will have sole charge of children will be required to have an up-to-date Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) check (formerly called a CRB) carried out through the school office.
After-school clubs
Some parents work alongside staff to run sports clubs after school. Parents with a specific skill-set or experience, for example drama or art, have started up other after-school clubs. If you have an idea for a club, and have the skills to run it, please contact the school office.
Friends of Bishop Gilpin
All parents automatically become members of FOBG, which raises money for our school. If you are interested in finding out more or would like to join the committee please attend their half-termly meetings. For more information, see the fortnightly school newsletter or visit the Friends of Bishop Gilpin website at:
www.pta-events.co.uk/fobgilpin
Class representatives
These parent volunteers form an essential part of the FOBG network. Each class has one or more class reps, whose role is to collate a contact list for the class and also to organise social events (for example coffee mornings) once or twice a term. They also circulate email communications from FOBG and liaise with the class teacher, though most school-wide communication comes through the electronic ParentMail system.
Class reps are key in helping to organise school events such as school fairs and cake sales but they rely on other parents to volunteer their time (or cake-baking skills!) to make the events happen. For school fairs, for example, each class is allocated a stall and the class reps establish a rota of helpers and organise the detail of the stall. If you are interested in becoming a class rep please let your current rep know.
Disclosure Barring Service (DBS) checks
You will need to have an up-to-date DBS check if you are helping regularly in class or will have sole, unsupervised charge of children, for example on a school trip. These disclosure checks take approximately one to two weeks and must be done through the school office. Click on the Parents and Volunteers in School Policy, below, for more details.