Volunteering

PTO Board

The PTO Board members meet regularly to oversee the ongoing planning of social events, discuss issues raised by general PTO members and when appropriate, vote on enrichment requests. Our elections take place each year in April, but we do have positions available outside of this time and we are always delighted to hear from interested general members. If you are available to commit to a position on the board, please get in touch and tell us what your interests are.  Even when we have a full board, there are many PTO events throughout the year that require sub committees or simply require assistance and or ideas.  For more information, please get in touch.  

Class Event Coordinator

For each grade level one or two Class Event coordinators (CECs) are required. The main CEC tasks vary from grade to grade and at the discretion of the grade teachers, however  requirements include:

• maintain the class WhatsApp,

• reach out to incoming students and their families,

• communicate with/assist classroom teachers with upcoming events,

• communicate and promote upcoming events to parents,

• solicit and organise parent volunteers  (at Class Coffee Mornings),

• work alongside (and with the full support of) the PTO ES, MS and HS Reps.

Elementary School CECs are chosen by the ES staff. Middle and High School CECs are selected by the MS and HS PTO representatives. For more information, contact your school representative, grade level teacher or the PTO. Your current CC are listed on the grade level updates on the Community Hub.

Getting Involved

If you would like to get involved, please indicate your areas of interest on the PTO Board or volunteer application forms and submit, or for more information, e-mail the PTO.

Casual volunteering opportunities

Your class or advisory teacher or our Class Event Coordinators (CECs) will contact you throughout the year to ask for your help with school led* or PTO organised events such as:

• Staff appreciation lunch

• PTO organised social events

• PTO supported events (such as Trunk or Treat)

• Fundraising initiatives

• Sports days*

• Elementary School ceilidh*

• Sporting and Fine Arts (Booster) events*

• Field Trips*

• Reading to the class (Mystery Reader)*

• Classroom/grade level parties

Buddy Programme

Existing ISA families can volunteer to “buddy” a new family. This role involves being available to answer questions that our new families may have and to provide support as they make the transition to their new community. To get involved or for more information, contact the PTO on pto@isa.aberdeen.sch.uk or simply complete the Buddy Programme Application.

Library

Library volunteers work with the school librarian to provide full services to library patrons. Some of the opportunities include: running the circulation desk, shelving books, covering new materials, working on library displays, helping to improve cataloguing records and helping library patrons to locate library materials. For these opportunities, you can volunteer on a weekly or bi-weekly basis for an hour, a half day, or a whole day. We also have times of the year when we need help for special projects, such as stocktaking or book fairs. For more information, contact Josie Crimp or Rosaleen Hay.

Lost Property

Our parent volunteers work alongside our CAS student volunteers.  They reunite our families with their lost items and recycle and donate unclaimed items to ensure that we sustainably support our local community through local charities.  If you would like to get involved please take a look here to contact the Lost Property Coordinator.

Boosters

The Boosters are responsible for supporting the PE, performing and fine arts departments as well as academic competitions.  Volunteers to assist with running the servery during sporting tournaments as well as providing goodie bags for students traveling to represent ISA elsewhere and assisting with performance event requirements. To get involved, contact the PTO.

Some activities may also include decorating lockers, fundraising and allocating the funds for extracurricular needs, making banners and housing visiting athletes for tournaments. The performing and fine arts departments may require support or assistance with set up for live events, etc.

Since ISA is a small school, it takes the help of all families in order for these events to take place. Our children travel to various locations and are housed by the hosting schools for their events.  ISA may not host for the activity in which your child is involved but housing a visiting student for the events ISA hosts is a great opportunity to get to know kids from visiting schools and return the hospitality our kids are shown when they travel.

ISA Volunteer Code of Conduct 

ISA requests that all volunteers agree to our code of conduct as outlined on the school's Behaviour page. This is to ensure that they understand their role clearly and to reassure other parents.   

For some volunteer activities a teacher will always be present.  If this is not the case, you will need to do a PVG (Protection of Vulnerable Groups) check. This is managed by the school's HR department.