Volunteers for Exams
Academic Focus: Volunteers Supporting Student Excellence
One of the aspects of working at Trinity that is most precious to me is the care of a strong community. I am everyday grateful for my colleagues, the students I work with and the parents I engage with for the encouragement they offer, the insights they provide and the tangible support they give. Today, I would like to let you know about one of the most crucial ways the Trintiy community cares for our senior students who have some particular needs for support during examinations.
Both the HSC and the IB Diploma make provision for students who need additional support to demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skill in examination contexts. As we approach the intensive examination period for 2022, the School is seeking help from our school community to support special/disability provisions for examinations.
The support we require involves reading and/or writing for a senior student when they are sitting an examination. Support is provided in a compassionate manner, whilst maintaining the utmost confidentiality for the student. Training and clear instructions are provided for volunteers who work with students to read examination papers and scribe their answers. The work is one to one support for an individual student – an examination invigilator is always present to manage all other aspects of the examination situation.
The remaining 2022 examinations for which we are seeking support are scheduled for the following dates:
- 29 August to 7 September (Year 11 Yearly examinations)
- 13 October to 11 November (Year 12 HSC and IB Final examinations)
- 3 November to 10 November (Year 10 Examinations)
If you are interested in volunteering in this important area, we would love to hear from you. There are only a few requirements to becoming a student support volunteer: a Working with Children Check (WWC), full COVID Vaccination and agreement to abide by the volunteer code of conduct.
If you would like to volunteer, or have would like any further information, please contact Simone Glassford on 02 9581 6078 or email sglassford@trinity.nsw.edu.au
I’d like to finish by sharing with you some reflections from our volunteers. We are so grateful for their work with our boys. NESA and IB rules prohibit any employee of the School acting in this capacity with students, so each year we trust we will have a sufficient pool of volunteers to fill these roles – and each year that provision is made for us! We would love to hear from you if you can help.
“For the last couple of years, I have volunteered at Trinity as a reader and writer in exams including the HSC. At first I was a bit nervous, but the students are really the ones doing all of the hard work, and you get the hang of reading and writing quickly. It is so rewarding to see the look of pride on a boy’s face at the end of an exam, because they are pleased with what they have been able to achieve. I volunteer because I hope that if my son needed support, someone in the Trinity community would take the time to help him.”
E Barns (Parent)
“Providing reading and writing support during the exam period for the senior students is an opportunity to interact with the school’s academic programme and contribute to the school community more broadly. It’s great to see the effort that the boys put in during the exams and it’s also fantastic to see the amazing support provided by the team at TESS.”
P Clough (Parent)
Deborah Williams | Academic Dean