Support Us

If you are interested in supporting our school, there are a number of opportunities you may want to consider.

Volunteering

We are interested in hearing from volunteers who might be able to give a few hours a week to support students at Orchard School.  All volunteers must have a clean DBS certificate, which we will support you to apply for.  If you require any evidence of volunteering, we are more than happy to provide you with letters/certificates, as required.  These roles are unpaid and voluntary. Roles considered include:

Foreign Language Assistant

If you speak and write another language, and would like to support our learners by helping them with speaking and listening, grammar, reading and writing, or vocabulary, please get in touch.  We teach French and Spanish, and most years we also support students through GCSEs in Arabic, Chinese, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Russian.

Supporting our Careers Programme

We welcome support from individuals and organisdations who would like to contribute to opur students' vital careers programme.  Opportunities to get involved include:

• Mock interview Days - Volunteer to be aninterviewer and help our students develop confidence and communication skills in a formal interview setting so that they have the skills and knowledge for the world of work. 
• Work Experience Placements - Offer a student a placement at your organisation to help them gain valuable insight into the world of work to support them with life after Orchard.
• Business Mentors - Support a young person through regular mentoring, helping them to set goals and stay motivated in their learning and career planning. 
• Business Talks and Activities - Visit the school to talk about your career journey or run an interactive session linked to your field of work, inspiring students to think about different pathways.  

If you are interested in supporting our careers programme in any way at all, please contact our Careers Lead via the school office or email ieddy@osb.ampedu.co.uk 

 Library Helper

Supporting in the library - shelving, displaying books and tidying up.  Keen library helpers can write book reviews to encourage students to read more.  This could be during school time or after school to 4pm.

Homework Helper

Work after school in the library supporting students with their homework.  This could involve helping students access online homework, motivating them to complete their homework to the best of their ability, or explaining ideas and considerations in homework tasks. Homework helpers come into school one or more days per week from 2.45 - 4pm.

Reading Buddy

Listening to students read - one to one reading with a student who needs more support with their reading.  This could be during school time or after school. 

If you are interested in volunteering, please contact our School Business Manager, on sbm@osb.ampedu.co.uk

Ways to Give

Thanks to the generosity of alumni, friends and the schools local community, we are able to provide additional extras to our students.  We greatly appreciate financial support as this helps us give more to our disadvantaged students and bring children together to take part in activities, finding their passions.   For example, a donation to performing arts enables us to put on musicals, with costume, props and scenery each year.  A donation of a laptop could provide a disadvantaged child with their own access at home, making a huge difference to their academic progress.

Interested in donating to the school?  

Please contact our School Business Manager, Samantha Older, on solder@osb.ampedu.co.uk if you are considering a donation. 

Enrichment Fund

The Orchard School Enrichment Fund arose from the generosity of Monks Park PTA who fund raised, and gained the support of the John James Trust many years ago. The Chair of the Enrichment Fund is Mr David Leverton and together with trustees, determines what can be spent each year to make a difference to our students' enrichment experiences.  Recent examples include:

• Cameras so that students can engage in a photography enrichment club
• Table tennis equipment 
• Equipment for meteorology club
• Duke of Edinburgh's Award funding of expedition equipment for disadvantaged students (eg boots,  waterproofs, sleeping bags).
• Supporting Young Carers activities such as an afternoon bowling
• Explorer Dome - funding a Science specialist day for a year group