Assistants

TÁ AN LEATHANACH SEO AR FÁIL FOSTA I: nGAEILGE

Appropriate Behaviour

Do not put your hand on another student.
Do not speak in English to other students at any time.
Don’t talk ill of the school or gossip about any teachers
You can calm other pupils down and help them through speaking to them – there is no need to give anyone a hug.
Don’t get carried away with any stories or issues.
Be careful about issues surrounding religion or racism.
The first year group will vary greatly in terms of their age and their maturity.
Don’t speak ill of or belittle other students.
Try to bear in mind that first year pupils are still very young.
Never use bad language nor joke in an inappropriate or rude way.
Don’t criticise other students.
Don’t become involved in any type of inappropriate relationship with any student in first year.
Don’t go away anywhere with a student on your own. If they say that they want to speak to you, find a place that is quiet but where others can still see you.
Be prepared to mix with students and get to know them
Watch out for pupils who may have issues and help them overcome these.
Never say anything obscene, offensive or insulting to another student.
Be positive about speaking Irish.
Never be bitter or acrimonious with anyone.
You should show a good example at all times.

Assistants’ Duties

Helping with Sport

Assistants will help to organise and run sports events such as distributing team lists, ensuring school kit is cleaned and ready and water bottles are prepared for matches etc. They will referee the 1^st Year football and basketball leagues

Helping First Year students with their homework

A rota will be set up and students will leave their last class in order to help and advise the First Year students on their homework. The teacher will remain in the classroom at the same time. What does one have to do during this period? Mostly you will be expected to support the teacher as they assist students with homework issues. You are certainly not there to disturb the teacher or to have a chat with your peers from Fourth Year. Rather help the younger students with things they, or their teachers, may ask you concerning their homework.

Speak in Irish with the First Years and explain things to them simply. This may be difficult for many of them at first, but they have to become used to hearing Irish and speaking it themselves and you will be their role models. Be careful not to do the homework for the student as this doesn’t achieve anything nor does it help them in the long run.

What you can do?

explain the terminology
help them with spelling
describe a question in more simple Irish
help them to take out the proper books and make a start
help them to follow their school diary
Help them to organise their school bag for the following day i.e. removing the books they won’t need and putting them back into their locker so that they will not be carrying them around all of the following day.

What to do as a buddy in the Buddy System?

If a First Year student had a difficulty of some sort or was worried about something, we would like to think that they would be happy to discuss this issue with their buddy, who should remain helpful, understanding and respectful at all times and who should provide them with good advice and/or, if necessary, report something on to a relevant staff member.

Check with the junior students if they are alright
Make sure they fully understand their timetable for the day – where they are going after each break and in the afternoon
Answer any questions they may have about the school uniform, the canteen, the school subjects etc.
Help them organise their locker, if necessary
Do they know where all the class rooms are, the canteen, the woodwork room, do they understand the sampling programme?
Do they know where the school office is, where to go at lunchtime, who their Pastoral Mentor is?
Are they settling in well? Keep an eye out for possible students who are left on their own or who are coming to school and have no friends as such

Support Needed!

Younger pupils will be seeking help and support from Assistants (buddy). They will depend on you. Don’t let them down. Be kind, friendly, welcoming and generous with your time. Don’t wait until someone asks for your help – it is always better for one to offer assistance if it appears to be needed.

Communication skills are very important. When passing on information, be sure that you give your message clearly and confidently. Assistants (buddies) will attempt to encourage pupils who may feel marginalised or left on their own to cultivate new friendships and they will try to bring them back into the company of their peers.

Listening Skills

Good listening skills will help to overcome a myriad of problems. Listening skills are key to helping us understand more fully the issues that may arise, how and when a particular incident may have occurred and so they help us to do better work and ensure the delivery of a more effective school service. Good listening skills also help to strengthen relationships between people. A person is much more confident if they understand fully the various aspects of a given issue and this enables them to make a wiser and more informed decision. Furthermore, if someone has good listening skills they are no longer burdened by, nor is their judgement effected by, their own preconceptions or prejudices about others.

It is helpful to repeat often to yourself what has been said when you are trying to develop and improve on your listening skills, this facilitates our recalling everything that was said and makes it easier to retell all we have heard. This technique involves more concentration and puts more pressure on you to listen carefully as you may have to recount to another what you have been told, possibly in confidence.

Sensitive Information – What do you do?

It is very important that both you and other students adhere to a few rules to ensure that there is no misunderstanding and that no one can accuse you of something which you haven’t done. Never promise to keep as a secret something a student tells you in confidence. It is possible someone may say something upon which you will have to act and which you will have to divulge to a teaching member of staff. The person would have little confidence in you, in the future, if you promised to keep something secret and then went around telling everyone about it.

Use your discretion. Perhaps another student will confide in you. Telling you is a big step for them and it is obvious that whatever it is, it is bothering them. You may think it silly of them to be worried about something which you yourself might consider to be insignificant or unimportant. You should not go around telling everyone in your Year group how silly that person was who confided in you.

Perhaps someone outside school might query about a particular student or may quiz you about something which happened. Tell them that you cannot help them but that the school office would be happy to help set up a meeting for them with a teacher to discuss any questions they may have in detail.

A Bullying Incident – What do you do?

If someone approaches you and they are reporting an incident of bullying, you should give them an opportunity to speak but do not give any opinions and do not commit yourself one way or the other. At this stage you don’t know if you have all the facts or not. Don’t make any promises to a student that you will keep anything they say a secret. Tell the student that they did the right thing in coming to you.

Don’t go around discussing with your friends the things you have heard from other students. You should however pass on the information to a teacher, the Vice-Principal or the Principal. It is irrelevant how insignificant the incident may seem to you, it may be happening regularly but you may not be aware of this. Possibly the teacher may ask you to note down carefully the things you have been told, later on. this is when you will have to try to recall and write down the things you heard using the student’s own words and language.