An Interview with Kathy

Students Interview Volunteer Kathy Donnelly 

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I was born and raised in the Macleay Valley, for the last 8 years I have worked as a teacher's aide in a local primary school, and for many years I have been working in education.

What school did you work at?

St Joseph's Catholic Primary School.

What interested you in volunteering here at Kempsey High School?

I saw an ad that was placed, and I decided to put my hand up and volunteer for the position based on the skills I previously have working as a teacher’s aide.

Have you always been interested in working with high school kids?

I’m interested in working with kids from Kinder through to year 12, yes, the answer is yes to that.

What makes you a good fit for this position?

Previous experience of working as a teacher’s aide in schools and having been in the education system for at least 8 years and over.

What do you hope to get out of this volunteering experience?

Gaining experience on the skills I already have, working in a team with teachers, bonding with students, yeah.

How much time can you dedicate to volunteering with our school?

I can dedicate a lot of time, I’m available any time, I’m flexible, and whenever I'm needed, I can be here.

How do you find time to be a volunteer?

I’m available at all times, I’m currently not working anywhere, so I can dedicate my time when I am needed.

Can you describe what it's like working with teenage kids?

It’s rewarding and as a teacher’s aide you work with a lot of students from Kinder to year 12 so it’s rewarding to be able to come up here and work with you guys It’s also a new learning curve for me as well. I’m used to working with primary education, so this is new for me too because I’ve never worked with high school kids before, but so far it's been a rewarding experience, 

What do you think others would enjoy about volunteering?

Learning new skills, bonding with teachers and students and working as part of a team. 

What do you enjoy about volunteering?

Coming up here, seeing you guys, working with you guys, working with high school kids, it's a really good learning experience. 

Do you get paid for volunteering?

No, but, as I said, it's a rewarding experience. It's worth more than money, because of the experience.

What do you most want to learn from this experience?

Like I said working with high school kids, is a new learning curve, so maybe new learning skills bonding and friendships with teachers, working with students, it’s sort of similar and relates back to the teacher's aid stuff, the same stimulus stuff, learn new skills this is a learning curve for me too because I've never done this in high school before. I’m looking forward to the journey of it as long as I can keep it up as long as you are willing to have me.

What’s something you've already learnt about volunteering here?

The toe-by-toe system 

What is the toe-by-toe system?

The Toe by Toe is a phonics diagnostic intervention, so we have the intervention for all of our kids at high school who are having problems with the alphabetic code, so Kathy has seen that here it's a fantastic system with lots of different interventions that work but the one we use is toe by toe.

Do you have a chance to work with diverse students?

As a teacher aide you work with a wide range of students with all different abilities and they're all different in their own unique way, so yeah, the answer to that is yes.

How does your work experience relate to the work you’re doing in volunteering?

Previously I was a teacher's aide so all those skills that I have with that position I can actually bring into my voluntary work here and then gain new skills on top of that while I'm here.

What are some of the skills you did as a teacher's aide?

Working with students one on one, working with students in reading groups, working with students with literacy, working with students with numeracy, playground duties, lunch duties, and just supporting the teachers in the classroom as well.

What would you say to people interested in volunteering?

I would tell people that volunteering is a wonderful thing to do, they can learn new skills, if they're volunteering in a school they can build relationships with students, build relationships with teachers, it’s a great way to get on hand on skills, like if you wanted to maybe in the future when you leave school, and you thought  ‘Oh, I want to be a teacher’s aide’ you might want to volunteer in the school to get some hands-on experience, or you could basically be like me you could have that experience or you could be studying for a qualification and that will come in handy because we will collaborate and work with the teachers to get that hands-on experience, so it's a wonderful thing to do.

What made you want to be a teacher's aide?

Because I love working with children, that's easy, easy as.

Interview conducted by Aroha, Alice, Brooklyn, Pyper, Kahlia and Shyla.