Imperial students go back to the classroom as after-school volunteers

To celebrate Student Volunteering Week we take a look at one of the many volunteering projects on offer to students at Imperial, Schools Plus.

During the UK-wide week Imperial students have been out and about volunteering in community gardens, on soup runs and in charity shops but for a number of students volunteering is a year-round activity. These include participants in the Schools Plus project, which arranges for volunteers to travel to schools around London to teach maths and science to people of all ages in lessons, after-school workshops and in community classes.

Vanessa and Fatima

Charlotte Mykura and Vanessa Ikebudu are two of the Imperial students involved in the project. They volunteer at City Circle in Ladbrooke Grove, an initiative that provides academic support to the local community, including to students studying for GCSEs. Approximately 75 per cent of the students coming for lessons are from low income backgrounds.

Charlotte, a PhD student from the Institute of Clinical Sciences, started volunteering for the project because she wanted to provide some extra support to people who might not receive it otherwise: “I’m passionate about access to learning. It’s so important that people from poorer backgrounds have the same access to quality education and get the chance to push themselves to succeed. It’s really great being in the position where we can help these young people achieve what they want to achieve and support their learning.”

Vanessa Ikebudu, a first year student from the Department of Bioengineering got involved in the programme as it was a great chance to draw on her own school experience: “I really enjoy coming here and it’s a chance to keep on top of the knowledge I gained studying these subjects in school. They’re topics I don’t cover in my degree but I really enjoy being able to help others understand and being inspired by them too.

Charlotte teaching

“I regularly e-mail my student to talk about the sorts of subjects she wants to cover in the sessions and what she’s been learning in school. She’s always really motivated to come here and this motivates me as well."

Neamat and Fatima, aged 16, both attend City Circle and are currently studying towards their GCSEs. They use the classes as additional support to prepare for their exams.

Neamat said: “I come here to do science revision and go over what I did in the week in school. It really helps to consolidate my knowledge.

“We go through exam papers and practice questions and it’s helped me touch up on the topics I’m weaker at and bring me up to where I need to be for my exams."

Fatima said: “Being here with Imperial students really helps. They’re close to our age and we can really relate to them. It’s not that long since they did school exams so it’s really useful to find out how they revised for them.

“Coming here has not just helped with the learning side of things; the students have also given me lots of advice on applying to good universities like Imperial.”

For more information on how to get involved in Schools Plus, or any of the other volunteer opportunities at Imperial visit the Imperial College Union and Imperial Hub websites.