Parent Participation

How do I sign up for my volunteer shifts?

We have three terms we register for:  Fall (September - December) Winter (January - June) and Summer (July - August).  Families sign up for shifts using our volunteer app, selecting shift types and times that work best for their family.

Why are there mandatory volunteer shifts - can I just pay the in-lieu fee for all shifts?

While having parent participation in our program helps us keep costs down and assists in society operations, the intent of the program is to build a parent-teacher community.  As such, ensuring all families complete one shift per month holds all families to the society vision of a parent-participation childcare program.

The fee-in-lieu option for additional shifts was introduced to allow additional flexibility for families with busy schedules.

Why are the mandatory shifts required if my child registered part way through a month?

For every month (or portion of a calendar month) that your child is registered, each parent is required to volunteer 1 shift per month per child minimum. Volunteer in-lieu fees can be  pro-rated as per days of the month registered, but 1 shift minimum per child is required still if your child attends 1 or more days that month. You are also responsible to volunteer if your child attends gradual entry during any part of a calendar month. This also helps foster a parent participation model and philosophy by including all parents in our community. 

Why are parent volunteering shifts not required for After School Care Programs?

While we require After School Care families to sit on a subcommittee, because of the very part time nature of After School Care, we have not yet found a way for parent volunteering shifts to be compatible with after school care program hours and family needs.

How do I get a key to access the classroom after hours?

Southlands and London, as independelty-owned buildings, allow for parents to do volunteering in the evenings or weekends.  If you sign up for an evening or weekend shift, you can get a classroom key from the teachers.

How long should a cleaning shift take me?

When signing up for shifts, you should assume it will take up to 3 hours approximately to be safe.  However, the reality is that most shifts will take much less time.  Cleaning shifts in particular start to go much faster once you've had practice and are familiar with the space.

Where do I find the cleaning supplies and how do I mix them?

We use cleaning and sanitizing solution that is approved by our licensing department.  As such, to sanitize we use Quat or bleach mixtures; for cleaning we use all purpose cleaner.   Ask your classroom teacher where cleaning supplies can be found; at the end of each cleaning shift you are asked to mix a new cleaning bottle of quad or bleach, so that teachers have a full sanitizing solution ready in the morning.

I'm supposed to be making playdoh...?

Our playdoh recipe can be found here.  For the playdoh supplies, please see the classroom teachers ahead of your shift, and they can ensure you are given supplies.  You are welcome to make the playdoh any colour you wish, and are invited to add herbs or spices to make the playdoh scented or textured.  Please do NOT use any nut products.  For parents who sign up for numerous playdoh shifts in a term, we can arrange to have the supplies delivered straight to your home (thank goodness for online grocery delivery!).  Once made, playdoh can keep for a month in the fridge, but the classroom teachers recycle playdoh after use for health and safety reasons.  As such, we go through a LOT of playdoh!

Something can up and I can't make my scheduled shift.  Now what?

If it is the week-of your shift, please try to see if another family can trade with you.  If you know well in advance, you can cancel your shift on the app and sign up for another one.

How do you ensure all families do their fair share?

We are lucky to have a (very part time) volunteer coordinator, who monitors shift-completion and ensures that no family falls behind in their shifts!

I really want to do in-person volunteering with the kids in the classroom, but I am not available on the times listed in the volunteer schedule.  What can I do?

Ultimately, our goal is to build community and while the administration and cleaning shifts are helpful to operations, the in-person shifts where a parent can work alongside the teachers offers the best route to relationship building and community.  As such, please email [email protected] if you have requests for daytime / classroom hour shifts and we will create some shifts that match with your schedule.

Why do parents need to do cleaning?  Don't you hire cleaners?

Depending on the location, we are dependent on school district janitorial staff, privately hired cleaners, or cleaning time allocated for teachers to use.  However, during COVID we were able to use parent volunteers to ensure daily sanitization beyond standard classroom cleaning -and this was appreciated by teachers and parents alike.  Cleaning shifts at London and Southlands can also occur during evening / weekend hours.  As such, we have decided to continue to offer cleaning shifts as options to parents, both to ensure more frequent deep cleaning and toy sanitization and to also give parents flexibility in shift-selection.

I want to get all my shifts for a term done quickly.  What is the best way to do this?

Different families have come up with different solutions to make shifts more efficient for them.  For example:

• At London, signing up for both classroom cleaning shifts the same evening, to complete two shifts on the same day.
• At London, signing up for both classroom cleaning shifts the same evening, hiring a babysitter, and having two parents come in to do the work together.
• Signing up for all shifts available over a weekend / long weekend, and spending a full day getting all the shifts done.
• Signing up for similar shifts, to make the work faster - the more you do a shift, the quicker it gets!  I.E. taking all the art filing shifts in a term, or multiple playdoh shifts in a term
• Signing up for full day volunteering - requesting a morning in-person shift, or signing up for field-trip morning shifts and then additionally signing up for afternoon in-person shifts, completing two shifts in a day

I don't have childcare - how am I supposed to do volunteer shifts!

You are welcome to bring your child with you for any weekend or evening volunteer shifts.  For in-person classroom shifts, your child will already be registered in our program, so no child-care required!  If you are wanting to volunteer on a day that your child does not typically attend the program (or, if your child attends core day and you want to volunteer for an afternoon shift), please see your classroom teacher - if there is space for a drop-in on a particular day or in the extended day program, we are happy to have your child attend, without any additional child care fees, while you are volunteering.  We *do* need to adhere to legal ratios and licensing standards, so please do not bring your child during operating hours if they are not registered until you first get permission from your classroom teacher.

Are parents required to get criminal record searches completed prior to volunteering?

Because parents have legal right to access the classroom program while their child is attending, and because our parent volunteers are all current parents of children within our programs, licensing does not require us to complete criminal record searches for parent volunteers.

However, if a parent is going to primarily be doing in-person classroom volunteering with children, we ask that parents complete a free criminal record search for our records.