ESOL volunteer

Rainbow Haven is a place of welcome, support, and opportunity for displaced people seeking sanctuary in Greater Manchester. 

As an ESOL volunteer, you will be part of our busy, friendly team delivering fun and engaging English language classes for people coming to Rainbow Haven. Our English classes are a longstanding and vital part of Rainbow Haven, and we’re looking forward to trying new things as we open them up again. We are developing ways for our learners to practice English in all kinds of everyday settings, and encouraging our teachers to learn from each other – we hope you will come and develop this exciting new approach with us!

What the role requires:

• A relevant ESOL qualification, or considerable teaching experience
• Ability to work in person, via Zoom, or both
• At least one half-day session per week during term-time. This would need to be on a Tuesday or Thursday if in-person; Zoom sessions can happen on other days
• For Zoom teachers, ability to record and monitor attendance for our records
• For in-person teachers, you must be prepared to adhere to our Covid hygiene protocols, including wearing a mask or visor covering your nose and mouth while inside
• One reference, preferably from a relevant work or volunteering role (not a family member)

Necessary skills and attributes:

• Ability to design your own lessons and adapt them to the varied needs of your students
• Willingness to work with other teachers to put together a curriculum
• Ability and willingness to attend 6-monthly Rainbow Haven teacher forums
• A flexible, collaborative approach to teaching – we plan to use multi-teacher groups to cover a wide variety of English language levels
• Ability to engage with people from different backgrounds and experiences
• Sensitivity to clients’ needs, and awareness or willingness to learn about safeguarding protocols

In this role, you will have the opportunity to:

• Gain teaching experience, including preparing lessons
• Become part of a busy, friendly team of staff and volunteers
• Access volunteer training
• Have input into our new curriculum