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Q. How can I bridge the gap between home and a school stamp club? How can I involve parents?
A. It's a good idea to involve parents as it means that they are better equipped to support their children in their collecting and when it comes to competitions. There are several ways of doing this: You could encourage parents to stay and help in stamp club; this way they get an insight into what the children are doing. You could consider writing a newsletter to let parents know what's happening in the club and to suggest how they could help them. You could have a special event to show what the children have been doing with their stamps, or maybe display their competition entries. You could also borrow some displays from the NYSC and have a club meeting where maybe the parents could come along and look at the displays that have been done to a high standard.
Q. How much help should you give children when they are preparing for competitions?
A. You can help by talking about their entry with them. See what ideas they have an! help them work out how they are going to organise their entry - help them to think it through. You also need to give them some advice e.g. about choosing stamps etc. in good condition, arranging them neatly, how much writing to do. You can help by supplying them with some of the material that will help them with their entry. Perhaps you could write out a list of helpful tips for them to take home and show their parents.At the end of the day though, it's their entry, so they must have the last say on how the] want to arrange it and what they want to write. They will learn quickly though, and the more they do the better will get at it.
Q. For the past two years I have been running a stamp club in a local school but the headteacher seems to take no interest at all in what we are doing. She doesn't even look in on us. Is this typical?
A. I wouldn't say that this was typical, usually headteachers want to know what is going on in their school and often make sure that someone on the staff is keeping contact if they are too busy to do it themselves. I sense that you are disappointed by this situation and I am wondering if you could drum up some interest by heightening the profile of the club - presenting certificates/prizes in assembly, putting up a display in the school, getting an item in the local paper, entering the children for the
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Stamp Active Competition and presenting them with prizes for their efforts. Perhaps you could start a brief newsletter about what you are doing in stamp club this term, dates of club meetings and any stamp news for the children to take home, and then let the Headteacher have a copy too. Perhaps you could start up a dialogue with the head yourself by asking her what topics they will be covering in school so that you can think about how you can link with them. Or you could ask for her approval about something - even asking if you could have something, for instance, some squared paper to use. While you are talking to her you could mention club members who are working particularly well, or any you are concerned about. It could be, of course, that on the day you are in the Head has a meeting.
Q. How do you integrate an influx of new members to an established club?
A. When new juniors come to the club, it is sometimes a good idea to sit them with someone they know, or at least someone who can help them. Many activities can be joint activities and you could encourage your older members to help the new, or younger members. It's a good idea to keep an eye on them to make sure that they aren't struggling too much.
Q. How soon do I start the children on competitions?
A. It's best not to go into competitions when they first join, unless they really want to. They need to have a reasonable collection from which to choose items, some knowledge about the different kinds of philatelic material and they need some experience in mounting and writing up the pages. Children gain a lot from competitions and develop useful skills, including research and presentation, but they need to have built up the basics first and then it will often help them to focus on a particular collecting theme.
Q. Should I be selling stamps in my club?
A. The big problem here is that you might appear to be profiteering from the children and acting like a dealer. On the other hand children love to spend money and it is an opportunity for them to learn the value of money in a protected environment. If you have a 'rummage' box with cheap stamps (3 -5 for 1p) or theme sets or books (20p per set), they can enjoy shopping but you won't make a lot of money.
technical questions >>>>
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