TUTORS

The tutor’s role is to encourage the students in their love of writing. There will be times when this involves correcting spelling/grammar, but the focus is firmly on encouraging young people’s creativity, stimulating their imaginations, and giving them the tools to express their thoughts and feelings more clearly.

Tutors are the backbone of what we do at the Sydney Story Factory and anyone who is literate and likes working with young people can become one. We offer tutors regular professional learning opportunities and a roster of fun social activities. We hope to strengthen our programs by regularly seeking tutors’ input and feedback. 

All Sydney Story Factory classes are run by the Storyteller-in-Chief or a Deputy Storyteller. S/he sets up each class, and begins the writing activity. Once this is done, the class will break up and students will work with tutors either one-on-one or in small groups to complete the activity. The Storyteller-in-Chief oversees this process and is always available for tutors to ask questions. Tutors never work alone with students; they are always supervised and supported by the Storyteller-in-Chief or his/her Deputy.

Before commencing work with us, tutors must be vetted in accordance with the guidelines laid out by the NSW Commission for Children and Young People. They must also attend a one-and-a-half hour training session, and familiarise themselves with the Sydney Story Factory policies and protocols as outlined in the Volunteer Manual.

To find out when the next vetting and training sessions are on and to book in, click HERE.

It is an offence under the NSW Child Protection Act for a person convicted of a serious sex offence to apply for this position. We encourage people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and culturally diverse backgrounds to apply.

EVALUATION

A very important part of the success of the Sydney Story Factory is making sure we implement a multi-dimensional evaluation plan, tracking benefits in the short and long term. This will ensure that our programs are as effective as possible and will prove their effectiveness to our supporters and funders.

Vice-president of our board, Professor Robyn Ewing, is overseeing the development of this evaluation plan with other experts but we need volunteer help to implement it. This will involve collecting feedback from students, teachers, parents, volunteers and community members, both immediately after courses and over the longer term. It will involve tracking everything from improvements in National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) scores, to greater confidence with words and enhanced creativity. It will also involve observing classes, and collecting writing samples from students.

Before commencing work with us, evaluation volunteers must be vetted in accordance with the guidelines laid out by the NSW Commission for Children and Young People. They must also attend a training session for evaluation volunteers, offered regularly throughout the year, and familiarise themselves with Sydney Story Factory policies and protocols as outlined in the Volunteer Manual.

To become an evaluation volunteer, click HERE

It is an offence under the NSW Child Protection Act for a person convicted of a serious sex offence to apply for this position. We encourage people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and culturally diverse backgrounds to apply.

SHOP STAFF

The Martian Embassy and Gift Shop is a social enterprise designed to raise revenue for the Sydney Story Factory. It also provides the centre with a fun street front that clearly signals to young people they are in an imaginative space where new things are possible. All products are low cost, high profit and designed to make both young people and adults laugh.

Although products are for sale, the priority of the shop is to make it a fun and welcoming place and to use this as a springboard to generate interest in Sydney Story Factory programs. Shop staff are crucial to this. Information on all programs will be available in the shop and stories written by students will be for sale. Staff should be ready to answer any questions young people or parents might have about what we do.

Volunteer staff must attend an orientation and training session run periodically throughout the year. They should enjoy talking to young people, be responsible with handling money, help all customers have an enjoyable and memorable experience, and be great ambassadors for the Sydney Story Factory and Mars.

To register your interest in becoming shop staff, click HERE

We encourage people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and culturally diverse backgrounds to apply.

ADMINISTRATORS

One of the principal activities at the Sydney Story Factory is making books with young people. In particular, we run book-making classes in which all the members of a school class write a book each, over two hours. Doing this requires a highly organised, computer-literate person to work behind the scenes collating the young people’s work, inserting illustrations on covers, and binding the books. This usually involves working alone, in an area curtained off from the students. On the up side, it also involves pretending to be Marcia/Martin the Martian Librarian, sticking a furry hand out from the curtain, and a considerable amount of ham acting.

We also require administrative help on a regular basis. This can involve anything from photocopying course materials, to keeping records of classes, inputting evaluation data, updating our website and writing newsletters.

Before commencing any work, administrators must be vetted by the Sydney Story Factory in accordance with the guidelines laid out by the NSW Commission for Children and Young People. They must also attend a training session offered periodically throughout the year, and familiarize themselves with Sydney Story Factory policies as outlined in the Volunteer Manual.

To register your interest in working in administration, click HERE

It is an offence under the NSW Child Protection Act for a person convicted of a serious sex offence to apply for this position. We encourage people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and culturally diverse backgrounds to apply.

ILLUSTRATORS

All Sydney Story Factory programs result in the students completing a piece of work, whether it’s a chapbook, a newspaper, or a script. When we can, we try to put illustrations in these, so they look as professional as possible.

In particular, we run a two-hour book-making class in which a class of students will write the beginning of story together and the ending themselves. These stories are usually about a Martian coming to Earth and the first part involves the students creating the Martian – six eyes, slimy skin, a nose like a trumpet, etc. We need illustrators to take the students’ instructions and turn them into a great picture, on the spot. It’s quick work, and can be quite cartoonish.

We also require illustrations for books made over a longer period. These are less rushed jobs, with approximately a week or two turnaround. There is more scope here for different styles of work.

We are looking to assemble a team of illustrators who can regularly help with these tasks. The book-making workshops will all be on-site in Redfern, but the other work can be done at home. They’re really fun jobs, and your work will be on the cover of books that are both sold in our shop, and taken home by students who will display them proudly.

To register your interest in working as an illustrator, click HERE

We encourage people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and culturally diverse backgrounds to apply.

GRAPHIC DESIGNERS

All Sydney Story Factory programs result in students completing a piece of work, whether it’s a chapbook, a newspaper, or a script. We try to make these look as professional as possible and particularly for the newspapers, that involves a considerable amount of design work. We are looking for people who can take the students’ work and lay it out in fun and creative ways, so they can be even more proud of it. This needs to be done to deadline.

Once or twice a year, we also put out professionally published anthologies of student work, and will need help designing covers, etc. At times we also need to put together marketing and advertising materials for the Martian Embassy and the Sydney Story Factory and strong graphic design in our house style will be required.

Designers can work from home, or come into the Sydney Story Factory – whichever is most convenient.

If you have graphic design experience and are interested in helping out, click HERE

We encourage people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and culturally diverse backgrounds to apply.

SOCIAL CO-ORDINATORS

The Sydney Story Factory’s greatest asset is its volunteers. It is crucial to our ongoing success that we attract as many volunteers as we can and retain them. To this end, we run an ongoing program of fun social events for volunteers, so people get to know each other, find out everything they need to know about the Sydney Story Factory, and feel part of our team.

The social events we hold should be, above all, fun. They might range from thumb-wrestling contests to books-based trivia nights and dancing. Events are inexpensive and inclusive for volunteers from a range of backgrounds and age groups.We hold at least one event per month, and have some budget for this, but not a lot. Volunteers will often subsidise costs – e.g. the Sydney Story Factory may pay for venue hire, but volunteers buy their own drinks.

The social co-ordinators will decide on the events, organize them, and host them. They will be recognised on our website as our volunteer social co-ordinators, play a crucial role in keeping the Sydney Story Factory going, and meet a whole lot of really fun people.

Before commencing any work, social co-ordinators should familiarize themselves with Sydney Story Factory policies as outlined in the volunteer manual.

To register your interest in becoming a social co-ordinator, click HERE

We encourage people from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and culturally diverse backgrounds to apply.