Peer mentoring was an area I was keen to explore; having seen and been inspired by what two Y6 children were capable of achieving in my previous school.
After just a day’s training and support two of them had set themselves a target of organising a charity football match. They collaborated, communicated and organised the whole event, with little additional adult support. The final event was held in July and was supported by many parents.
So for a separate annual event called ‘Fab Friday’ where teachers, teaching assistants and members of the local community were invited to share their talents/interests with children I took a risk and invited Y6 children to organise, resource and run activities on the day. It was a very successful and an enjoyable experience for all.
As a result the school embarked on a bold programme of giving children more responsibility, more directly with learning. The Y6 teaching staff invited all children in the year to write a letter of application to become a Curriculum Based Ambassador: to liaise with teachers, generate ideas and take responsibility for keeping resource areas organised, Every Y6 child was also given the opportunity to take on more responsibility with regard to running ‘family’ groups (about 20 children drawn from the same ‘school house’ across the school from Y1-Y6).
However, without training or support, some of the Y6 children struggled with aspects of leading such groups and holding ‘House’ assemblies. Equally, some children did not engage with the idea of being Curriculum Ambassadors and many of the roles fizzled out.
I now wanted to see if we could learn the lessons and roll out a successful Peer Tutoring program that would have wide reaching benefits in my new school, Ravensthorpe, in Peterborough.