Assertive Mentoring
Assertive Mentoring is designed to ensure that each child achieves their maximum potential in all aspects of their education. Assertive Mentoring is a fully supportive system which will be offered to approximately 25% of Year 11. Each student chosen for the programme will be allocated a senior member of staff who will act as there Assertive Mentor who will meet regularly with students throughout the academic year.
The programme involves 3 key elements:
- A mentoring system designed to ensure each child on the programme gets the best results they are capable of getting – not just reaching their target grades.
- A monitoring system to help students identify where they need to improve and how to get there
- A supporting system to give students more help and guidance in the most important year of their education to date.
Peer Mentoring
Peer Mentoring is a well-established volunteering programme that provides over 500 hours of additional subject support to students in lower school each academic year.
Upon completion of a rigorous application and interview process, successful Year 12 students are trained to become Peer Mentors. The Peer Mentoring role develops coaching and communication skills, as well as core life skills including reliability, professional working relationships and supporting/motivating others.
Peer Mentors work 1:1 with students in Year 10 and Year 11 to make progress in English, Maths and Science. During extra sessions after school, with the support of subject staff, students spend time developing their knowledge and understanding whilst building confidence in preparation for their summer examinations.
In addition to 1:1 mentoring, some Peer Mentors support groups of students in timetabled lessons, taking direction from teaching staff and sharing their passion for a particular curriculum area. Peer Mentors provide vital tuition for academic progress whilst demonstrating core values that make them admirable role models for students in lower school.
Saturday School
For the past few years our Maths revision program has been complemented with the adoption extra tuition on Saturday mornings for selected students. Students attend school from 9am -11am and work within small groups of 3 or 4 students on key resources prepared by subject specialists. Each group is supported by a tutor who has a background in Maths – many are undergraduate university students with a passion for helping younger students achieve. Each tutor has completed in school training and all sessions are supported by two members of the GA senior team. There is a purposeful buzz at sessions with high levels of student attendance every week. Student voice feedback is very positive and there is strong measurable impact when looking at final outcomes.
Small group Maths and English in Y11
Department specific small group tuition exists in both Maths and English. These are run by Maths and English Subject Support Assistants and target students who require extra support to help reach key grades in the summer of Y11. Students are selected by class teachers and department leads and are asked to attend sessions either before school at 815am or after school at 2.40pm. Groups are kept as small as possible to ensure a personalised approach.
SSB Homework Club
A homework club exists daily in our student support base. Students from all year groups are welcome. Individual help on homework problems is available in a small and nurturing environment.
In addition to all the ventures detailed above other intervention and support activities are planned at need to address specific situations that may warrant additional support. Comprehensive information on the Student Support Base and on Pupil Premium students can also be found in the ‘About the Academy’’ section of the website.