ReachOut!'s Youth Project

Kaitllene designing a t-shirt in a fashion workshop

Reachout! Junior Mentors Programme is a scheme aimed at young people aged 15 - 16 that runs alongside ReachOut!’s Summer Programme. Thirty young people applied to be mentors.
The mentors could apply to be Teaching Assistants. They assist teachers and coaches in the planning of the lessons and the teaching of the booster classes in maths, English and science as well as sports.
The young people can also apply to be business mentors. The business mentors plan and prepare a tuck shop. The profit from which will go towards an excursion at the end of summer for the junior mentor team. The business mentors also plan events like the ceremony at the end of the Summer Programme including the talent show.

In the afternoons the young people often attend trips, some are for fun like ice skating and bowling, while others are for skills-building like visits to businesses.
Jack Bond, the senior mentor in charge of junior mentors programme, believes that the programme benefits the young children in the summer programme as the junior mentors provide positive role models; ‘they have a better understanding of them since they’re closer to their age and most of them go to the same school so they know each other and talk to each other’. Many of the Junior Mentors have been themselves attending the Summer Programme for years.

Kenneth is "wowed" by Jack!

The Junior Mentors Programme provides an environment that teaches the young people about helping others, working as a team, communication skills and commitment to a project. Most of the junior mentors believe that this opportunity is helping them grow as young people since they are doing something positive with their summer. Declan Farhe, 16, a sports mentor, thinks that the programme is a good way to spend your summer; ‘you’re not just wasting summer, you’re doing something good with it.’

Reachout! rely on volunteers to help it run successfully and by volunteering the junior mentors are gaining work experience as well contributing to their community. This is helping them prepare their CVs. As well as volunteering, the junior mentors are also juggling revision and are anxiously waiting for their GCSE results. This is a great example of young people keeping busy and active, something which seems to be key with the recent concerns about youth in the community.
Kaitllene Koranteng,15

Insight to the ReachOut! Staffroom

Chantelle and Lucy discuss lessons in the "maths" corner.

The Summer Project is now into it’s third week of the best year yet. This is largely thanks to a great team of staff made up of 15 full-time teachers and 28 volunteers. Students make up the majority of this, coming from a range of London intuitions. Some have been with the charity for years, others have got involved recently.

Dorian, a 3rd year medical student at Barts University of London, has been volunteering with ReachOut! for 6 years; ‘The project is a great way to spend your summer and you don’t feel like you’re wasting your time.’ Dorian is teaching Science to Y5 and Y9 boys. ‘ReachOut! is giving students a chance to do something they wouldn’t otherwise be able to do.’ The project is an opportunity to gain experience.

Rachel, 19, recently finished her 1st year of psychology at UCL and is teaching maths to Y5 boys. Working with ReachOut! for less than a year, this is far from just a summer job for Rachel; ‘it is so important that we give local kids these types of programmes so that they have every opportunity for their futures, are able to apply themselves in some way, to be positive contributions to society. What we’re doing, I think, is the antithesis to the riots.’

The ReachOut! staffroom - always a hive of activity.

For others, the experience has played a major part in shaping their own career decisions. Rosie is going into her 3rd year at Royal Holloway University and teaches drama and art on the project. ‘This experience has reaffirmed my ambition to be a teacher.’

The teaching this year has been impressive, with every lesson planned by a qualified teacher and all staff receiving ReachOut! training. Kevin, a recently qualified teacher, is working on the Summer Project as a science teacher. He sees this as more than an academic pursuit, ‘We need to reengage with the community, the children need to know that someone cares about them,’ Programmes like ReachOut!’s are providing ‘consistency and that sense of what’s right and wrong that is crucial to these kids.’

This year’s team vary in age, experience and teaching ambition but they all share the enthusiasm, drive and dedication to ReachOut!’s aims that have helped make the Summer Project such a success.
Thanks guys!

Steph Pickerill

Staff relax with some dodgeball at the end of a busy day.

ReachOut! kids respond to Hackney riots

The Summer Programme is back on!

Many teaching staff have spent lesson time today leading discussions about the recent rioting with the children. The views are varied but there is a clear feeling of sadness amongst many of the groups.

One year 6 boy spoke of his disbelief, asking his English teacher 'why do people from our area destroy our shops?' This concern and shock about the local community, Hackney, is typical.

A girl, year 4, told her maths class that she thought the behaviour of rioters was 'immature and disgusting'. Another year 5 pupil expressed the severity of the event: 'it's not funny'. Others shared their experiences, many having personally witnessed trouble. A year 5 boy talked of his family's smashed car windows while others spoke of relatives and friends across London that had been directly affected.

Key stage three English lessons had pupils writing about the riots, making posters appealing to young people to 'stop unnecessary violence' and writing letters to parents explaining the benefits of summer projects such as the ReachOut! Summer Programme.

More encouraging examples of the value of ReachOut!'s work with young people.

Steph Pickerill

Disruption to Summer Programme reaffirms value of ReachOut!

The ReachOut! Summer Programme is hoping to resume as normal tomorrow following an unexpected interruption yesterday. The school sadly had to close at lunchtime after warnings from police that riots were coming to Hackney.

RO is grateful to every member of staff that pulled together to ensure children got home safely and calmly. Whilst waiting to be collected, children were entertained by teachers and volunteers with impromptu games and the relaxed atmosphere was almost like a bonding session. The enthusiasm and commitment of staff and volunteers, many of whom are local students, was fantastic to see and set and excellent example to all the children present. Never before has the need for positive role models in our young people’s lives been more evident.

Recent events do nothing but reiterate the aims that drive schemes such as this one; to provide a safe environment for our young people where they can learn and have fun whilst learning ReachOut!’s core values of Fairness, Self-Control, Good Judgement and Staying Power.

The first week of the project has demonstrated that we are going far beyond just getting teenagers off the streets; their engagement with both lessons and activities is striking. My own experience as a key stage three English teacher has been exciting and fun, sometimes truly inspiring. The effort and enthusiasm of the children is impressive, their writing tasks completed with some great results. A lesson on Monday had me asking the year 7 girls what they considered important in a story; one answer sticks in my mind: 'a story without metaphors is a black and white picture. When you add metaphors you're bringing colour.'

Anecdotes like these are floating around the staffroom daily and it is these moments that represent the valuable work that RO is doing and must clearly continue.

Steph Pickerill

Successful Start to Summer!

This week ReachOut! has seen grape squashing science lessons, Dragon’s Den style persuasive writing in English and the ‘human maths game’ to practice arithmetic.

The ReachOut! Summer Programme will run at The Petchey Academy throughout August offering local pupils from Hackney fun activities, sports and booster classes. Loyal attendees returning (some for the 5th year running!) were excited to find new additions to the timetable this year: drama and arts and crafts. The project aims to raise attainment in key subjects, boost confidence amongst the pupils and perhaps most importantly, to provide them with a constructive and fun way of spending the summer holiday.

Always a favourite, the ice-skating trip was a great success. Gloria, year 4 summed up her day; ‘[it was] fun and exciting, I made a new friend and we helped each other skate because it was a bit scary.’

The relevance of this programme was confirmed this week in the press with The Evening Standard reporting that one in four London primary school leavers ‘fails to reach the expected level in English and maths’. ReachOut!’s project goes ahead with these statistics in mind, the booster classes in core subjects are aiming to combine a more relaxed learning environment with the most relevant and up-to-date lesson plans.

Today we welcomed a visit from ReachOut!’s CEO. Following a tour, Xavier was pleased to see such ‘a lot of activity, everyone busy being positive and fruitful, and best of all having fun!’

We will be blogging every Friday throughout the project but for more regular updates, news and comments follow @ReachOutLondon and look out for the #reachoutsummerproject hash-tag.