ReachOut! helps prospective teachers on their way!

Nearly 20 teaching and coaching staff have helped run the ReachOut! Summer Programme this year.  The amazing team is made up of students, graduates, local residents and qualified teachers, some for the fourth year in a row! 

Vaithergei Vijayathas is a Maths teacher on the ReachOut! Summer Programme this year, an experience which is helping her on her way to becoming a teacher.

'The Reachout! Summer School is an extremely beneficial and rewarding opportunity for those who wish to pursue teaching as a career. It helps one look out for aspects of teaching and practice in preparation to be able to lead and facilitate a class of students. Lesson planning involves looking at national curriculum requirements for a particular year group, and differentiation in order for children of all abilities to acquire knowledge from the classes. 

It is fascinating when one listens to the children’s quirky ideas, and the joy of when they understand and excel in a task is indescribable. This is when a teacher knows that they have been successful in imparting and communicating knowledge to the pupils. Not a day passes when a teacher does not learn something new or realise that some techniques are less effective so they would have to modify their skills. 

I personally feel far more confident about studying a PGCE after teaching on the Reachout! Program as it has made me realise that I do in fact have what it takes to be a successful teacher and I cannot wait to further my learning.'

Mentoring mentors: The Summer Programme Junior Mentors

During the ReachOut! Summer Programme another scheme has been working alongside it, the ReachOut! Junior Mentors scheme. The ReachOut! Junior Mentors are young people in years 10 -11, most have previously been involved with the Summer Programme when they were younger, and who volunteer and work alongside the senior mentors. This is the fourth year there has been Junior Mentors project.

There are three types of Junior Mentor; academic mentors who assist senior mentors with maths and English classes; sports mentors who assist during sports activities and finally the business and events mentors who are in charge of a lunchtime tuckshop and will help organise the award ceremony at the end of the Summer Programme.

A week before the Summer Programme started, the Junior Mentors  did a week's training where they took part in team building exercises , leadership and role model workshops, where visitors came to talk to them about being mentors and the skills needed.

The Junior Mentors have also been visiting places of business like the Opera Tavern, a restaurant near Covent Garden, where they learnt about restaurant management and being a chef. They have also visited UBS bank where they did mock job interviews and learnt tips on how to conduct themselves in an interview and Macquarie Bank where they learnt about crisis management in the work place.

The scheme so far has been considered successful. Glen, one of the senior mentors in charge of the junior mentor schemes called it ‘inspiring’.
Kaitlene Koranteng, Junior Mentor, year 11

Lights…Camera…Action! ReachOut! Starts Filming

For the first time as part of the ReachOut! Summer Programme, pupils have been given the opportunity to write, film and edit their own short films. With the help of film-maker Tim Birtwistle, the first group of pupils have begun work on planning their films.

The year 8 and 9 girls started their first workshop by filming each other and learning about different filming techniques. After watching some videos for inspiration, they split into two groups and made a start on planning their own films. The girls showed great creativity and teamwork in coming up with their ideas. They worked hard to split their stories into different scenes and thought about how and where to film them. Following the Olympic spirit of London 2012, both groups chose the themeof sporting success against the odds; with one group planning a film about a female footballer taking on the boys, and the other group about a paralympian winning gold.

With their storyboards completed, acting parts distributed and prop lists drawn up, the girls are now ready to start filming. Filming will begin next week and they are all excited to put the new skills that Tim has taught them in to practice. We'll keep you posted!

by Monica Guly

The Summer Programme is back!

It’s the 9^th year that the Summer Programme has been run at the fantastic facilities in The Petchey Academy, Hackney.

Over 100 children pre-registered for the 3-week programme this year (more than double last year’s signups) and we’re expecting more newcomers throughout.  Many of the children are returning to the programme, having been involved with ReachOut! for years and it’s good to see some new faces. 

17 teaching and coaching staff will deliver a half day of booster classes in English and Maths, the other half is spent doing art, dance, drama and sports.  Once a week the staff take the pupils on a trip.

Across every lesson and activity, the teachers and volunteers (of whom there are a record 32!) are working to promote the key values of ReachOut! – raising aspirations, promoting fairness, self-control, good judgment and staying power.

ReachOut! Summer Programme staff preparing lessons 

We’ll be blogging from the programme, sharing updates, photos and stories.  Follow @ReachOutLondon on Twitter too!

Volunteering Organisation of the Year!

ReachOut! is extremely proud to have been chosen as the UCLU Volunteering Organisation of the Year 2011-2012!

The result was announced at the UCLU Awards Ceremony on the 31^st May, but as I was on holiday and all other ReachOut! Staff were busy running projects at The Petchey Academy in Dalston there was no-one to collect the certificate!

Fortunately ReachOut! mentors Bhabika Gurung and Emma Barker stepped up to receive the award from Professor Anthony Smith – UCL Vice-Provost for Education. Another example of how reliable our fantastic volunteers are!

Bhabika, Emma and Professor Anthony Smith

Afterwards Bhabika said “It was our pleasure to collect such a praiseworthy award. It's a matter of pride! When I was sitting and listening to the announcement, I had a feeling that our club would get the award. After all, our club is such a fabulous club where we do both academic as well as non-academic tasks such as sports and cooking. I would like to congratulate you [ReachOut!] for your management skills.”


This year the number of ReachOut! Volunteers from UCL has increased massively (from just 5 last year to over 50 in 2011-12!) helping us to expand into Camden and provide one-to-one mentor support to more children across east London.

Thanks to the dedicated team at UCL Volunteering Services Unit for their ongoing support, Bhabika and Emma for collecting the award, and Philip Wallmeier, Armita Satari Javid, Fleur Freedman, Chu Xiao Hui (Joy) and Rachel Ellis for nominating us!

By Fran Blackwell