Hornsey Peer Mentors

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Case study date: October 2007

Local authority in which project based: Haringey Council

Date started: 2002

Type of organisation: School

Brief description

Hornsey School for Girls is a single sex school with approximately 1,500 students. Almost 90 per cent of pupils come from minority ethnic backgrounds, with over 60 different first languages spoken in students’ homes.

The school originally set up a learning mentor support scheme, Hornsey Learning Mentors, in 2000 as part of Excellence in Cities. The scheme aimed to provide support to students to raise their academic achievement and promote their personal development. As part of this, a peer mentoring scheme, now operating under the umbrella of the Positive Behaviour Support Programme, began in 2002. A key focus of the programme is to provide support to students with English as an additional language (EAL). Targeted help is also available on a wide range of issues including bullying and friendship.

Collaboration

The programme works with the Healthy Schools programme, the local education authority and is part of the National Peer Mentoring Pilot.

Funding

The programme has two one year grants of £1,000 from the National Peer Mentoring Pilot and £1,500 from the Healthy Schools programme.

Staffing

The programme is managed by the Positive Behaviour Programme Manager, with support from other school learning mentor staff and the borough-wide learning mentor coordinator. There are up to 50 volunteers mentors a year.

NATURE OF PROVISION

Which groups of young people does the project work with?

There are currently 30 active peer mentors in year ten from a year group of 250, and another 20 who work ‘light touch’ due to other school commitments. In a year, they work with up to 800 mentees aged 11-14.

When the programme began, it was expected that older students would support younger students. This has now evolved so that mentors sometimes support mentees who are the same age or older than them.

How was the need for the project identified?

When the learning mentor provision was originally set up, demand for support far outweighed the number of staff available. Many of the queries were similar and could be easily solved by students talking and listening to one other. Drawing on a buddying scheme at her children’s primary school, the now Programme Manager researched existing mentoring schemes and developed a tailor-made programme.

How do young women become involved? What, if any, commitment do you ask for?

New mentors are recruited from year nine in April/May each year. An assembly is held to publicise the scheme, following which students express an interest and attend a briefing session. From there, the students fill out application packs, which include discussions with their parents or carers to secure their involvement. After attending a training programme, students are interviewed for the role and then become active or ‘light touch’ mentors. All mentors sign a contract and terms and conditions which set out the support they can expect to receive and the expectations of the role and their behaviour.

To recruit mentees, all year seven students have an appointment made with a mentor in their first term. Virtually all (95 per cent) choose to have a mentor. Year eight and nine students are offered an appointment; the latter to talk about option choices and SATs. Students can also self-refer or are referred by a teacher, learning mentor or parent. A referral form is used to identify pertinent issues. Posters are displayed around school promoting mentors who are trained “to listen to you, your concerns, worries and frustrations” and the values the mentors will adhere to, including privacy and freedom from discrimination. Mentees access support as they need it.

What are the main approaches used and activities offered?

Mentors offer support to mentees according to an individual’s needs. Common areas include managing homework, classwork, friendship, bullying and mediation. They also support curriculum-based activities such as parent evenings, behaviour support programmes, PSHE sessions, fundraising and training the new cohort of mentors. Mentors get involved with other school projects, such as a recent survey commissioned by the headteacher to find out students’ opinions on mixed age tutor groups.

Mentoring is carried out in a variety of settings coordinated through a duty rota. Seven mentors undertake daily whole school lunchtime outreach ‘patrols’. Almost every day, mentors offer a half hourly drop-in session in the library for advice on homework and learning resources. Most Wednesday lunchtimes, the Listening Room provides drop-in advice and a space where young people can receive pastoral support from an experienced mentor.

A key aim of the peer mentoring scheme is to provide support to students with English as an additional language. A weekly lunchtime ‘Chatroom’ offers a forum for Turkish speakers to discuss issues pertinent to their language group. Supported by two mentors, the group has become self-determining and produces a newsletter, and organises special events and fundraising activities. A similar group of African-Caribbean students (the Nubian group) meet weekly focusing on black history themes. The older members have set up their own charitable organisation and bid for government funding, including a recent £12,000 award towards forming their own performing arts project ‘off the streetz’. Groups for students of Polish origin and Asian origin are currently under development.

The whole school has a strong student voice and volunteering ethos with many opportunities available to students, including a student council, Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards and international projects brokered through the school’s International Links Officer.

How are young women involved in shaping the programme?

Most of the ideas for future development of the programme come from mentors and mentees. A half-termly meeting gives a forum to feed back experiences and suggest future projects, such as mentor support for students excluded for low level disruptive behaviour. Groups for students from specific ethnic groups are initiated and run by young people.

How does the project respond to the needs of different young women, particularly the most marginalised?

The emphasis on support groups for specific language groups helps build a bridge between the culture of students’ home lives and western school life. The programme also actively identifies and recruits young women from marginalised groups to become mentors, including looked after children, travellers and Kurdish speakers.

OUTCOMES OF WORK

How does the project contribute to the five Every Child Matters outcomes for young people?

Some of the impact includes:

Being healthy – mentoring promotes mental well-being as it allows students’ concerns and worries to be addressed in an empathetic and non-judgemental way;
Staying safe - mentors and mentees feel safer thanks to open communication channels and support;
Enjoying and achieving - mentors report a great sense of achievement when they receive certificates and praise in recognition of their work;
Making a positive contribution – mentors are encouraged to initiate and take part in voluntary activities to support their peers;
Achieving economic well-being - mentors contribute to a school enterprise club. They also gain preparation for work experience through the mentor recruitment process.

What skills and knowledge do young women gain through their involvement in the project?

Through their training and mentoring roles, mentors become more self-aware and learn alternative strategies for dealing with situations in and out of school. They also develop their social and communication skills, increase their self-confidence, and raise their educational achievement and aspirations.

Mentees receive practical advice and support from mentors, increasing their confidence and social skills. Mentees also see mentors as positive role models and many want to become mentors themselves.

How are young women's progress and achievements measured and recorded?

Mentors set their own personal and academic targets and are appraised termly on their conduct, attainment, attendance and level of participation. This is done initially in year nine, and then throughout year ten. They gain certificates and credits used towards Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards or similar accreditation schemes.

What has changed for other young people, organisations or the wider community as a result of the project?

Mentors are expected to attend school regularly, be punctual and act as positive role models, resulting in improved behaviour and attendance among mentors and mentees;
Mentees have access to authoritative peer advice on a wide variety of topics, including cultural peer support;
The programme promotes positive communication between the school and parents/carers, enabling them to feel more involved in school life;
As a direct result of the skills gained, several mentors have gone on to run community based youth projects. The community benefits from increased youth provision and stronger social networks.

MEASURING EFFECTIVENESS

How is the project evaluated and by whom?

Mentee feedback is incorporated in peer mentor review slips, which track details of mentor/mentee contact. As part of this, mentees rate the support received. The slips also outline what follow up action is required, be it a further appointment or referral onto a member of staff. Any other causes for concern can be flagged up with the Positive Behaviour Programme Manager.

As part of the National Mentoring Pilot, the programme submits baseline data and evaluative material to the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation.

What are the findings of any evaluations to date?

The school’s Ofsted inspection (May 2007) highlights the value of the work: “We were particularly impressed by the work of….the peer mentors. This is

taking on real responsibility in [the] school, which has an excellent impact on the lives of all the girls.”

Mentee feedback is consistently positive about the support they receive.

What changes/developments have occurred as a result of evaluation?

New initiatives include peer mediator training to year eights, peer leader training for the sixth form, mentoring workshops for parents and language/specific interest groups.

What has worked well and why?

There is a strong sense of collective ownership of the mentoring programme among students and staff and links into other areas of school expertise such as healthy schools work. The programme has encouraged a strong sense of cohesion and dialogue among students.

What has been difficult and why?

The coordination of the programme requires time and resources which can sometimes restrict the amount of developmental work done. With over 150 staff members, it is an ongoing task to ensure all staff understand and buy into the benefits.

PARTNERSHIP AND STRATEGIC IMPACT

What other agencies does the organisation work with?

The school is one of 180 secondary schools taking part in the then Department for Education and Skills funded National Peer Mentoring Pilot. Coordinated by the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation, the two year project aims to evaluate the effectiveness of different school peer mentoring models and assess their impact on the students involved. Hornsey’s programme focuses on behaviour and attainment.

What does the organisation bring to partnership work?

Hornsey Peer Mentors has specific expertise on recruitment and selection procedures, marketing a mentoring programme to staff, funders and students, and tracking and evaluation.

Has this partnership resulted in greater collaboration?

Being part of the pilot has enabled the programme to share ideas on best practice in mentoring.

How do you consider this project to be innovative?

The extent to which students shape the programme, and the recruitment and training procedures used are innovative features of the programme.

How do you disseminate the learning from the project?

Externally, the project regularly makes presentations at conferences and events to highlight its work, including a Treasury event. Practice is also shared through the Pilot, both locally, nationally and internationally. Internally, parents and students are kept informed of current developments through the school newsletter.

Has the learning from this work influenced wider organisational/service strategies?

When the programme was in its infancy, the benefits and potential of mentoring were as then unknown. Since the work has developed, mentoring has become a key support mechanism for the school and permeated all aspects of the curriculum.

What plans do you have to sustain/develop this work?

The school plans to establish a peer mentoring coordinator role to oversee the running of the programme, giving the current manager more developmental time. There are also plans to attract external funding to the programme.

CONTACT INFORMATION:

Sherife Tayfun, Behaviour Programme Manager, Hornsey School for Girls, Inderwick Road, Hornsey, London N8 9JF Tel: 020 8348 6191 E-Mail: sherifetayfun@hornseyschool.com

Mentoring and Befriending Foundation - http://www.mandbf.org.uk/