This project involves older boys supporting younger boys
with their reading. Sixth form students from Dulwich College,
an independent boys college in south London, work as mentors
to boys in Year 5 in local state primary school, which is
part of an Education Action Zone.
Launched in September 2003, the project is aimed at Year
5 boys who have a lower reading ability or have difficulty
managing their behaviour. Sixth form students apply to participate,
as the project is popular. Mentoring training is provided
by the head of English at Dulwich College.
Groups of three mentors are taken by coach to one of five
of the primary schools in the Norwood Achievement Partnership
Zone (an Education Action Zone). They work with the same
mentee for a regular, hour-long session, once a week for
12 weeks, and organise and manage the sessions themselves.
The six boys meet together in a room allocated by the primary
school, and the mentors are reliable enough that no other
adult needs to be present.
The sessions involve reading books, which are banded according
the National Curriculum banding system; using resources
such as flash cards, whiteboards, magnetic letters and literacy-based
games; discussion, feedback and record keeping. This is
an important aspect of the project, since the records are
passed to the teacher at the end of the project. The mentor
completes a 'Target Sheet' booklet at the end of each session,
recording how the session has gone, which book the mentee
is reading, and the mentee's progress towards his literacy
targets (set by the class teacher).
At the end of the 12 weeks, the Mentees are treated to a
visit to Dulwich College, where they either play football,
with the primary schools competing with each other for a
trophy, or watch a magic show put on by Year 9 students.
The mentees are further treated to pizza and then are presented
with certificates by the Master of Dulwich College.
Effects of the project
The project is evaluated using pre and post-project questionnaires
for the mentee, plus a questionnaire for the mentor and
for the mentee's teacher.
Every cohort has seen has seen the mentees' self esteem
improve, which has impacted on their learning and behaviour.
The project's first cohort of mentees moved up one book
band on average, with one boy moving up four levels. For
each subsequent cohort, the book level that the mentees
have moved up has consistently improved on the previous
cohort, as the project has become more established in the
schools.
All mentors reported feeling adequately trained to deliver
the sessions. Their record keeping, shared with the Year
5 teachers, was considered valuable, and they were thought
to be reliable, responsible and organised. They were able
to document their involvement in the project on their UCAS
(university admission) forms.
Feedback
The project was evaluated by HMI during May 2004 and received
positive feedback:
"The Mentors were able to support
a young child in a non-pressured way."
"The parents were happy that their son had the opportunity
to be involved and that his problem with reading was being
addressed in such an innovative way."
"I will be recommending that this project receives
further funding from the DfES."
Mentees' responses to the question 'How has the project
helped you?':
"I 'm not so scared about reading
books now; I think that I'm more confident and that's great."
"I can read better and spell much better."
"It's made reading fun for me and made me see books
that are interesting."
Mentees' responses to the question 'What did it feel like
to have a Reading Mentor?':
"It felt like I was special."
"I felt like I was a king of the world."
"It felt very very good."
Mentors' responses to the question 'Do you feel that your
mentee benefited from the project?':
"His reading moved up a few levels in a relatively
short space of time."
"He enjoyed the five minutes we both used to talk about
football, and then he was happy to work."
"I felt that my mentee made a good effort - I'm proud
of him and I told him so."
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