Jan 26, 2023 | Ackworth School
Matthew, Annabel, Duetai, Tamar, and Steven
This year Ackworth School has launched Sixth Form Peer Mentoring. The aim of the mentoring is for older students to help, educate, and support younger pupils across the school. We spoke with five Peer Mentors to hear what they had to say…
So, tell us about Peer Mentoring, what is it?
Annabel: We started to feel that the Sixth Form Centres are quite isolated from the main school building and felt that this would be a nice way to integrate the different school years and pass on knowledge to younger peers going through school that we didn’t have.
and, why did you decide to sign up as a mentor?
Matthew: I volunteered to be a peer mentor because back when I was younger, there was no one offering this sort of support. Now, there are options available, so I wanted to do it and support anyone who may be going through things I have experienced.
What do you find most rewarding from this role?
Steven: The most rewarding part is just being able to help people. I have helped two students so far, and it’s amazing to see the smile on their faces … it really helps me as a person too, and I think there is a mutual exchange I guess, both sides are improving.
and, alternatively what have you found most challenging?
Duatei: Some of the most challenging moments can be just trying to understand and engage with the students. I have to not to be too direct sometimes. It’s all about giving your honest and own opinion without being too straight forward which could potentially scare or intimidate some peers.
Tamar: Something else I am terrified of is someone coming in with homework I don’t understand or not being able to solve the problem.
What training did you have to go through to prepare you for this?
Steven: We had three 1hr lessons where we got trained on dealing with different types of situations that we might find ourselves in. We learnt how to handle those situations and who to go to if we, as mentors, needed extra support.
Matthew: The most important bit was learning the dos and don’ts. There is a lot of responsibility with this regarding safeguarding issues so it was important for us to understand all the things we cannot do, but also the things we should do when working with each individual situation.
Interesting, can you give me an example?
Annabel: We had training on communication skills, confidentiality, and body language.
How do you feel about holding that responsibility?
Tamar: It’s kind of intimidating to be in that position of power because not only are you taking the responsibility of communicating with a younger student, but also you’re taking responsibility for the aftermath of the advice you give. So, it can feel scary to give them advice that might backfire. That’s why it’s so important to think things through for a while before jumping to conclusions.
Matthew: One advantage is you know there’s multiples of you, so we can work together.
So, you lean on each other for support too?
Matthew: Yes, and there is always three of us at one time.
Where can students find you?
Tamar: We are available every break time, lunch, and after school for 30 minutes and it’s held in the library.
Thank you to Annabel, Tamar, Matthew, Steven, and Duatei for taking the time to speak with me today about Peer Mentoring.
Jan 20, 2023 | Ackworth School, Old Scholar
On 19th January, Ackworth School’s Old Scholar representatives made the trip down to London to meet with Old Scholars in the South of England. It was fantastic to see to see you all and to watch connections re-establish amongst this group.
Left to right: Victoria (AOS 92), Georgina (AOS 91), Clive (AOS 81), Emmanuelle (AOS 82), Robert (AOS 81), Stephen (AOS 82), Anton Maree, Head of Ackworth School, and his wife Alison Maree
One attendee stated that is was a “great night!”.
Another quoted, “Thanks very much for organising last evening. It was an interesting event and was good to hear of the developments and to meet some fellow Old Scholars”
Thank you to all those who attended and supported this event.
Jan 18, 2023 | Ackworth School
Ackworth School is proud to be working in conjunction with the Anti-Bullying Alliance. Every November, Ackworth School partakes in Anti-Bullying week which brings awareness to the ABA by running activities schools can get involved in, such as Odd Sock Day. Here at Ackworth School, we continuously support these campaigns physically and over our social media platforms. ABA’s theme for November 2022 was “Reach Out” and there was a variety of resources which assisted our themed assemblies and activities throughout the week.
The ABA also run a range of events throughout the year for new and existing members.
If you would like to read more about the amazing work that Anti-Bullying Alliance does in schools and for young people, you can find many helpful resources over on their website.
www.anti-bullyingalliance.org.uk
Jan 16, 2023 | Ackworth School, Sport
We celebrate the achievements of our pupils within and outside of school. Over the weekend of the 15th January, Jack (fifth form) jumped at the Northern Indoor Championships at Sheffield Institute of Sport, taking home a gold medal! He achieved a clearance of 1.90m. Congratulations Jack!
Jan 13, 2023 | Ackworth School
Congratulations are due to our Table Tennis Academy. During the weekend of 7th January 2023 it was the Senior National qualification tournament where both Rebecca and Felix played. Felix went into the tournament ranked 27 and finished the tournament in 3rd place! His performance’s were outstanding and the team were both shocked yet excited for him to finish this high in a senior tournament.
Equally as impressive, Rebecca was due to finish 9th place and also finished 4th in the women. Rebecca also beat the number 1 women ranked in the tournament. She played outstanding all competition.
Coach, Sam Mabey said, “For me as a coach I was so pleased for them and to have 2 players in the semi final at a tournament like this is not something you see a lot. This also means that both of them qualify for the Senior National Championships in March.”
Sam Mabey, Coach for Ackworth School Table Tennis Academy
Table Tennis
Jan 12, 2023 | Ackworth School
Logo designed by one of our pupils.
Ackworth School is a place where students should feel safe, accepted, and respected for who they are. Last year, the school launched a Pride group, aimed at the LGBTQ+ community, but of course welcome for anyone to attend.
Run by Oliver McCarthy-Bell, and with sixth form mentors, the group explores issues relating to the LGBTQ+ community, and so far have covered topics such as dealing with homophobia, coming out to family, exploring attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people in religion, and learning about some important events in LGBTQ+ history, such as the Stonewall Riots.
The group currently has both 2nd and 3rd formers regular attending, but the group is open to any students, both day students and borders. The group meets on a Tuesday break time, in the Music Centre Hall.
Resources: for advice visit www.stonewall.org.uk
