Peer mentoring. Making the grade. 3

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Description

At Hemsworth Arts and Community College peer mentoring is a way of offering additional, targeted subject support to Year 11 students on the C/D borderline in maths and English. At this time of year, the focus is on exam technique. Mentors are volunteers who are studying the subject in Years 12 and 13 and received a C grade or higher at GCSE. The college believes that until now, they've been an untapped resource - they've been through the GCSEs so they know what it takes to get the grades, and they can communicate effectively with their mentees. Mentees are identified by the school's rigorous assessment point data, and selected for their willingness to take part. As Marc Howell, Hemsworth's Peer Mentoring Co-ordinator, explains, it takes a level of maturity to commit to peer mentoring, and it would be counter-productive to force a student to be involved. But does it work?