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It all adds up

Isabelle Tracy and Amiirah Elahee of Volcom want more people to become maths mentors

Can you spare two hours a week to help young people improve their maths and succeed in their GCSE exams?

After the long and carefree days of the summer holidays, young people return to school this month to resume their work in class.
For some pupils, who are starting Years 10 and 11, this can be a challenging time as coursework builds up and their GCSE exams draw ever closer.
The support given by teachers, as well as the encouragement of parents, can be enough to enable many pupils to fulfil their potential, but others need extra help along the way.
And this is where volunteer 'mentors' can make a difference by going into schools and working with young people on a one-to-one basis, or in small groups of up to three pupils at a time, to help them improve their confidence with maths.

Satisfaction

So far, three Hull secondary schools (Pickering, Kingswood, and Sydney Smith) have opened their doors to mentors, and a fourth school (Endeavour) is set to join the scheme this year.
Mentors can be anyone from the local community who wants to help develop a pupil's interest in maths, motivate them to learn, and enable young people to see the importance of maths to their future lives and careers.
Whether you are retired, unemployed, working full or part time, a recent graduate, or someone hoping to gain relevant experience for teacher training, the Volcom social enterprise (which runs the mentoring scheme) wants to hear from you.
"Mentoring is a great way to give something back to the city and gain that special sense of satisfaction which comes from helping others," says Ron Dickinson, who volunteers for Volcom and co-ordinates the maths mentors at Kingswood High School.
Ron began his career as a plumber and then owned and sold his company. Now he is using his skills and experience to support young people.
"It's about confidence and if young people see a responsible adult other than their teachers and parents taking an interest in their work, it can make a massive difference to them," he said.
"For example, the mentors give pupils the opportunity to ask questions away from the peer pressure of the classroom, work at their own pace, go over any maths they don't understand, and encourage them to be positive about maths and to believe in their own ability.
"Mentors tell us they get so much out of it as it really is pleasing to see how pupils progress with their help."
Volcom, which is hoping to extend the scheme to other secondary schools in Hull, needs volunteers from different backgrounds to allow a good match between pupils and mentors.
For example, if a volunteer has moved to Hull from overseas, and speaks a language such as Polish, Mandarin Chinese or Farsi, this could help them work with a pupil who may themselves have moved to Hull with their family from abroad.
Other pupils – who may perhaps want to work as plumbers, accountants, computer programmers, electricians, builders, nurses, bankers or mechanics when they leave school – would benefit from the advice of mentors currently in these jobs as they could show pupils how maths is essential in their day to day work.

Volunteer Ron Dickinson	Amiirah has helped more than 45 people register to become mentors to young people

Help from employers

Meanwhile, employers large and small across Hull are being invited to get involved in the mentoring scheme as a way of ensuring the skills and experience of their employees can be put to community use.
Hull City Council is taking part and it is hoped other organisations follow suit.
"Employers will benefit from allowing their members of staff to become maths mentors or mentors in other subjects such as English," says Isabelle Tracy, chief executive officer of Volcom.
"Time is money and giving an employee time off during the week to mentor a young person can be seen as another form of charitable giving.
"This would enhance the employer's reputation by making them known as a business which supports the local community."

Hull Challenge The mentoring scheme forms part of Hull Challenge, which aims to ensure that the majority of young people leaving school in 2012 achieve at least five A*-C grades in their GCSEs including maths and English. Among the pledges it sets out to fulfil are year on year improvements in exam results and the best possible learning environments for pupils as part of the Building Schools for the Future programme.

info

Volunteer mentors are Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) checked and receive training and ongoing support. For more information on Volcom call 382521 or visit www.volcom.org.uk, or see the inside front cover of this magazine. For more information on Hull Challenge visit www.hullcc.gov.uk