Aim to Be (A2B) is the peer mentoring scheme that one of The Barnet Group’s youth engagement providers, Nutmeg Community, is delivering in secondary schools on its behalf.
A2B currently operates in three schools, St Mary’s High School andHendonSchool, both in Hendon andLondonAcademyin Edgware. Pupils from St Mary’s High School who have signed up to the scheme, are pictured.
St Mary’s High School’s Deputy Director of Sixth Form, Katie Spencer-Smith said: “We have seen a real improvement in the children who are being mentored after just a few weeks. We match the mentors and mentees based on things they have in common – it’s given the pupils here a real boost in the lead up to their exams.”
Nutmeg Community co-founder Rui Octavio said: “It’s really exciting to be a part of a peer mentoring school programme that supports young people’s development. We work with Barnet secondary schools to recruit and train older learners to mentor their younger peers.
Rui added: “The peer mentoring programme champions pupil’s progress by addressing things like behavioural issues and raising their aspirations.”
So far, 160 young people in Barnet have been engaged in the peer mentoring scheme, 80 mentors have been recruited and trained and 75 of them have already started mentoring.
If you are involved with any schools you think might benefit from finding out more about the A2B mentoring scheme, email Nutmeg Community: info@nutmegcommunity.org