Midhurst Rother College
As a member of the sixth form here at MRC, I am given many opportunities to develop my skills, not only in the classroom but outside of the curriculum too. One of these being the weekly mentoring schemes that we can partake in, helping the younger years with their studies in particular areas.
Paired reading takes place every week during registration in the library giving the Year Sevens a chance to read aloud to their allocated sixth former; this gives a wonderful sense of personability and it is incredibly incentivising to watch the younger student develop both their skills and confidence over time. I know that many sixth form students also tend to get rather attached to the book that they read, almost more so than the students!
Aside from this, another mentoring scheme is that of the Maths faculty which I myself take part in. Maths is not a subject that I decided to carry on into A level but having the chance to help the Year Elevens with their upcoming GCSE exam revision gives me a chance not only to feel as though I can help those in the same situation that we were in last year, but also to keep up my own Maths knowledge which I know will be useful in the future.
It is also incredibly rewarding to watch them grow as mathematicians and hopefully we will see the results of their hard work in the summer and even the results of the reading programme in four years when they also take their English exams.
Sophie Cooke, Midhurst Rother College
Petworth Primary School
As part of our year five and six children’s theme of looking at democracy and what makes Britain great, fifty eight children visited London to explore some of the amazing buildings as well as embark on a Houses of Parliament tour. With a lot of talk about Brexit the children were keen to explore the various places they had seen on the television and ask Mr Herbert MP why there is so much squabbling and very little working together.
It was very clear that the children enjoyed the tour of the Houses of Parliament where they stood in the House of Lords, watched Members of Parliament debate foreign affairs in the House of Commons, participate in a debate of their own and pose questions to Nick Herbert MP. This all gave the children an important insight into democracy and how laws are created and debated.
As we were keen to make the most of our visit to London, the children visited Downing Street, saw the Changing of the Guard, posed for photos in Trafalgar Square and outside Buckingham Palace. They saw the parakeets in St. James Park and looked at a multitude of statues ranging from Sir Winston Churchill to Nelson Mandela. We had a very interesting debate about why only one statue was a woman and this highlighted the importance of the Suffragette Movement.
At Petworth CofE Primary School we value the importance of school trips especially trips which challenge the children to ask questions about stereotypes, which teaches children about the importance of British traditions and culture, and is a trip which they would not normally have the opportunity to participate in. As time passes our children will be able to recall various facts they learnt about this trip, which could not be replicated in the classroom. Also I am sure Mr Herbert MP will remembering the very taxing questions our children asked for a while.
John Galvin, Petworth Primary School
