Why did you want you want to get involved with 1MM?

Llanwern High School is situated in the East of Newport and is catchment to some of the most deprived and challenging wards, not just in Newport, but in Wales. A large majority of our students access free school meals and face challenges both at home and in school. We were approached by One Million Mentors to run a mentoring programme in March last year and jumped at the chance of free additional support for our learners. We were careful with the students we chose as we wanted a balance between those who would engage with the programme versus those who would benefit the most. One of the aims of the programmes, which was directed by our headteacher, was to try to encourage as many of those on the programme to look at staying on at the school for 6th form.

How have your students benefitted from mentoring?

The students who joined the programme were given the opportunity at the start to test run the new 1MM training and were joined by a 1MM staff member from Manchester – this was a great opportunity for us as a school, and for our learners, to feedback on aspects of the One Million Mentors programme which would affect schools and pupils across the UK.

To say the programme was a success is an understatement. After 12 months of mentoring, a number of our pupils have gone on to achieve great things and in part, as well as the support from the school, is down to the 1MM programme. One of our students has managed to gain an exclusive spot at a prestigious drama school in London, another has managed to get a part time job at a local children’s hospital and one of our quietest pupils has grown dramatically in confidence, so much so that he stayed on at the end of the celebration event to talk to the new cohort of year 10 pupils – something he would not have done 12 months ago.

What would you say to others thinking of partnering with 1MM?

The mentors have also been absolutely fantastic, 4 of them did not miss a single session and a lot of them have agreed to stay on to mentor the new cohorts of learners. We cannot wait to start this year’s programmes and are excited about what success stories we can share in 12 months’ time!