Hathershaw College works with Oldham Sixth Form College for peer supported revision

Hathershaw College has been working in partnership with Oldham Sixth Form College who have agreed to assist with peer supported revision.

Additional tuition is being delivered by 15 year 12 students, all recently successful Hathershaw alumni currently studying at Oldham Sixth Form College (OSFC, also part of The Pinnacle Learning Trust).

Having got the first few sessions off the ground, 50 plus students arrive each Saturday morning, approaching a quarter of the year 11 cohort.

Hathershaw students receive personalised tuition from students not much older than themselves and with recent relevant experience of exams.

They can focus on the areas of a particular subject they may find challenging and the sessions cover a variety of subject areas, including GCSE English, maths, science, history, geography and French.

Sessions also focus on effective revision strategies with the added benefit that the peer tutors recently used these techniques themselves.

Peer tutors are trained at OSFC in conjunction with Lewis Entwistle, Assistant Principal, and are completing a programme designed by Yipiyap, which covers a range of topics such as: leadership, communication, emotional intelligence, teamwork, teaching and learning and safeguarding.

OSFC students have developed an enormous amount of confidence during this project and have noticed how much their communications skills have improved.

In experiencing leadership in this context, they have swiftly appreciated how important flexibility, team working and planning is.

One student tutor said: “It taught me how to be a good leader and be assertive.”

The approach is flexible, enabling students to attend a variety of sessions whilst not needing to commit to attending them all.

They are very much student-led and encourage year 11 students to be responsible for their learning and to attend as and when they would benefit.

They are not compulsory.

Students attend in their own clothes and refreshments are provided ensuring a more relaxed and grown-up learning environment, similar to that experienced at college.

Mark Giles, Hathershaw’s Principal, said: “I really welcome this partnership within our trust.

"It shows how a good locally-focused trust can quickly establish provision which benefits the most important people in our organisation, the students.

"It is also a great experience for our former students, strengthening further their university applications, but also providing them with an income whilst they study as all are paid the relevant national minimum wage.

"I am really grateful to my Vice Principal, Ashley Travis, who has led this initiative.

"I am also grateful to senior leaders and support staff who are going the extra mile providing adult supervision on Saturday mornings, all after a busy week at work.”

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