“He absolutely worships his City Year Mentor and is always singing their praises”

Team Starfish in Greater Manchester served at Bolton St Catherine’s Academy, 2022-23. 

“When I first met MW he was unengaged. In lessons he was often disruptive to others’ learning. He rarely completed very much work and showed little understanding of the classwork.”

“In class, we have slowly begun working towards MW asking for support in a sensible manner from his class teachers. We have completed various activities to help work on MW’s understanding of consequences to his actions. […] looking at scenarios where he has previously become frustrated that he is “being picked on” or getting in trouble for “no reason”. We [have also] introduced a self reflection sheet that MW would complete in a lesson. When I am present, I will complete one too – we compare our sheets to the class teachers score and look at how we can improve next lesson. Another way is helping him see how his future aspirations require academic achievement too. We have researched careers in engineering and the army and looked at what MW needs to work towards these goals.”

“MW’s  attitude in lessons has massively improved- he shows much more focus- he pays attention to the teacher. Knowing he needs to complete his self reflection sheet, MW will hold himself accountable and make sure he is showing the correct classroom behaviours. Another achievement for MW is that, working alongside his mum, we have been able to encourage MW to attend after school catch up sessions. In these sessions we have completed homework, revision and prepared him for upcoming lessons. This has made a significant improvement in MW’s engagement as he feels more prepared for lessons.”

Teacher Comment: “MW started to become more reflective and speak honestly about his behaviours, which helps him to understand where to correct them.”

Parent Comment: “This is probably the best progress evening he has ever had. All his teachers have said that he is doing so much better and his behaviour has massively improved. He absolutely worships his City Year Mentor and is always singing your praises, so thank you for all the support you have offered him this year.”