Miss Dawson, Biology Teacher (CAS & Service Coordinator)

Two years ago, BGS began a partnership with Shackleton Primary School, working with their Head Teacher, Mr Andy George, to see how we could help support the school in moving forward with their objective of improving educational attainment, particularly in literacy.

Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, we were not able to offer face to face support during the last academic year but last week one of the initial team of students from 2019, Sara Bhandari, came back into school to speak to our Lower Sixth students about her experiences as part of the reading programme.  This led to a fantastic fifty-one students signing up to be involved this year. From next week, these students will be visiting Shackleton Primary School for an hour a week, working with selected pupils from the school’s Years 1 and 2 classes with their reading.

Shackleton Primary School have specifically chosen students for this programme, who they feel would particularly benefit from learning with female role models. This programme will give our students the opportunity to practice key skills, such as reflection, leadership and communication, whilst also having a positive impact on the students.

At a recent induction, Mr George spoke candidly about the school, explaining that many of his students live in challenging situations and that the school provides a friendly, safe and consistent environment, which those children may not experience at home. His words have helped our students understand how important it was to really commit, to ensure that this is a positive and rewarding experience for the younger students that they will be working with.

Phoebe Lewis said: “I’m delighted to be involved with the reading project at Shackleton. I’m hoping to help build a better and safer environment for the children during their key stages of development. I think it will be a very fulfilling opportunity and one that will truly make a difference.”

Alice Hartshorn said: “I’m really looking forward to my time working with the children at Shackleton, and I’m hoping I’ll be able to make a difference to their reading levels and become a role model to them, and also develop my confidence skills when working with younger children. I am hoping that it will be a very rewarding experience.”