Being a Franklin Scholar at Walthamstow Academy

Doing the "Human Knot" challenge during our training.

Doing the "Human Knot" challenge during our training.

The Franklin Scholars are some of Walthamstow Academy's most promising Year 10 students, who have been recruited and trained to provide a year-long programme of mentoring and literacy support to Year 7s who have struggled in the transition from primary to secondary school.

Prior to starting the programme we received two full days of training. The first day consisted of us learning how to properly engage with the Year 7s and the relevant topics/activities that we would need to carry out with them. On the second day of training we met with the group of Year 7s who would be taking part in this year's programme and we were given some time to interact with each and every one of the Year 7s. This was beneficial to both parties as we got a basic understanding of each other and this also helped them to feel more comfortable around us as we were then assigned to our individual mentees.

From that point on the Franklin Scholars sessions have been taking place every Tuesday and Wednesday during form time. Each and every Year 10 mentor has built a strong bond with their Year 7 mentee.

We think that the Franklin Scholars programme is an amazing opportunity seeing as being Year 10s we know how overwhelming it can be to be in Year 7 due to the drastic change of environment. Through this programme we get to support the Year 7s at the start of their secondary school journey. I am one of the many proud members of the Franklin Scholars team in Year 10 and we believe that when one teaches, two learn.

The 2017-18 cohort of Franklin Scholars at Walthamstow Academy

The 2017-18 cohort of Franklin Scholars at Walthamstow Academy

Festival of Ideas 2018 - St Clement Danes School

Just before Easter, students from 5 schools in the Hertfordshire area came together at St Clement Danes School for a day of community-focused collaboration and problem-solving. Students tackled challenges ranging from encouraging more girls into STEM subjects and careers, to elderly isolation. After a public speaking workshop, participants then pitched their ideas to a Dragon's Den-style panel, who awarded development cash prizes to those that had the most potential.

The overall winners were students from Rickmansworth School with their elegant plan for "Memory Mornings" - coffee mornings hosted at the school for the local elderly population to share memories and interact with the younger generation and each other.

Here are some pictures from the day... 

What the attendees thought...

  • The day was "amazing" and "a rollercoaster";
  • Students left feeling "proud", "buzzing", and "more confident";
  • 100% of teachers enjoyed the event and agreed or strongly agreed that students had developed practical skills;
  • Students reported a 79%increase in their self-efficacy and a 68% increase in their confidence communicating with new people.

How to support Y7s once they've stopped getting lost

Phew! You're half a term in. By now you're starting to get a picture for how the rest of the year will pan out, just about, and started to establish the priorities now the initial mayhem has died down.

You're also somewhat able to name the Y7s - definitely the one who's the spitting image of his brother (behaviour included), definitely the one who found day one too overwhelming to leave reception, and definitely the one clipping at your heels with persistent questions. The other hundred-odd are a work in progress, but getting there.

Unfortunately, the names you're most able to recall are the students who you're worrying about; the one's who you're concerned won't make the progress they need to in the long-term.

They can now find their way round, and they've figured out their timetable, but they don't seem settled, they're not knuckling down, and they're struggling with the academic nature of secondary.

So, what to do?

The Power of Peer Mentoring

1. Start to talk to parents

It's the start of their secondary career, so you have a really good, genuine excuse for getting in touch with parents and engaging them positively - you want to keep them up to date with how their child is getting on, and what they can do to build a really strong platform right in Y7.

Build it up slowly - don't dive in with a 'meeting', but start with a text, a phone call, an informal catch up at the gate. And keep it positive. Suggest little things they can do to support in some of the areas you're worried about (e.g. 'you can ask about their english lesson and what they're reading when they get home').

2. ‎Coach the individuals

Like (1), this about starting small. Grab <5mins with one of the students you're worried about and have a quick, supportive chat with them. Think of it like a sports coach or football manager pulling their player to the side-line for a second.

What has been your favourite part of this week? What have you found hardest? What could you do differently next week to make it less hard / less likely to happen again? What could I do to help you with that?

Repeat this regularly enough, and hopefully you'll notice them making changes around school. They'll also know that they've got a supportive adult in their corner - so win, win.

3. Enlist the experts

The experts being older students from within your own school. They have a specific and recent knowledge of what it's like to start at your school - what it's like to wear the uniform, how to adjust to the homework, how to interpret the first English text. That knowledge isn't available anywhere else! So the key will be to power it up in the most effective and genuine way you can.

Have you got specific subject prefects, or stand out students who you can ask to help? Are there some older students who you think could use a leadership role to develop themselves?

At Franklin Scholars we have our leading peer-coaching programme, as well as a range of ways we can support you with this one, so get in touch if you'd like to make the most of peer-tutoring and mentoring in your school.

4. ‎Cross-phase CPD

This one's more of a long term one, I'm sorry. But it's a goodie! Often Y7s can seem to arrive out of nowhere - and if they're not where you expected it's often tricky for teachers to know how to take a few steps back. What did they do in primary? How have they been taught previously?

Can you or your teachers get in touch with a local Y6 teacher? Can they visit? Can that teacher offer them specific advice and support about how that subject is being taught in their school?

Equipped with the expertise of an active primary teacher - you could be better placed to scrub up the basics of the Y7s you're most worried about.

Our 2016 impact report is now online!

What a great year it’s been! In the 2015-2016 school year, we supported 210 Year 10 students (our ‘Franklin Scholars) with 21 hours of specialist training across 14 partners schools. These Franklin Scholars then provided 25 hours of 1:1 support during in-school sessions to a further 210 Year 7 students.

What’s more, we piloted a range of new interventions, including a Franklin Juniors programme, a ‘Stay on Track’ initiative within a Pupil Referral Unit, as well as individual training days for schools looking to run their own mentoring programmes.

As always, we have been working hard to track the impact of our interventions in schools and this year’s impact report is more promising than ever. As detailed in our impact assessment, more Pupil-Premium eligible students make expected, and above expected progress, on the Franklin Scholars programme. In addition, we find that Franklin Scholars is a successful intervention for reducing the gap in progress between disadvantaged students and their peers. Want to know more? Dig into our impact report here!

A day in the life: Why I love working with Franklin Scholars.

My day starts with a quick rattle through my inbox before sitting down with Jess (Franklin Scholars CEO) to catch each other up – on a new partnership she’s developing with a group in west London, on the visits to schools I’ve been doing the last few weeks, on the logistics of our upcoming Awards Ceremony, on how we continue to think about measuring skills from our ABCD Shield. It starts as quick bullets, before becoming a more in-depth discussion on how we need to approach some of the weightier challenges. Meaty.

I remember where this whole thing started - sat in a small coffee shop in East London. Officially, Jess and I were both scouting each other out; gauging if I would be a good fit for the job that was being advertised. What it became was an enveloping discussion involving our conviction that students had a unique power to support others in their school, that the development of social emotional skills is all-important, and that by creating a network of skilled and engaged Franklin Scholars we could produce … well, endless beneficial outcomes. I told Jess at the end of that meeting that I would most definitely be applying.

That’s what I love about my job; that I get to work with someone that I share a vision with and get to work, on a daily basis, to make it happen.

In the afternoon, I’m off to one of our partner schools to run a booster training session with our Y10 Franklin Scholars. Today we’re breaking down and planning out long-term goals to make them a little less daunting. It’s introducing tools that the older students can use with their younger mentees, but it inevitably is also training for how they could use them themselves. As a worked example, one of the Franklin Scholars starts to tackle world peace! 

I put myself in a café and open up my laptop. I spend the rest of the afternoon handling emails to and from our teachers and senior leaders, creating the slide deck for the workshop I’m doing later in the week, phoning potential venues for the awards ceremony, evaluating an event we hosted in Bolton the previous week.

Sometimes my day will end with an event, where you get to share a free drink with people doing related things – there are a lot of passionate people out there. But today I’m winding down with a home cooked dinner and catch-up TV before starting a different day tomorrow.

We're hiring! Seeking Programme and Partnerships Officer – deadline 18th May. Details at www.franklinscholars.org

Our 2014-15 impact report is online!

Now that we’ve got two full academic years under our belt, we are thrilled to release our first impact report. Since our inception in 2013, we've worked with over 700 young people from 16 schools across 3 regions through our year-long programmes.

We have been working hard to track the impact of our interventions in schools and we are thrilled to share the first insights into the impacts that our interventions are having! Want to know more? Dig into our impact report here!

Cultivate Curiosity

Children are often thought of as being the most curious beings; they constantly bug their parents with questions like “how?” and “why?”. They explore, they touch everything just to know what it feels like, they create silly beautiful things, and they somehow make almost anything into a really fun game.  But why do we perceive our curiosity to decline as we get older? Is it because we lose sight of what interests us and focus on what we need in order to be successful?  Or it is because we are told to smarten up and stop being so silly? Either way, curiosity is just as important to us as adults as it was when we were children.    

In our Franklin Scholar programme we have noticed that our year 7 students are highly curious; they relentlessly ask all sorts of questions about anything that pops into their heads. They’re rarely embarrassed of their questions and we admire that, because no question is a stupid question.  Here we have taken some recommendations from Todd Kashdan’s article: The Power of Curiosity, and come up with a few of our own ideas for how we can continue to be curious as we get older. Because in this ever-changing world it’s important to never stop learning.

Play 20 questions  

Make it a goal to learn as much as you can about someone, whether that is someone new, a good friend, or your significant other.  It might surprise you how much you can learn from someone you thought you knew everything about.  

Explore your passions  

Think fishing is fun?  Take a course on fishing or join a group that goes out every weekend.  Like reading poetry?  Why not try writing some of your own, or go to a live poetry club.  Dive deeper into your interests.  

Try it again  

Have you ever tried something but you didn’t enjoy it or you thought it was too hard so you gave up? Well, try it again! Fear of failure will only hold you back; who knows if you try it again with a different approach the outcome could be different. It’s important to keep an open mind and understand that trial and error only leads us to learn more and where things can be improved.  

Speak up

Have you ever had a question burning a hole in your brain but you were too embarrassed to ask?  Well it’s time to put anxiety and embarrassment aside.  You are far more likely to learn about someone or something when you demonstrate you’re interested through speaking up and asking questions.  

Read more  

Reading is a great way to open up your mind and see things from a new perspective.  No matter what you decide to read, it will put you inside someone else’s mind and give you new perspectives, new knowledge.  There is a positive correlation between reading and curiosity: people who read more are more curious.  

Need some inspiration? Here are some things that may spark your curiosity:

Tate Modern: Resources

Empathy Library

Character Lab: Curiosity

Warning! In exercising these tips you may be uncomfortable or embarrassed and that’s okay, you can learn and grow from these experiences. Who knows, you might learn to love the feeling of the unknown or the ‘to be found out’.  

By: Emily Lawrence

Autumn Half Term Reflections

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September marked the start of the third year of the Franklin Scholars programme. This time two years ago, Jess had recently founded the organisation and was running the programme herself in two London Schools. This time last year, the illustrious Olly came on board and together they ran the programme in seven schools, in London and the North West. This year, the team has grown with the help of Emily and Lizzie, we have moved into our very first little office, and we are running the programme in 13 schools, in London, the North West and the South West. 

As the first half of the Autumn 2015 term comes to an end we ask ourselves - where has the time gone?  Reflecting on the past couple of months we are filled with many fond memories and reminded of a couple of challenges. Here are some reflections from Team FS: Jess, Olly, Emily and Lizzie.

Olly

This half term has been our busiest yet! One of the incredible things to come from that has been meeting and training all of this year’s Franklin Scholars and preparing them for the year ahead. It’s been fantastic to visit all of our schools – including all of the new schools and new geographical areas that we are bringing into the Franklin Scholars community. There have been some challenges though, chiefly learning so many names! I’ve been getting a few jumbled up but hopefully I’ve been doing OK. Being in lots of different schools also means I’ve been spending more time apart from the Franklin Scholars team – which has been getting bigger. It’s been great to welcome Emily and Lizzie into the team this term. They’ve already been having a fantastic impact on the stuff that we do. Here’s to another great few months of 2015!

Emily

Starting with the Franklin Scholars team this September has been really exciting. I have enjoyed meeting the students, learning about them and what inspires them. I find myself relating to them quite easily.  I especially enjoy seeing students get really excited about being a part of our programme; the Franklin Scholars are motivated to help Year 7s, and Year 7s love the idea of having an older student as their personal coach.  Another highlight of mine has been getting to know the rest of the team; Olly, Jess and Lizzie are passionate, supportive and kind. 

Challenges I am trying to overcome include my anxiety when talking to large groups and understanding the different accents I’m being exposed to. I sometimes get quite nervous when I’m talking to large groups of people, but each time I do it, I feel like my anxiety decreases and I become a little more confident. Since I am Canadian and this is my first time in England, sometimes I find myself struggling in understanding the very diverse accents here. Also, there have been a few times when others had difficulties in understanding me as well. But a good laugh always seems to help the conversation along. 

Lizzie

Reflecting back on my first half term with Franklin Scholars, my biggest challenge has been learning about the enterprise, the schools and education across the UK as quickly as possible! Luckily, a highlight of working with the Franklin Scholars team has been that I’m never short of a helping hand.

The support of the whole team and the enthusiasm of the partner schools has made me feel incredibly proud of the work of Franklin Scholars. I’ve left so many interviews with Year 10s feeling overwhelmed by the privilege of being able to meet with so many inspirational students.

Looking forward to the next half of term I definitely still have a lot left to learn. Especially how Olly is able to remember the names of hundreds of students after just one afternoon of training (he’s definitely being too modest in his half term review)!

Jess

Taking this opportunity to reflect on the last few years gives me an immense sense of pride in what we have achieved and built as an organisation, and how, while we continue to grow and reach more young people, we never stop learning and improving - both as an organisation and as individuals.

A challenge for me that has become very real in this last half of term is that as the organisation grows, so my hands-on involvement with our partner schools and young people diminishes. This saddens, challenges and thrills me in equal measures. Saddened at having less direct contact with our beneficiaries – the reason I started doing this in the first place; challenged by the host of new skills and expertise I need to develop to drive the organisation forward; thrilled that I have stellar colleagues who I know do an outstanding job of delivering our programmes. And I can only imagine that these emotions - and more - will continue to provoke each other as we continue to learn, improve, and expand our work over the coming year. 

What have been your highlights and challenges? How have they affected you? And how will you work to overcome your challenges? Tweet at us using the #HalfTermReview to join in on the conversation.

Back2School Advice

With the 2015/2016 school year just beginning we’ve put together a collection of advice from our 2014/2015 Franklin Scholars to help new Year 7s with the first week jitters.  Starting a new school year can make some students feel really excited but others maybe feeling a little nervous.  No matter where you fall on the spectrum these pieces of advice are good to keep in mind!

-“Get involved with your lessons, other pupils and even clubs!”

-“Step out of your comfort zone… talk to people and ask for help.”

-“…have fun, because you can learn a lot of cool stuff and experience new things.”

-“Always be yourself and that will help you make friends.”

-“Try your best at your work and feel free to ask a teacher for help.”

-“…always believe in your abilities and strength and don’t compare yourself to others.”

-“Don’t let the fear of new people and a new place affect your confidence towards others. Be sociable and friendly because that’s the first step in opening up.”

-“…always believe in your abilities and strength and don’t compare yourself to others.”

We’d like to say good luck to all of the Year 7s starting a new chapter in their lives and anyone else who’s starting something new where this advice might come in handy.  

"Crucial Support for a crucial juncture": Franklin Scholars at St Clement Danes School. →

Faye Ramsbottom, Religious Studies and Philosophy Teacher and Assistant Head of Key Stage 4 at St Clement Danes School, explains how her experience of becoming a Programme Leader for Franklin Scholars has taught her to re-focus on removing barriers to learning for vulnerable pupils.

As Programme Leader for Franklin Scholars at St Clement Danes School for the last year, it’s been my responsibility to coordinate and oversee twice-weekly sessions with Year 10s and Year 7s, involving a combination of group activities, 1:1 literacy support and 1:1 mentoring.

The most powerful thing for me has been seeing students find their way within the programme and within the school, and the Year 10s taking the initiative and jumping at the chance to help younger students out. The Year 7s are even doing it now too – offering help in areas where their peers are struggling. 

Some Y10-Y7 pairs have built really strong and productive relationships. One striking example of the power of peer networks has been personified by the relationship between one Year 7 and his Franklin Scholar. The younger pupil is very outgoing, and not always inclined to sit down and complete tasks that require an extended period of concentration. His Y10 mentor had the idea of teaching him how to play chess, which has been great to see and has likely been a factor in improving his ability to focus in class. 

Year 7 participants have reported an increase in their confidence, and have felt supported by having a trusted peer in school. Where the relationship between mentor and mentee is strong there has been a noticeable impact on pupils’ attitudes to learning – shown through reports from teachers. Amongst the Year 10s we have noted, in particular, the development of their leadership and communication skills.

I think what makes the programme stand out from other peer mentoring or buddying schemes is the frequency and consistency that comes with the programme – Y7 pupils having another person who’s not a teacher, who’s more on their level and closer to their age, and who actively wants to help them out, twice a week, every week. The opportunity that they have over the course of the year to build real positive relationships is exceptional. 

The identity and accreditation definitely makes a difference too – the Y10s are proud to call themselves the Franklin Scholars, and knowing that they are part of a network of students around the country working towards the same goals helps to spur them on.

While I knew this already, running the programme has reminded me how important it is to remove any barriers to learning early on in a student’s education, as it can have such a big impact later on. The transition from primary to secondary is a time of challenge for many pupils and it’s the single most important moment to put the right provision in place. Peer-to-peer support is a powerful tool to aid in this. 

I have definitely enjoyed the experience. Simply seeing the students interacting with each other is enough to make it all worthwhile!

 

Franklin Scholars is a peer-mentoring programme to ease the transition from primary to secondary school for vulnerable students (e.g. students with low self-confidence or challenges in literacy), while equipping Y10s with academic mentoring and leadership skills.

Through the programme, both year groups are given the opportunity to develop their confidence, resilience and socialisation skills; all of which leads to raising their academic attainment.

 

Franklin Scholars partner school wins the Pupil Premium Award!

Great news! The Brentford School for Girls has been awarded the prestigious Pupil Premium Award, partially because of their work with Franklin Scholars!

The prize, worth £25,000, was given in recognition of the school’s work in supporting all students to achieve their full potential. Brentford is one of only a small number of schools to have received an award.

Brentford School for Girls has been recognised for the imagination and creativity with which it is applying the Pupil Premium. In addition to working with the Brilliant Club, the school is one of our partner programmes, whereby Year 10 students are matched with younger students through our signature peer mentoring programme.

As noted in news coverage, Devesha Singh, Assistant Headteacher responsible for inclusion, and Brogen Thorpe, Finance Manager, received the award on behalf of the school at a ceremony in central London. The award was presented by government minister David Laws.

Ms Singh says, “The award is in recognition of the work we do in support of our students. We are proud to be award winners and we are looking forward to spending the money wisely to secure still further progress for our girls.”

News coverage of the event can be found here. Want to know more about which schools we partner with? Check out our partnerships page!

Photo courtesy of Brentford TW8.

Photo courtesy of Brentford TW8.

#WeDayUK: “I feel strongly that you are the most powerful generation in the whole of human history. Use your power to create the world you want to live in.”

“I feel strongly that you are the most powerful generation in the whole of human history. Use your power to create the world you want to live in.” - Professor Muhammad Yunus

Last Thursday we were lucky enough to be a part of the second ever We Day UK, and what a day it was.

Not one of the 12,000 schoolchildren packed into Wembley Arena had bought a ticket. Each and every one of them had earned it through doing good to others - which is why some Franklin Scholars from Burlington Danes Academy were privileged to be in the audience.

Proclaimed “the coolest classroom in the world” - it probably was. A whole day dedicated to not just celebrating the good that our young people have done in their communities and beyond, but also hearing and learning from some of the most truly inspiring speakers, social entrepreneurs, activists and changemakers that the world has to offer.

Here are just a few of our highlights:

- The inimitable Martin Sheen making a supremely powerful call-to-action - “While acting is what I do for a living, activism is what I do to stay alive. We are all responsible for each other and the world. We make the rules that govern our hearts and minds. My fondest wish for each and every one of you is that you will find something in your life worth fighting for.”

- Learning about the ingenious Solarbox- transforming disused telephone boxes into free solar-powered charging points for phones - and BioBean- collecting waste coffee grounds and recycling them into advanced biofuels.

- Andy Barrow telling us about how he used to think it was all about him. And how empowering it was when he realised it wasn’t.

- Bars and Melody - nuff said.

“I learned that no matter what age you are, you can make a change. All of the speakers - of different ages, different backgrounds, and with different stories - were directed at one thing: change. There are no restrictions within change!!!” - Salwa, Y10 Franklin Scholar, Burlington Danes Academy

“It was a fun way to find ideas about helping other people while helping yourself too. My favourite speaker was Kweku Mandela. He had a strong relationship with someone very inspirational and he learned how to take his grandfather’s influence forward into his own life and the lives of others.” - Zak, Y10 Franklin Scholar, Burlington Danes Academy

A big thank you goes out to our founding partners, Big Change, who are also founding partners of We Day and were our wonderful hosts for the day.

How to Get a Job at Google →

The Google Workplace

Google’s Senior Vice President of People has some stuff to say about what they value in the people they recruit:

“test scores are worthless. … we found that they don’t predict anything.”

Google hires about 5,000 new staff and receives over 1-million CVs each year, and, for them, it’s all about learning ability, leadership, ownership and humility. 

It’s not about what you know. It’s about your approach to what you don’t.

Find out more about how Franklin Scholars are helping students develop valuable skills here.