Results speaking for themselves – deputy head
THE results speak for themselves says Yardleys Science College deputy head teacher Catherine Howard.
“We targeted pupils in year ten and 11 and started off with a group of students who were at risk of exclusion and being disaffected,” she said. “When the GCSE results then came out we found that group had done really well in terms of value added education.
“We are now into our third group and the results have been consistently good. They regularly maintain appointments and wanted to go to the sessions.”
In fact the group had the best value added results within the school so Yardleys has taken the NBBCA model and applied it to other groups of youngsters.
“We tend to find that the pupils relate to an outside agency because they do not see them as part of the school system,” says Catherine. “They don’t come out of one of those sessions and then have the same teacher asking them about their homework.
“When Henroy started he was a reality check. He is able to take them beyond stereotypes and show them the possible pitfalls.
“They are at an age when they are impressionable and when they are bombarded with images of ‘gangstas’ being hip and cool it is good for them to see an alternative.
“It is important for them to have access to a positive older male role model.”
