Manchester- Manchester Enterprise Academy (MEA) Project

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Click here to access resources relevant to MEA

Read here about the ReachOut! summer project in 2008 at Parklands

Boys Junior Mentor project: 3 pm to 5 pm on Mondays

Girls Junior Mentor project: 3 pm to 5 pm on Mondays

Start dates: w/c 19th October 2009 Age of Mentees: 14-16

Homework club and activities: 3 pm to 5 pm on Thursdays. 

Start date: w/c 19th October 2009 Age of Mentees: 11-13 

Transport takes 20-30 minutes each way. All mentors are provided with free transport leaving from the Whitworth Art Gallery. map

Manchester Enterprise Academy (MEA) (formerly Parklands High School) is a new mixed comprehensive school which opened in September 1999 and has been extended in 2009. This smaller than average secondary school serves an area that has high levels of social and economic disadvantage. More than half the pupils are entitled to free school meals. This is over four times the national average. Nearly twice as many pupils as average have learning difficulties and/or disabilities (LDD) and a high proportion of these pupils have emotional or behavioural difficulties. The vast majority of pupils are White British and only a small number are learning English as an additional language. Two percent of the pupils are looked after by the local authority. Since the last inspection, the school has been through a difficult time with unsettled leadership. The present headteacher, who took over in May 2007, is the fifth in six years. Plans for the school to become a Business and Enterprise Academy are well-advanced.

In the latest OFSTED report in January 2008 the school is described as "performing significantly less well than in all the circumstances it could reasonably be expected to perform. The school [is] given a Notice to Improve. Significant improvement is required in relation to the progress pupils make and the standards they reach, pupils' behaviour and attendance..."

For a fuller report click here.

Many of the pupils face significant barriers in terms of self esteem and desire to succeed. Mentors will face a real challenge to motivate their mentees to achieve their potential.

We have three projects at MEA, two "mentor the mentors" projects working with Year 11 pupils who are mentoring younger children in the school at the homework club, the homework club itself (all after school from 3 pm until 5 pm). We may havea Guided ("Catch Up") reading which involves mentoring selected pupils who have reading difficulties, during the school day (1-20 pm to 3-05 pm).

These will not be projects for the faint hearted but any successes you can achieve will be hard won and all the more satisfying.

Criteria for joining this project:

Up to 4 places are initially available for the after school homework club and 8 each for the Junior Mentor projects. We are still awaiting confirmation about a guided reading project and if this goes ahead there will be 14 places for this.

You will have to register as a mentor (to register click on the "Register" button on the sidebar to the left of this page).

You will need to satisfy the following training criteria:

Attending one of the two training options organised by ReachOut!

You will need to satisfy Criminal Record Bureau (CRB) Disclosure criteria. When you log in (use the Log In button on the sidebar to the left) after registering as a mentor you can follow the progress of your CRB application in your "home area." You can follow the navigational links to check how many places are still available for this project and if there are places still available, sign up for this or other projects.

You will need to have read our Mission statement which sets out our overall objectives and sets out the values which are fundamental to the project and the relevant ReachOut! policies and procedures. You will declare that you have read all these documents.

You will have to have (digitally) signed up to our Mentoring Agreement.