For the past couple of years, Union High School, Graaff-Reinet has been running a cross-age ๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ ๐ ๐๐ก๐ง๐ข๐ฅ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฃ๐ฅ๐ข๐๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ ๐ at the school to promote the learnersโ physical, social and emotional well-being.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ต ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ต๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด, ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ค ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ด ๐จ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ด ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐บ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฏ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ง๐ช๐ต ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฆ๐น๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฌ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด.
The programme also comes with the additional impact of providing leadership and development opportunities to the older or near-peer youth who serve in the mentoring role.
The support of parents and teachers is undoubtedly vital for the success of our learners. However, ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฉ ๐๐ช๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐ค๐ข ๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ก๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐๐ง๐ ๐๐ก๐ค๐จ๐๐ง ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐๐จ ๐ค๐๐ฉ๐๐ฃ ๐ค๐ซ๐๐ง๐ก๐ค๐ค๐ ๐๐ – in fact, peer mentoring has been shown to lead to improved attitude to school, attendance and behaviour. It can also help learners to build up a peer network within their school, causing more holistic benefits such as a sense of community and belonging.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐น๐น ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐ฎ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐ฑ, ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐น๐น๐ผ๐๐: Muhammad Ahmed, Josh Arends, Masixole Bhayi, Amber Bezuidenhout, Anรจbel Norval, Katelyn Trollip, Samantha Charles, Ashley Shell, Anna Bouwer, Yaseen Kazi, Liso Booi, Ben Lemke, Jemae-Mari Davids, Rebecca Copeman, Misha Newton, Mecoli Vorster, Leigh-Ann Murray, Athayanda Mahlati, Alexander Neill, Olwethu Madikane, Kenza Neill, Erin Gedult, Jayden Eiman, Tristan Hulleman, Shaakir Kazi, Sarah Jacobs, Aaminah Steele, Zephaniah Kallies, Tara Ferreira, Henk Homveld, Matthew Oosthuizen, Megan Nortje, Milani Pongoma, Ndodana Speelman, Xavier Barlow and Farronique Booysen.
