Bulletin

For the past couple of years, Union High School, Graaff-Reinet has been running a cross-age 𝗣𝗘𝗘𝗥 𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧𝗢𝗥𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗔𝗠𝗠𝗘 at the school to promote the learners’ physical, social and emotional well-being.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘱 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘱𝘴 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴.

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, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙜𝙪𝙞𝙙𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙖𝙙𝙫𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙥𝙚𝙤𝙥𝙡𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙖𝙜𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙨 𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙 – 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.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗯𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗼𝗹 𝗮𝘀 𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟱, 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝘀: Muhammad Ahmed, Josh Arends, Masixole Bhayi, Amber Bezuidenhout, Anèbel 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.