About the School:

George Green's School is a voluntary controlled, mixed comprehensive situated on the Isle of Dogs. The school is multicultural, multi-lingual and multi faith. Ethnically the school is made up of 50% white ESW and 30% Bangladeshi. The remaining 20% is comprised of Chinese, Somali, Afro-Caribbean and other African. There are an equal number of boys and girls. 100 pupils have a Statement of Special Educational Need and 250 additional pupils have been identified as having Special Educational Needs. George Green's has an attendance of 91%. It is a very popular school and has been oversubscribed for the last 6 years.

Features of the Area:

The London Borough of Tower Hamlets has a culturally and ethnically diverse population of approximately 160,000 inhabitants. Recent socio-economic analyses have identified Tower Hamlets as one of the poorest authorities in the country, although Docklands and Canary Wharf developments highlight the dramatic contrast that can exist in the Borough between areas of wealth and poverty. One in three homes has no wage earner, half of all homes receive council tax benefits, and only 11 per cent of the population have higher education qualifications. Levels of adult literacy and numeracy are the lowest in the country. Seventy per cent of secondary school pupils are entitled to free school meals, a figure that is over three times the national average. The proportion of pupils for whom English is an additional language is the highest in the country, and a total of 78 community languages are spoken in schools. Although many pupils in Tower Hamlets suffer the consequences of poverty and poor housing, this does not mean that they have low educational aspirations. Their parents and their schools are usually ambitious for them and the majority are anxious to succeed.

Aim of the Project:

MV gives opportunities to many young people who would not have thought of volunteering before. It is a chance for young people to learn from each other and appreciate their diversity. What they do as a Millennium Volunteer means something to them and is in tune with their values and beliefs.

What can young people gain from Millennium Volunteers?

Not only is participating in MV fun, but it provides the chance to meet new friends from a wide range of backgrounds. It gives young people the opportunity to take responsibility for voluntary activities they choose and to gain new skills and experiences building on what they are already interested in. MV's have the flexibility to try different activities at the same time or one after another and broaden their experiences. Volunteering enables young people to gain a sense of accomplishment and personal satisfaction of achieving results and rewards of recognition. It helps young people acquire some of the "soft skills" employers' value, such as being able to work as a part of a team, problem solving, developing initiative. It helps them gain the necessary experience to advance in their chosen careers and aspirations. Millennium Volunteers is a primary part of lifelong learning, helping to develop key skills and improving employability. Many volunteers take up sports related training including among other things; first aid course Community Sports Leader Award; FA coaching etc. This training forms an essential part of the young peoples future by broadening their knowledge and skill base. MV is becoming increasingly recognised as something of value by colleges, university and employers in their selection and recruitment processes.

Benefits for the wider community:

Many of the activities the MVs are involved in are directly related to helping the community. The volunteers provide additional and wider support for the community. Many MVs volunteer their time in local Youth Clubs and helping younger children at sports clubs or art clubs during the school holidays. The young people bring fresh ideas and provide a unique contribution to their community. They help in promoting good community relations and encourage wider participation by local people. Organisations gain knowledge and skills from local volunteers and they help to raise awareness of the aims of the organisation in the community. MV aims to make available an appropriately trained and motivated workforce for the future.

Millennium Volunteers at George Green's School:

Millennium Volunteers @ Docklands is one of the many projects now running across the country and one of the largest in London. Although the project is based at George Green’s we provide a service to the whole community.

The MV Scheme has had an outstanding impact on George Green's School. The scheme is fully embedded into the school and is an expected part of daily activities within the Sixth Form and now this has extended to Yr 11. Volunteering, both within the school and with the local community, is central to the school’s ethos and its day to day running, rather than an incidental part of it. The project has allowed the young people to receive support and training in various fields of interest to them. This has led to volunteers finding employment in the School’s Island Sports Trust, as premises staff and office administrators. The volunteers are a key resource in the general running of Saturday school and the holiday programmes. They provide support to teachers in lesson preparation, teaching assistants and act as peer mentors for younger children in the school. Several volunteers received mediation training and have been working in primary schools delivering conflict resolution and mediation sessions.

We are motivated by the belief that working with the community raises standards of pupil achievement, it builds confidence and self esteem which can only have a positive effect on learning. It is a natural extension from the peer mentoring schemes and citizenship projects that run lower down the school. It shows these schemes actually lead somewhere.

A member of staff commented:

"MV provides essential opportunities for these young people. The training and experiences they receive provides substantial material for their CVs and life skills development. The placement could provide work opportunities but having had voluntary work duties on their CV can help them to secure paid employment in the future."

Bakari Baptiste, Omar Awuah and Warren Gordon Scott are in Sixth Form at George Green's School. The boys have been dancing for 5 years. It all started in year 9 during a P.E lesson when they were moved by a performance of professional dancers. They were so inspired that they decided to start their own dance group known as EMP (Electro Magnetic Pulse).

Since then they have been inventing their own original dance moves and improving their skills. They have became so passionate about dancing that on signing up to become Millennium Volunteers they decided to deliver a lunchtime dance club for other younger students. These dance sessions have become so popular that they now deliver extra sessions out of school hours.

Bakari says,

"It's a new experience for younger kids to have fun, get fit and enjoy themselves. It also keeps them off the streets after school."

The boys have participated in countless performances including one in front of Prince Philip at Mudchute Farm. Bakari has also appeared in a music video with the R'n'B/Garage divas "Misteeq".

Bakari says,

"I feel proud of myself and the others for doing something that we enjoy and being able to pass that on to others."

The future of Millennium Volunteers at George Green's School:

This year we have managed to renew the Millennium Volunteer contract for 2004–6 although there have been drastic cuts in funding. Over the next two years we plan to sign up 60 volunteers to complete 100 hours and 52 to receive the Millennium Volunteer Award of Excellence for 200 hours of volunteering service. We are very confident that these targets will be met.

Case Study Reference: Spring 04-002

For more information on this case study contact:

Stelia Bailey Quality in Study Support George Green's School Isle of Dogs London E14 3DW Tel: 020 7987 6032

Quality in Study Support CELSI Salomons Southborough Tunbridge Wells TN3 0TG Tel: 01892 507657

QiSS Case Study Series – Summer 2004
GEORGE GREEN'S SCHOOL, TOWER HAMLETS MILLENNIUM VOLUNTEER PROJECT
Number of Pupils on roll: 1250 pupils and 210 in the Sixth Form
Age Range: 11–19
Status: Mixed Comprehensive
Location: Inner City
Free School Meals Entitlement: 60%
SEN Register: 85 pupils