Young Reporter: Community of Schools Ruquaiyah Kuvawalla Tiffin Girls’

The commencement of the Autumn term brings exciting new opportunities and ventures to the hustle and bustle of Tiffin Girls’ School life. With new clubs and activities to try their hand at, new competitions to get involved with and new sheets of homework to get cracking on, students have a lot on their mind. For Year 10 pupils, especially, comes the chance to partake in a new initiative, designed to help expand their horizons, become more independent and connect with other groups within their local community. 

Year 10 Pastoral Outreach is a programme consisting of students visiting local primary schools to offer literacy and numeracy support to Year 5 pupils. Though Tiffin Girls have participated in outreach projects many times over the years, this programme in particular is a relatively new one, only having been run previously for a year or so. 

Following a short interview with Ms Taylor, the member of staff managing the initiative, I was able to gauge a multitude of skills students will be able to develop throughout the programme, from enhancing their ability to communicate with younger children to participating in the growth of their wider community. Working with others in this way, especially younger children, allows students to become more understanding towards others and become more independent in solving problems and expressing themselves. As a part of the bigger experience, many students will find themselves navigating to the schools themselves, becoming more independent and getting to know the local community.

Ms Taylor reported that feedback from the primary schools was extremely positive and that the younger pupils  “really enjoy” the experience and are “excited for an older person to come and work with them”. And it seems they aren’t the only ones who feel this way: “I loved the outreach this week,” Year 10 student Nithya told me. “I think it was a good opportunity for both me and the kids as it grew my confidence and hopefully helped the Year 5s with their maths skills.”

Community is one of the 3 main visions and values we, at Tiffin Girls’ School strive to uphold and outreach projects such as these are really important as they allow our school to extend our hands and hearts and give back to the local community, supporting areas around us and continuing to grow as “outward-thinking individuals”.