So much to celebrate - Bishop Thomas Grant School

Elephants stick together
In November, Peer mentors Amy Dutch
and Isabella Perales were part of a
team which interviewed MP Angela
Smith, who is Minister of State for the
Third Sector. She was asked about her
own experiences of mentoring and
befriending.
Her response was: “I have seen the
difference mentors and befrienders
make within communities.
It helps people in so many different ways
– most importantly by giving people
new confidence and new strength. With
mentoring and befriending you can
really turn lives around and make a huge
difference.”
“She was more nervous than we were,”
Amy told Nuntius. “At one stage in
the interview, which was done
along with two peer mentors
from another school, we
asked her how she would
sum up the point of
mentoring in just
two words.
She chose the two words ‘empathy’ and
‘understanding’, and these were stuck on
to the elephant.
Everyone then stuck on their chosen
words, which included ‘motivating’ and
‘life line’.”
Isobella added, “We were photographed
with an elephant, which was part of a
kind of herd of sculptures.
There were fifteen of them, with names
like Rainbow, Billy and Stomp.
They were created in schools across
England and helped to launch Anti-
Bullying Week. We were at the
National Conference of the Mentoring
and Befriending Foundation.
Elephants were used because they stick
together when threatened.”
More than two hundred and fifty
mentoring and befriending policy
makers, funders, practitioners,
commissioners and leaders attended the
conference.
The national art exhibition ‘An Elephant
in the Room’ was at the London Zoo
throughout Anti-Bullying Week.
Prepare for News Day
BBC News School Report is a project
which helps teenagers across the UK
to make and broadcast news. Students
get the opportunity to develop their
journalistic skills using resources which
are available on the School Report
website at
www.bbc.co.uk/schoolreport
In March each year, the BBC runs a
UK-wide News Day when all student
reports will be published on websites and
simultaneously linked to the BBC.
Headteacher: Mr L Desa BSc
Bishop Thomas Grant School,
Belltrees Grove, London, SW16 2HY
The project will help those taking part
with the knowledge and skills they need
in many subjects including Citizenship,
Drama, English and Geography.
The main aim, of course, is to interest
young people in news of all sorts. It is also
an opportunity for students to inform a
real audience, via BBC programmes and
web pages, about the stories which are
important to them.
For further information, see Ms Turvey.
Telephone 020 8769 3294 Fax 020 8769 4917
website: www.btg-secondary.lambeth.sch.uk
Email: headteacher@btg-secondary.lambeth.sch.uk
Edited and produced by Richard Wilcocks. Enquiries to Meerkat Publications and Design 07940 476455
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