Vertical Mentor Groups - is your child in one of these instead of a same year form group? What are your thoughts about it?

[MadreInglese]

DD is year 6 and we have begun the rounds of secondary school open nights. The head of the school we visited last night was really promoting their Vertical Mentor Groups, which I'd never heard of before.

Do any of your DCs attend a school that have these too? What do you think and how do they find it, is it beneficial to them?

If you don't know (I didn't) vertical mentor groups are where instead of a form group of 30 year 7 kids the form groups are made up of a mixture from years 7 to 13 - from what I could gather last night the main idea being that they will support those in years below them and get advice from those in years above them.

It's not anything new as my DH's school used verticle mentoring over 30 years ago. My DH always said it worked well and was surprised more schools didn't use it. From various other forums I think it is becomming more common practise now.

That's interesting christy, where did your dh go to school?

It was a boys state school in South London

My dd1 has just started a secondary school where they do this. She has made the transition well and is really enjoying the all the new experiences there. All seems good at the moment anyway.

At the dcs school they do vertical tutoring for years 10,11,12 & 13 but in year groups below that (no idea why). So ds has just joined one but dd is in a year group form. Was very impressed when ds's tutor had a long chat with us at recent speech day & then realised he actually only had 3 or 4 sets of parents to meet and introduce himself to - so I think it works really well from the point of view of getting to know the children quickly & well and it's quite nice for the children to have the chance to meet some of the older (and later younger) ones too.

good to hear positive things then

DD's High school has just started doing this. She's in Yr7 there are 3 pupils from each year ( 7-11) so 15 per class. Her form tutor rang at the beginning of the second week to say she was settling in well which was nice to find out. With the vertical tutoring we will have 2 tutorial sessions a year lasting an hour with her form tutor to look at how well she is or isn't doing set tarets etc. Plus the more traditional parents evening to see all course tutors. Plus termly progress reoprts and a more formal report at the end of the year.

DD has found it to be a positive xperience so far especially in the first weeks -she was adopted by a Yr8 who showed her where to go for some of her lessons plus called her over on the first day in the canteen.

From my point of view I like the fact the form groups are smaller so her tutor will know them better. Plus when it comes to choosing options etc DD will know children in the higher yr groups and be able to get their stance on things.

We have vertical form groups at the school where I work and I can't stand it. But I've never worked in a school without them so I can't compare.

Advantages
Older students can show yr7s the ropes and help them settle in
Older students can be positive role models for younger ones
Form tutors do not have a massive burden for yr11 mentoring or yr7 settling in or whatever, because they only have 6 or so of each year group.
You are less likely to get 'gang mentality' developing within yr groups, because cross-school friendships can flourish.

Disadvantages
Older students can be a negative influence on younger ones:

• teaching them early how to wear the uniform sloppily
• letting them know it's not cool to read, work hard, behave, whatever .. It is an admin nightmare to try and get information to students because every form teacher has to give out every notice rather than just those for that yr group. So some form teachers forget/can't be bothered, and for others they don't have the time to really push it/explain the opportunity to the yr9s or whatever because there is so much else to deal with.

I know my list of advantages is longer, but I really don't like them. It depends I think a lot on what the ethos of the school is like and how likely it is that older students will be a positive, rather than a negative influence.

ds1's school has traditional form groups (mixed ability) and this term he actually has all lessons in this form group as well. (They do a major re-structuring and setting activity after Christmas.) Obviously there are some scallies in his form and being with them all day every day for 4 months may get a bit wearing, but so far I don't have a problem with this system.

admin is dreadful for the staff

I've worked with both systems and my current school has vertical house systems. Overall, I prefer it, although it is more difficult with staff admin.

I've found behaviour in the registration times is much better and you get less of the silly in-fighting that I've had before with pupils of the same age. The younger ones seem to mature much quicker and the older ones (imo) 'up their game' a bit and realise that they are now seen as 'mentors' to the younger ones. It was LOVELY at the end of the summer term seeing the Year 11s leaving, giving their Y7 and Y8 classmates hugs saying "Make sure you do well" as the younger ones were crying. awwwwww!

Speaking to my friend's son who started Y7 last year, he said he found it comforting knowing a number of much older kids as he walked arund the school: it made a world of difference being able to say 'hello' to them and made him feel like he belonged. He loved it when the older ones said things like 'I like your hair mate'