Fourth Activity

“The purpose of this activity is to find out more about what we have in common”

Start with a round of names. “I am Stuart and I love cake”

Then:

The group work together, or in threes. Give them these instructions:

By talking, you need to find out ten things you have in common (they must be unusual things, not just eyes and hair, so choose things like relatives living abroad, where you went for your holidays)
Every time you find something you have in common, you all shout “yes”
When you’ve got ten you shout “yes,yes,yes”

As usual, bring them back together and ask them to share what they have discovered. Instead of hands up, point to or, better still, name the one you want to speak.

Half term

There will not be a session with your mentees on the first Wednesday back. This session will be dedicated to paired reading and Mrs Williams will organise it.
On Thursday 1st November I will meet you to pass on the notes for the following Wednesday, so you can enjoy your half term, knowing you have a week to spare.
There are some very interesting Anti-Bullying days coming up, with school workshops being planned. You will obviously be involved in these, so keep your eyes and ears open for more information.

Buddy Stop is Buzzing

To all mentors.
The Buddy Stop mentors are always looking for ways to improve what they do. At a recent meeting they devised a set of rules to help them stay focussed. Jess gave me permission to print the rules here: I thought you might be interested. (You may have to ask them what some of these mean)

• No clapping in meetings
• If you dis. anyone we get two days off that month
• Don't tell ANY friends about Buddy Stop
• Buddy Stop has to be run every day with two people on it
• Chart
• Do not involve FRIENDS in Buddy Stop, getting in the way, waiting for you, etc. It wastes time. Tell the friends you have got Buddy Stop
• Break a rule - get a day taken off that month
• Mature a lot

They really seem to be trying new ways to make it work, and have already made some good decisions and helped younger pupils, not just in year five. Well done, Buddystoppers, and keep going everybody.

Third Activity

(Mr Kirton will provide the "postcards")

“THE PURPOSE OF THIS ACTIVITY IS TO THINK ABOUT FRIENDSHIP AND FIND OUT MORE ABOUT EACH OTHER”

Warm up by checking that they all know each other’s names.
1. ASK MENTEES IF THEY HAVE SEEN POSTCARDS IN NEWSAGENTS WINDOWS OR IN SUPERMARKETS WHICH ADVERTISE THINGS FOR SALE: BIKES, CARS, PRAMS, ETC.
Remind them that the person selling the item will mention all the good points about the item. (if you can, show them an example which you have made)
Ask them to think about selling themselves as a friend, concentrating on their positive qualities.

2. Give them each a postcard sized piece of paper and get them to write an advert about themselves. (They must do it in secret and not mention their name) 5 minutes
When they have finished, collect in the ‘postcards’ and shuffle them.
3. You then read the adverts aloud and ask the others in the group to guess who the advert is about. The advertiser should not give themselves away. Wrong guesses are as useful as right ones.

When all cards have been read, go back over some of the information given. Ask:
“who remembers the one who’s got a pony?”
“tell me something you have learned about Sally.”
“tell me about David’s good points”
“is it easy/hard to think about your good qualities?”