My ReachOut Journey

Every week between 3.30–5.30pm, I mentor the same child in order to build a relationship with them. We work in a group of around 10 other year 5 students, each with their own mentor . All of us are managed by a project leader. For the first hour, I help my mentee with their Maths and English skills by completing an activity based on one of these subjects. Within this activity, it is not just about helping my mentor to improve their academic abilities; but also to work on their ‘character strengths’. This is with the aim that my mentor will develop their personality, which is important to start to do at this age.

Due to this being a charity in the education sector, I learnt several lessons about this type of organisation. One of these was that it is just as important for children to develop their personalities as it is for them to have an education. This was shown by focus on helping children to improve development in their character through their academic work and when engaging in other activities. I have learnt character is something which may be overlooked in mainstream education, due to the focus solely on children obtaining the grades to get to the next stage in life.

Therefore, I feel I have learnt that the charity sector is important for helping children who may not have help at home to develop these skills; and who are therefore at a disadvantage. This experience with ReachOut has taught me the importance of helping those who are disadvantaged, especially from such a young age,. This is crucial to mould children to be the adults which make our society.

Related posts:

To keep doing what you love, you need to maintain your own systems, not just the ones you write code for. Regular exercise and proper nutrition help you learn, remember, concentrate, and be creative--skills critical to doing your job well. Learn how to change your work habits, master exercises that make working at a computer mo

Passei o dia numa sexta-feira que não findava e chegando a locais sem entender bem como — porque apenas tinha que chegar — e o desnorteamento agravou a tontura que eu sentia há semanas. A alguns dias…

Odd thing. Coming to the realization that one doesn’t have to have physically given birth to children to have that primal instinct to protect them come alive.