With A Little Help From Our Friends: MVA Students Take the Lead on School Support Initiatives
This academic year has gotten off to a roaring start at MVA, with a cohort of enthusiastic, motivated, and passionate students dedicated to getting the absolute most out of their education.
This has been especially clear in Year 9, which has a team of students launch the Year 9 Leadership Group, working to enrich the overall student experience and strengthen the community through applying their individual skills and specialities.
The Leadership Group covers a range of responsibilities through 9 (I'm not sure if that was intentional or just a fantastic coincidence) sub-teams that each tackle a particular mission:
Assembly A-Team
This squad of four has been working hard to shape Year 9 Assemblies, working towards entirely designing and presenting one next month with support from faculty.
Through this, the team hopes to hone in on issues that really matter to the yeargroup, and to inspire further conversation and engagement among their peers.
Challenger Crew
The Challenger Crew is tasked with creating, running and managing challenges, activities and competitions for the year. The group has already run multiple Assembly starter activities for students to engage with while the virtual 'hall' fills up, and are currently working on a Halloween-themed baking competition.
Speak Squad
The Speak Squad is hoping to amplify the Student Voice within Year 9. They run a dedicated discussion space where classmates can bring forward ideas, feedback, issues and challenges.
The group then works through these issues together, before bringing them to the faculty leadership where action can be taken if needed, ideally creating a better student experience for all.
Study Pals
Making their home in MVA's Social Rooms, the Study Pals are a group of students offering peer-to-peer support in English, Maths and Science, as well as more general study skills and learning support, as well as encouraging students to further support one another beyond the sessions themselves.
Peer Pals
The Peer Pals are the dedicated welcoming committee, working to support and embrace new students as they settle into the MVA system and community. This is a particularly crucial role, as students come to us throughout the school year, and it's not uncommon for these new starters to have just come through some kind of stressful or traumatic experience.
Starting at a new school is hard enough. But if you've also just come off the back of months or even years of negative experiences with the education system, it's more than just making new friends. It's about rebuilding confidence, trust, and belief that things will actually work out.
Today, the Peer Pals are launching 'Fluffy Tea', an informal meeting where new students can meet, ask questions, make initial connections and (giving the event its name) introduce their pets, if they have them.
Minerva Mentors
In a similar vein, the Minerva Mentors are aimed at supporting younger students at MVA. Working in conjunction with Pastoral Staff, the team will be making themselves available to students in Years 7 and 8 who may benefit from guidance or support from an older schoolmate who has been in their shoes.
This is also intended to further integrate the wider Minerva community across yeargroups, giving younger students friends and role models to look to, and up to, for help.
Tech Trailblazer
The Tech Trailblazer stands out by being a single student with a particular knack for the digital landscape. He is running a discussion space where students can come to him with tech issues of all kinds, from accessing emails to using our Virtual Learning Platform.
For more complex or structural issues, he also works directly with the school Operations Team to report and troubleshoot problems.
Wellness Wizard
Our Wellness Wizard is also a solo role. She is working on all things wellness, dropping into Fluffy Tea sessions, providing wellbeing tips in Assembly, and building a Wellbeing Booklet for students looking for guidance on how to better look after themselves through healthy routines and positive actions.
Student Scoop
As part of the wider KS3 student magazine, the Student Scoop team will be representing Year 9 in the MVA press, whipping up student-led content to engage, inspire, and celebrate the incredible cohort of students at our school, all over the world.
It's no secret that student socialisation and interaction works differently in an online environment. But that doesn't mean it doesn't work.
Initiatives like this are just one way (of many!) in which the thriving MVA community is nurtured and empowered, giving students themselves the tools and spaces to connect, cooperate, and support one another.
Well done to all involved.
