Our Aims
To provide school students with learning differences additional mentorship which will enable them to make the most of the educational opportunities at school. Our aim is to help them to fulfil their learning potential, bolster their self-esteem and build their confidence.
Creative Mentors will seek to:
- Raise awareness among staff who teach creative subjects about the implications of working with young people who process information differently.
- Introduce the staff to specialist teaching methods that help children with learning differences to engage and learn.
- Raise awareness about the possible advantages there are for people with learning differences involved in the arts, precisely because they have the ability to think in unpredictable and original ways.
- Provide encouragement for children with learning differences who have lost confidence in their ability, in both academic and creative subjects, because of their struggle with the school curriculum and the exam system.
- Provide role models who faced the same problems in their time at school but made their way through the system to educational and potential career success.
What We Do
We recruit postgraduates from art and design and music who all have an assessment of dyslexia and or dyspraxia. We then send them into one of our 6 partner schools where they work alongside the existing staff and provide additional help to students with specific learning disabilities (SpLDs). They also run lunch-time or afterschool clubs targeting these students.
We liaise carefully with the management and arts departments of our partner schools, making all the necessary arrangements for Creative Mentors to work successfully alongside teachers and support staff.
We visit our partner schools to record and document our work, gathering feedback from staff, pupils and Creative Mentors to learn what works well and how we can make it work better.
Individuals who have spent a year working as part of our team are able to apply for funding from CMF to run a one-off project aimed at increasing self confidence and enthusiasm for students with SpLDs.
Apply to run projects with Creative Mentors Foundation: