e-pals win for Wembley

6 October 2004

Pupils from Kilburn Park School Foundation with their teacher Helen McGilloway and mentors from Wembley National Stadium Limited

From January this year each child has had access to a mentor from Wembley National Stadium Limited and a computer. The children were asked to do a project on what interested them most about the stadium, ranging from the historic Live Aid concert to the engineering required for the new stadium and have been emailing their mentors every week to ask questions on the project and get input for their projects.

Ashish Sharma, WNSL’s Accountant and one of the mentors on the project said:

"We are delighted to have been involved in the E-mentoring project with pupils from Kilburn Park school. The partnership has been made fun by the real enthusiasm that both teachers and pupils have shown for the initiative. WNSL staff involved in the scheme come from a diverse range of disciplines from Marketing to Accountancy and its been a challenge, albeit an enjoyable one, to explain the many aspects of the Wembley Stadium project in a coherent and interesting way. At WNSL we understand the importance of interacting with the local community, of which we feel an inherent part, and are delighted to be have been involved in a scheme that encourages local school pupils to develop their skills while at the same time gain an understanding of one of the biggest developments in London today."

Pupils from the school made a presentation to their mentors on Wednesday this week and shared what they’d learnt from the e-mentoring initiative.

Kamal, a pupil at Kilburn Park School told his mentor: “I really enjoyed emailing you. Wednesday’s became my best day at school. Emailing definitely improved my spelling and my confidence in writing to people.” Whilst Kelsey, a big Liverpool supporter, but who admits her favorite player is David Beckham, said that the project “improved my literacy and typing skills”

Seyed-Ali, another pupil at the school said: “Before this project I had never e-mailed anyone. E-mailing is much more fun than writing a letter and it amazes me how quickly you can get a response. My spellings improved and I also became more confident using the computer.”  

Pupils from Kilburn Park School Foundation with their teacher Helen McGilloway

Helen McGilloway, a Year 5 teacher at the school was full of praise for the initiative, she commented: "The input from the Wembley Stadium staff has been invaluable for the e-mentoring initiative and they have managed to enthuse the children and give them a real insight into the stadium’s rich heritage and exciting future. Wednesday’s became the children’s favorite day at school because that was when they would open and respond to emails. It has been a really fun way to help the children improve on their spelling, literacy and IT skills and has also taught the children how to plan and research a project. Visiting the Wembley National Stadium Limited's offices was a real treat for the kids, as from the offices they were able to see brilliant views of the stadium under construction."

The E-Mentoring Programme has been facilitated by North West London Education Business Partnership, which facilitates education business links to ensure young people are well prepared and motivated for the world of work. The London Accord has funded security software specially developed for e-mentoring with schools. All e-mail addresses are encrypted and certain words are deleted. The messages were able to be monitored at four stages and the school co-ordinator able to support the children in developing their language and ICT skills.

If your business or school would like to take part in e-pals, contact Jayne Llewelyn at NWL EBP tel: 020 8937 6284