Olayinka joined us as an intercalating medical student, completing her masters in Women and Children’s Health. She joined as a method to gain some formal tutor experience and to provide some stimulation to her quarantine life at the time.
We asked her to share more about her experience tutoring with Team Up:
“I really enjoyed getting to know the young people and really trying to challenge them. I enjoy it when I can congratulate them for getting something right and actively push them to harder feats.”
This year I worked predominantly with the Notre Dame Girls, who have been both a joy to work with and incredibly hard working when challenged. They are always giggling but their work ethic can not be disputed, and this dynamic has helped our sessions be both relaxed in nature as well as educational. Working with Lambeth has been a similar experience, and the students have been very well behaved and readily interact during the session - being very open about what they do and do not know.
The support from the Programme Manager (PM) has probably been the most effective tool at Team Up, in addition to the premade teaching plans. The PM’s observations have helped me to make changes to my teaching which help to enforce and better the standard of my tuition. One such example was a comment I made in a PRR (performance review report) about distraction in our session due to location, which was immediately addressed by the PM in following sessions.
I have enjoyed getting to know my Programme Manager, and the experience has really reinforced how I feel about teaching. It has also encouraged me to think about avenues in which I can use this experience towards my current life goals.
I would definitely recommend Team Up to other volunteers especially since, in addition to the personal benefits that can be gained during the programme, the biggest highlight is without a doubt interacting with the young people and helping them to achieve their targets - putting them one more step in the right direction.
On behalf of the Team Up team and pupils, we say: Thank you Olayinka!