All about YSIS

York Students In Schools (YSIS) co-ordinates all school based volunteering at The University of York.

YSIS incorporates the highly successful Student Tutoring Programme along with student mentoring and other learning support schemes.

Read on to find out more about:

• Why we run YSIS
• Who benefits?
• What makes us special?
• Our goals for the future
• Organisations we work with
• History, management and funding

Why we run YSIS

Many children have low academic aspirations, fail to reach their potential and leave education at the earliest opportunity. Teachers are often unable to give sufficient individual attention to children to address the problem. Students can support teachers in the classroom by working with individual children or with groups to stimulate their interest, to motivate them to learn, to raise their aspirations and achievement, and to provide appropriate role models.

We aim to:

• Help school students by introducing volunteers into schools to provide support for the classroom teacher.
• Help children who are not realising their potential in school to raise their achievements and aspirations.
• Provide opportunities for volunteers to become involved in their community
• Introduce children who do not come from families with higher education experience to University life, thus supporting the Government’s commitment to Widening Participation.

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Who benefits?

• School students who have learning difficulties
• School students who are very able
• All school students– and their families
• Teachers
• Students
• Schools
• The University

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What makes us special?

Patrick Scott, the Director of Education for York, has said of YSIS:

• Students are doing work that only they can do - work that can only be done through volunteering
• They are like older brothers and sisters rather than another set of adults

• Students are still in the education system and are role models of people who want to be successful
• They are concerned about how well they will do in exams, how to make friends, how to be independent while still relying on parents

• Students speak directly to young people and make university an attractive option - they also benefit themselves in terms of personal development
• Students discover what they want to do with their lives and gain a sense of purpose beyond their degree work
• They connect with society in ways that give meaning to their lives and help schools and the LEA by giving another pair of hands – doing the impossible!

• "How can you meet so many objectives in a single scheme?"

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Our goals for the future

• Give all schools as many student tutors and mentors as they ask for
• Support schools further away from the University
• Find more funding to enable us to do this
• Look for specific new areas for support, for example disaffected male school students
• Develop existing programmes further

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Organisations we work with

YSIS is based in The University of York and works closely with the City of York Council, Community Service Volunteers (CSV) and North Yorkshire Business and Education Partnership (NYBEP).

YSIS is part of the Admissions and UK/EU Student Recruitment of the University and works alongside Community and Volunteering Unit and the York Award to provide opportunities for student development and volunteering.

Community Service Volunteers

CSV Learning Together was set up in 1991 to promote and support Student Tutoring within universities and colleges nationwide. The Student Tutoring programme which CSV and its partners launched in 1993 in 15 universities now runs in nearly 200 UK higher and further education institutions. There are also links to other similar programmes across the world.

The YSIS Student Tutoring Programme is based on CSV principles and on the original model of one half day per week for ten weeks, although the model is often modified to accommodate the wishes of particular schools.

Yorkshire Forum

Student tutoring coordinators from all the universities in Yorkshire meet once a term to exchange ideas and to discuss any problems or successes. A representative from Community Service Volunteers attends the meetings and brings welcome input to the discussions.

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History, management and funding

Student Tutoring in York originated from a student initiative in 1994, although initially some schools were uncertain of the idea. Once it was realised that the volunteers were enthusiastic and very able with expertise in many useful areas and - above all - completely reliable, they were welcomed with open arms and there is now a huge demand from the schools.

As the project grew it became necessary to have adequate management, to have a permanent coordinator and eventually to pay for a fraction of the time spent running the scheme. In addition to local sponsorship, financial support from the City of York Council and the University have now been achieved. The scheme is, however, still dependent on the voluntary efforts of students and University and school staff.

Steering Committee

YSIS is managed by a full-time manager, Louise Needham, supported by a Steering Committee incorporating a representative from the LEA, secondary and primary school teachers and University staff. Student volunteers with tutoring experience play a very active role in management as Student Managers and are also part of the YSIS Steering Committee.

Student Management Group (SMG)

Every week a group of students gets together to discuss YSIS. These students, known as the SMG provide a direct link between the schools and the office and help in everything from recruiting and training, to running the web site and preparing newsletters. They also take 2 hour shifts to man the office and ensure that someone is there to welcome visitors and answer questions for at least four hours each day. Their help is absolutely vital to the success of the programme.

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