Mansfield Year 9 Community service

Tech help for over 55’s

On Thursday Year 9 students participated in a Mansfield Council initiative that saw students mentor and teach IT skills and internet navigation to older Mansfield residents at the local Youth Centre. Students prepared for the session with initiatives coordinator Bianca Shearan, training how to communicate effectively with people across generations and express ideas in metaphors to be easily understood by people of an older generation. The Year 9 cohort also completed an online, government module so that they could be COVID-19 safe whilst working with their mentees. Students were initially tentative approaching the session but were quick to enjoy the company of their mentees and share their knowledge of technology. One very happy participant exclaimed she had learnt more in her two-hour session with her mentor, than previously in a 10-week computing course. 

– Suzanne Van Wyk (Secondary Coordinator)