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10/04/2012

Fiji, Yasawa Hub Achievement Report

Tutorial Programme at Ratu Meli School

At the end of the 2011 academic year GVI Fiji volunteers began evaluating the individual

needs of the pupils at Ratu Meli Memorial School in preparation for implementing a one-on-

one tuition programme. The aim was to improve the literacy levels and confidence of those

pupils who needed additional

support.

RMMS is a government run school

on the island of Nacula in the

Yasawa island chain with 116 pupilsbetween the ages of 5-14 years old.

The school has poor literacy pass

rates and previously insufficient

resources to offer individual

support. As of March 2012 the one-

on-one programme introduced by

GVI is now successfully integrated

into the daily routine at RMMS. In

addition to classroom assistance,

volunteers are now providing 20-30

minute tuition sessions which are

tailor-made to meet the individual

needs of the pupils.

The programme currently offers

daily support to 22 pupils at RMMS,

which is almost one fifth of the

school. Additionally, the Fijian

teachers are following GVIs

example and have initiated one-on-

one sessions of their own. For theInfant classes (age 5-9) sessions have focused on improving phonics, as well as enhancing

reading confidence and English vocabulary. In 2011 only 55% of the Junior classes (age 10-

14) passed English comprehension therefore, with a little help from Roald Dahl, volunteers

have been targeting this area in their one-on-one sessions.

Volunteers are able to closely evaluate the progress of individuals and in the last month we

have seen two pupils moved off the programme as their English aptitude has improved to

the point that they no longer require additional support. One of these pupils, Sela, joined

Grade 1 in January 2012, however due to long absences during Kindergarten he was less

prepared than his peers. He was unable to complete basic pen control tasks and could not

trace any letters of the alphabet. After 6 weeks of daily sessions focusing on these core skills

Sela is now able to transcribe the entire alphabet in upper and lower case. The one-on-one

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sessions have enabled Sela to catch up with the rest of his class early on in the academic

year and he will no longer have a disadvantage moving forward.

The second pupil of note is Susanna, she is a Grade 5 pupil who initially lacked confidence inEnglish reading and as a result she was extremely shy in class. During one-on-one sessions

the volunteer working with Susanna began with intensive reading practice and then moved

onto creative writing. As a result of the one-on-one sessions Susanna is now confident

reading aloud to volunteers and in front of the class which means she has become more

interactive during lessons.

The improvement observed across the programme as a whole, has demonstrated that the one-on-

one programme has been a valuable addition to Ratu Meli Schools education program. Overall the

feedback from teachers and volunteers suggests that all pupils on the programme have

unquestionably benefitted from one-on-one tuition. Moving forward we hope to build on this early

success, continuing to expand and develop the programme with the support of the teachers and

volunteers at RMMS.

I have two pupils receiving one-on-one help in my class, Sela and Temo, and it has really helped

them to improve their writing and blending. Next term I hope to be able to place more pupils on the

one-on-one programme, its a big help for me when Im teaching class 1 to read in English.

Miss Laisani, Class 1 teacher RMMS

If you would like to read more about this project please visit our website:

http://www.gvi.co.uk/programs/volunteer-children-fiji

http://www.gvi.co.uk/programs/volunteer-children-fijihttp://www.gvi.co.uk/programs/volunteer-children-fijihttp://www.gvi.co.uk/programs/volunteer-children-fiji