PUPILS on Portland undertook training to combat conflict and bullying on the 10th anniversary of their school’s mediator scheme.

A total of 16 youngsters from Royal Manor Arts College spent the day at the Community 2000 Hall in Easton to learn how to help new Year 7 students to settle in.

It was the second training event for the Year 10 mediators and they took part in role-play about how to deal with conflict resolution between students and learnt when to pass serious or difficult issues on to teachers.

Four mediators assist each Year 7 tutor group at Royal Manor in a ‘big brotherly or sisterly’ way from their induction day to the end of Year 8.

Mediator Tom McManus, 14, of Easton, said: “I wanted to get involved because when I came to the school I was quite nervous about it.

“It was so big I was worried about getting lost but I had among the best mediators in my class.

“They seemed really friendly and organised quizzes every Friday.

“I thought ‘I could do that, I could help someone out and make school a nicer experience for them.’”

Tom said problems ranged from pupils having no friends to lost books and added that the mediator training had also boosted his communication skills.

Mediator Molly Gordon, 14, of Weston said: “My class used to use our mediators quite a lot, it worked well.

“I like getting to make everything better if they don’t like school.

“We’ve only just really started the scheme and shown them around the college.

“We’re like a professional friend.”

Director of inclusion at the school Graeme Sawyer, who co-founded the scheme, said mentors were ‘like an older brother or sister the younger pupils can talk to’ but who know when to draw the line and pass on issues to a teacher.

He said: “It’s the 10th year we’ve done it, it’s very successful, all the results show bullying has dropped significantly since we started the scheme and continues to stay relatively low.

“When students come in they might be nervous and it’s good for them to see that Year 10s may be a lot bigger but they’re nice people they can talk to.”

The scheme has proved so popular that it has expanded to The Guided Reading Scheme, where Year 10s pair up with Year 7s to help with reading.

Headteacher Paul Green said: “We were the first school in the area to start up the mediation scheme.

“In a recent school survey, 99 per cent of students said they felt totally safe in school, which is virtually unheard of so it’s certainly been a successful scheme.”

He added that the latest reading initiative also helped to create a nice atmosphere in the school.