John Bishop, Evolve Social Impact

We are always looking for new and exciting ways for our Health Mentors to support pupils within schools. One programme that we are very excited about using further in 2015 is Night Zookeeper.

The Night Zookeeper is based around a popular children's story. Children that experience the project are invited in to a world of endless possibilities where elephants can travel in time and flamingos have magical healing features. The story stimulates imaginations and encourages children to express themselves and celebrate their creativity.

Many of our Health Mentors have been using Night Zookeeper during guided reading sessions to help improve pupils’ reading, writing and creative thinking skills. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive from pupils and Health Mentors alike. Pupils enjoy the opportunity to think differently in a fictional world where normal boundaries do not exist. Health Mentors also attribute the high levels of engagement to the animations used and different media platforms that are available to enhance the experience.

Kat Watkin is a Certified Health Mentor working in Coventry who used Night Zookeeper twice per week during the autumn term with a group of three pupils who needed additional support with their reading and comprehension. The guided reading sessions lasted half an hour and the reading age of all pupils improved over the six week intervention period. Furthermore, the pupils’ progress continued during the second half of the Autumn term after the extra sessions had come to an end.

When evaluating her experience of using the Night Zookeeper programme, Kat said:

...All pupils thoroughly enjoyed Night Zookeeper and looked forward to both sessions each week. I had not seen these three pupils as motivated as this ever before and the impact on their reading age was significant. They are still asking me when we can visit the next chapter, almost two months after the sessions finished!...Kat Watkin, Certified Health Mentor, Coventry

A summary of the results referred to above can be found here.

The Night Zookeeper was recently featured in the Guardian, and the articles can be accessed via the following link - Night Zookeeper’s magical zoo offers kids a new way to create and play. The following quote is taken from the Night Zookeeper website and sums up why we are looking forward to developing our relationship with their team during the coming months:

...The impact of Night Zookeeper is clear, not only in pupil attitudes towards writing, but in their assessments. We have seen lower confidence writers much more willing to put pen to paper...Bill Lord, Headteacher, Long Sutton Primary School, Lincolnshire, UK

Find out more about Evolve and their latest work at www.projecthero.co.uk