ROGA Mentoring project
In 2011, COMPAS had developed a bespoke mentoring project called ROGA (Roma Of Great Abilities) that aims to motivate young Roma to access further education (Level 4 and above) and to develop useful skills that will enable them to take up front line jobs in teaching, law enforcement, NHS and other areas of public life.
ROGA is more than mentoring. It offers holistic approach to mentoring, raising aspiration, parental engagement, raising awareness and effectiveness and promoting community cohesion.
During the ROGA implementation, we work with all these stakeholders and offer the following services:
- Learners (those that require extra support in improving attendance or behaviour, but also those that are performing well and only need extra encouragement towards higher education)
- Parents (support, advice, encouragement)
- Teachers (CPD training)
- School management (support, training)
- Community led organisations and community leaders
- Public authorities (engagement with the Police, Council, NHS, Social Services etc)
- Organising international educational trips to raise awareness and to exchange good practices
Partnership with Queen Katherine Academy
Since 2018, COMPAS has been working with the Queen Katherine Academy (QKA) on supporting Roma pupils from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Romania.
We were able to implement the ROGA project and to provide bespoke mentoring to Roma students and support to their parents.
Daniel George Mihai provides support to Romanian Roma pupils, and Marko Strbak and Irena Strbakova support Czech and Slovak Roma students.
Gold award in Pearson National Teaching Awards 2021
The partnership between QKA and COMPAS and our work with the Roma pupils had been recognized in the way of The Award for Impact through Partnership - The Roma – Narrowing the Gap Team.