Rationale for the Mentor Programme
• Research on school belonging finds teacher support is one of the most important factors in building a sense of belonging at school [Allen, Vella-Brodrick, Hattie, 2016). Belonging in turn is associated with well-being and with engagement.
• Positive Education/well-being is best taught in schools in a contextualised manner. Working with students individually or in small groups allows the learning to be contextualised more easily and effectively (Ciarrochi, Atkins, Hayes, Sahndra, Parker, 2016).
Purpose of Mentor Programme
• Actively track and support student holistic progress and respond to issues with teachers and parents
• Build a supportive relationship with students – be a significant adult in their lives.
The Mentor Role
• Track student progress in academics, extracurricular, and well-being
• Build a supportive relationship with students – be a significant adult in their lives
• Build effective relationship with student’s parents acting as the first KC contact for that student
• Supporting student’s self-knowledge, well-being and progress through KC
• Refer on for issues beyond your competence in areas of career advice, mental health, family, discipline or other staff related issues.
Goals
• A clear mentoring programme in place [that programme will develop and change over time]
• Mentoring booklet produced
• Resources on School Box
• Mentor Group acts as advocates for the programme in the wider school
• House Masters in the Mentor Group each establish a buddy relationship with a HM who is not in the group to support and share information
• The Mentor Group organises/runs a series of 20-minute sessions for staff on specific mentoring topics.
• There is a calendar of mentoring training and PD that runs through the year.
