Counselling Mentors

A group of year 12 students participated in training on how to be a pastoral mentor to younger students. The training included how to communicate positively, being an effective listener, an introduction to safeguarding, the power of being a mentor and practical tips on running a mentor session. These sixth formers were then assigned a suitable year 7 or 8 student mentee - identified through the school’s pastoral team - who would benefit from a positive role model and regular contact in school. Students identified are mostly those struggling with anxiety/transition anxiety/friendship issues.

Sixth formers and their mentee met for 6 consecutive weeks for half hour sessions during the day – sessions include positive conversation, reflective questions and games. All the sessions were supervised/overseen by the Sanctuary Team in the Sanctuary.  All the mentoring relationships have been a success, with every mentee and mentor choosing to continuing on a fortnightly basis until next reviewed at Easter.

Evaluations show:

100% of mentees agreed that mentoring has improved their confidence in school.

100% of mentees agreed that it helped them feel listened to.

100% agreed that they found the mentoring programme helpful for their mental health and wellbeing.

100% of mentees would recommend a sixth form mentor to other students.

Additional student comments:

‘I’ve always been shy but this has helped build my confidence.’

‘Mentoring has helped me get my mind off things and make friends at school.’

‘Mentoring has helped me have less worries about school, someone to rely on and speak to.’