This week the Year 12 Mentors took part in an enrichment day workshop with Miss Salway and Isle Listen. The Mentors undertook their initial training to become a mentor in September and October last year and have volunteered to help Year 10 students as part of the scheme, by meeting with their Year 10 student weekly and setting/reviewing targets. The Enrichment Day was an opportunity to reflect on their experiences so far with mentoring and to evaluate their developing skill set.
As part of the workshop, Miss Salway began with a time of reflection on their experiences and possible solutions. This was followed by Steven Downward and George Blackwell from Isle Listen who ran two sessions: “Understanding your role” and “Supportive Listening”. The mentors worked through a number of discussion scenarios in groups to decide on the most appropriate course of action. The mentors were encouraged to consider their own boundaries, signposting, confidentiality and safeguarding. In the next part of the session with Isle Listen, the mentors considered the impact of non-verbal communication, the importance of supportive listening and tips on how to make the mentoring process easier.
The Enrichment morning was rounded off with the mentors setting targets for themselves following what they gleaned from the workshop. SNHS would like to thank Ste and George from Isle Listen for running part of the enrichment workshop. The mentors who took part enjoyed the advice and input from Isle Listen and found the day to be engaging, with one Y12 Mentor commenting that they found the day “very useful and would definitely recommend it be done again”.
Going forward, the mentors have some time this summer term to continue to build on relationships with their mentees and to continue to develop their skills.
Many thanks to Miss Salway for co-ordinating the mentoring programme and arranging such a useful day.