 |
Anyone undergoing personal difficulties may feel the need to share these issues with someone. Mentors offer this service and whilst they work within schools, they are independent and non authoritarian adults who are interested in helping. The benefits of mentoring are long term and clear after months rather than weeks, particularly with those pupils who display more challenging behaviour in the classroom. However the rewards are there for Mentor and Mentee alike. Following a recent survey of Year 11 leavers at Bewdley High School one of the pupils commented, “My mentor was brilliant, she has changed my school life so much that without her I don’t think I would have coped with the last few months of school.” A Teaching Assistant at Bewdley High School recently wrote, “I have worked with pupils who have been supported by Mentor Link from years nine to eleven . I can say that I have witnessed at first hand the vast improvement in behaviour of these pupils during this time, and definitely attribute some of this to the positive, calming counselling offered by the various mentors you work with. I have seen troubled, withdrawn or aggressive teenagers turn their behaviour around to be more conscientious students,…and witnessed them literally clock watching, keen to meet up for their session. By the nature of the pupils elected for a mentor they are teenagers who struggle for many reasons and may not have the opportunity to talk through problems with anybody at home or within the family”. Nicki Bell- Teaching Assistant – Bewdley High School. ---- We have been working with Mentor Link for the past 3 years at St John’s Middle School . Currently we have approximately 26 pupils working with volunteer adult mentors. They have provided invaluable care and support for their mentees and the scheme as a whole has complimented our existing pastoral system. The mentors have established good relationships with both pupils and staff and their input has been greatly appreciated by parents. Glyn Cape - Headteacher - St Johns Middle School. ---- At Birchen Coppice Middle School we have the benefit of a qualified engineer who comes into school each week to build small engineering projects with 3-4 pupils and has construct remote control cars, renovated steam engines and built model engines. All the boys have shown significant improvements in their behaviour at home and within school and have learnt new skills. In addition we have a mentor that constructs small gardening projects and reading mentors who read with those pupils who find reading a challenge. If you have a particular skill that you think may be beneficial to the pupils please feel free to contact our staff at Mentor Link for further details. ---- Cookley Sebright Primary school has made great use of the services of Mentor Link to support vulnerable children in our care. The mentors are currently assisting a child with great problems caused by his home situation, a child who has recently lost his father due to bereavement and desperately needed an adult as a role model, and a young child who has emotional / behavioural problems. We find that the mentors have a very calming and positive effect on the children - being neither school nor home, and their input has been invaluable in supporting our children. They are patient and sympathetic to the needs of each child, and help in reassuring and guiding. I strongly believe that the service offered by Mentor link is so vital in supporting children that many others would benefit greatly from their input. Martin de Vine - Head Teacher - Cookley Sebright Primary School
|
