Fourth cohort trained at our pilot school

Last Friday, we held our fourth cohort training session with our original pilot school, Anglo European School in Ingatestone. Twelve mentors were trained over the course of the day and are now ready to start being paired with mentees.

The day started with an introduction to the charity and its purpose. Founder Mandy spoke about the important role mentors play in helping their mentees, building their own skills and creating a culture of empathy in schools.

Our trainer Yvette made the point that the world has changed a lot since many adults were at school and that mentors are closer to the experiences of their fellow students and therefore have a unique role to play. She said the training aimed to build their confidence and skills.

All the mentors spoke about why they wanted to do the role - for some it was about their future career aims, for others it was to help their fellow students and for others it was linked to their own family experiences.

They discussed the skills needed to be a peer mentor, from empathy and communication skills to openness and emotional intelligence. They also spoke about the kind of blockers to active listening, such as rehearsing what you are going to reply.

The mentors did lots of interactive exercises to build their skills and to ensure they understand the boundaries they need to apply to safeguard themselves and their mentee.

The mentees heard from last year's cohort who spoke about their own experiences, gave tips and answered questions.  For instance, one mentor stressed the importance of showing that you are listening and not making the conversation about yourself. The previous cohort said they had seen their mentees grow in confidence, even if they had been anxious at first about speaking.  One mentor spoke about initial awkwardness, about breaking the ice and sharing their own experiences to gain mentees' trust over time and about building important friendships. 

Another said: "If you don't click with your first mentee, don't be disheartened." She said she had seen positive changes in her mentees over time. "Over time you have the opportunity to make people aware that there is someone there to listen to them," she added.

The mentors said they felt the common room where some of the mentoring takes place had become a mentoring space and that that had marked a culture shift in the school. 

All the mentors were given certificates after completing the course and their Talk2Nish lanyard so they are visible around the school. They will have regular half-termly check-ins with their coordinator, who was also in the training session, and will support each other.

Feedback from the session showed that the mentors considered it useful. One mentor said: "Today’s training day was really effective because it taught me some of the roles I would face and some scenarios that impacted my understanding of being empathetic and how to carry out my responsibilities."

Another said: "I feel very excited to be a trained mentor to the cohort of lower school children."

And another said: "The day has been amazing and it’s been very interesting to learn about procedures and how we should carry ourselves forward in our meetings."