top of page
Search

Talk2Nish FAQ

Writer's picture: M GarnerM Garner



1. What is the proposed benefit to the school by joining this project?

- Offers a self-sustaining peer mentor model to address student wellbeing issues, including accredited training for mentors and CPD course
- Is a whole school approach to mental health
- Helps to meet Ofsted requirements on student wellbeing
- Teaches mentors greater awareness of mental health, listening skills and boundary setting, fosters greater self-confidence and builds leadership skills
- Provides mentees with support and empathy from a person nearer their own age who they may feel more comfortable talking to and boosts their sense of wellbeing [more serious mental health issues will be signposted to a supervising adult]

2. How much does it cost the school financially? What are the upfront financial costs and what are the on-going financial costs?

There are two different packages:

2 years of mentor cohort training:
Termly check-ins with mentors
CPD course
Lanyards and promotional materials
Cost: £2,500 [third off if two schools combine cohort training]

1 year of mentor cohort training:
Termly check-ins with mentors
CPD course
Cost: £1,250 [third off if two schools combine cohort training]

*We are open to negotiating other options

The ongoing costs for schools, once the scheme is embedded, are mainly in terms of the coordinator's time.

3. How long will the charity support the school with resources, training and advice? Does the school have ongoing access to the training materials provided online after this?

The initial packages for training mentors/coordinators are for one or two years. The school will have ongoing access to CPD training for the coordinators. Schools will become part of the Talk2Nish community and will benefit from information on best practice, based on ongoing evaluations.

4. What does the charity expect the school to contribute in terms of adult co-ordinators’ time and student mentor’s time?

Based on the pilot, the programme has been incorporated into the school's pastoral support model and the coordinator is a member of the pastoral support team, overseen and supported by the head of pastoral support. They match up peer mentors and mentees and are on call if there are any concerns. We recommend regular check-ins with mentors. They estimate around 1-2 hours a week. This is similar for mentors.

5. In your experience, what level of training does the adult coordinator have to have?

We would advise that the scheme be overseen by the pastoral support team, but schools are free to adapt it to their own needs. The coordinator[s] - the role can be shared and the coordinator should be supported by a manager - needs to have a good knowledge of the school, a good understanding of the mental health issues students are facing and of the school's safeguarding procedures and the ability to signpost more serious cases to other support.

These are the requirements for the coordinator:
• Be an advocate for promoting the programme
• Get the whole school on board through assemblies, presence at events, display board, website, etc
• Identify, assess and prepare peer mentors
• Coordinate training by an external facilitator
• Arrange support sessions for peer mentors and oversee them
• Liaise with your safeguarding team around safeguarding concerns raised throughout the programme and therefore have knowledge of the school’s safeguarding procedures
• Monitor and evaluate the programme
• Work in partnership with Talk2Nish, including setting up times for training sessions and follow-up check-in sessions during the year.

6. How often will the Project Coordinator visit school and to do what, when there?

The Project Coordinator will visit the school before the programme gets underway as part of discussions on how it will work there to check good fit with the aims of Talk2Nish and to do a risk assessment.

She will also sit in on in-person training sessions, where possible, and will be involved in the termly check-ins that are part of the Talk2Nish package. These can be done online or in-person. She is also happy to speak at assemblies if required.

The Coordinator will also be in touch with schools at the end of each cohort to request feedback from mentors, mentees and coordinators and to check how the programme has been working.

7. In your experience, what kind of issues have the mentors dealt with and how?

The mentors deal with lower level mental health issues, such as anxiety around school work/exams and problems with friendship groups.

8. How are the mentors trained on safeguarding issues that may arise? Have safeguarding issues arisen and how does the project deal with these?

Mentors are trained in identifying mental health issues and in how to recognise and respond to disclosure and safeguarding issues. Setting boundaries and signposting are key parts of the training. Mentors are closely supervised by their coordinator so they are able to get rapid advice about any issues they have concerns about. We recommend that the coordinator holds regular check-in sessions with them.

9. Who provides supervision for the mentors and what kind of record keeping do you recommend/expect from mentors and supervisors?

The mentors are supervised by the coordinator[s] who keeps a record of any issues arising.

10. In return for the charity funding, what level of monitoring and/or evaluation do you expect the school to provide?

We expect that the coordinator has regular supervision sessions with the mentors and is easily contactable, for instance, on a Whatsapp group or other closed school platform. We provide termly check-ins with mentors/coordinators as part of the package and we ask that schools provide feedback from mentors, mentees and coordinators as part of our efforts to build best practice. Feedback forms are provided as part of the programme. We also have an impact survey which we expect schools to take part in and, with the two-year package, we encourage schools to incorporate time within the in-person training day to do a handover with the previous cohort, where new mentors can ask any questions they have.

11. What is the charity’s risk assessment of the project’s impact on previous schools?

We take all the feedback - from coordinators, mentors and mentees - into consideration and that covers every aspect of how the programme has been implemented and any concerns, including safeguarding concerns, that have arisen. We put that feedback into how we shape the programme as it evolves.
13 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Comments


bottom of page