What does our mentoring look like?
Leeds Faith in Schools provides mentoring to pupils in school who may benefit from one-to-one support. Journeying through high school can be tough and comes with various challenges. For some pupils a listening ear can be a huge help and make a real impact. We work regularly with pupils who are having social difficulties in school or struggling with family at home. We often see young people who are victims of bullying but also those who are known to be bullying themselves. We can also work with those who are or are at risk of self-harming, experiencing low self-esteem or body-image, or those suffering from bereavement. There are many other issues we might support a pupil with.
Our mentoring takes place in school, usually during lesson time on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. Sessions usually last half an hour to an hour, depending on the pupil. We are able to see pupils on a short term basis but we recognise the importance of building long-lasting and trusting relationships which takes time. Therefore, we feel our mentoring works best when we are able to journey with the pupil through their school life and be a consistent support for them. For some pupils, they may only feel the need to see us for a few months, for others it can be a few years.
We normally carry out a quick emotional wellbeing assessment with a new mentee which just helps us find out where they are at and areas they feel they are struggling with. We want our mentees to feel like they have ownership over our meetings so we are often flexible in what we talk about or the activities that we complete in a session. At Leeds Faith in Schools, we closely monitor our sessions and keep an up-to-date evaluation of the progress of the pupil so that schools can see any impact we have made.
We are passionate about our work around mentoring and believe it can make a huge difference in the life of a young person!