Mentoring

Learning mentors are school staff who help pupils overcome social, emotional or behavioural problems or barriers that are getting in the way of their learning.

These barriers can include, amongst others:

• behavioural problems
• bereavement
• difficulties at home
• problems transferring from primary to secondary school
• disaffection
• poor study or organisational skills
• attendance difficulties.

The key focus of the work is supporting children in helping them to improve their performance and achievement.

Extract from Ofsted Report: “Learning mentors are making a significant effect on the attendance, behaviour, self-esteem and progress of the pupils they support… In 95% of the survey schools, inspectors judged that the mentoring programme made a positive contribution to the mainstream provision of the school as a whole, and had a beneficial effect on the behaviour of individual pupils and on their ability to learn and make progress.” 

The ways in which learning mentors work will differ from school to school and from pupil to pupil, but will often take the form of regular one-to-one sessions with those children identified as requiring help.

During these sessions the learning mentor and child will talk through any concerns the child might have regarding learning, agree targets for areas of concern (e.g. attendance, behaviour and attainment) and work together to overcome those problems.

The learning mentor will often form strong relationships with the child, school staff, and parents/carers and may also use the expertise of other agencies including educational welfare, social services and so on.

How do I get a learning mentorfor my child?

The first thing to understand is that learning mentors are not the answer to every problem or issue which children face.

There is a range of different teaching and learning professionals including teaching assistants, support workers and teachers who may well be better placed and/or trained to help your child overcome the problem or barrier they are facing.

Your first step is to contact your child’s school in order to explain your concerns. The staff at the school will be able to discuss those concerns and consider the different ways they can offer help and support - remember learning mentors are only one way in which schools provide support and help for pupils.

How do I become a learning mentor? 

Learning mentors can and do come from a wide variety of ages and backgrounds and there are no “rules” as to the kind of people who will be considered for a post. Having said that they are often people who have worked in the past as classroom assistants, teachers, community workers or have had other jobs involving working with children.

Learning mentors work in both primary and secondary schools and details of vacancies can be found in the weekly Times Educational Supplement or the local press.

Entry requirements vary considerably from life experience and a good basic education through to relevant work experience and qualifications at a higher level. Once employed all learning mentors have access to a national training programme which is linked to the national framework of occupational standards. More information can be found at www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/sie/documents/NOSLDandSSStaff.pdf (opens in a new window)

You can also find a number of case studies which will help you find out more about the work of learning mentors on the Department for children, schools and families (opens in a new window) website.