Mentoring and Guidance

Helping Students Achieve their Full Potential

School life and changing schools can be a daunting experience for students, academically, emotionally or physically. To ensure that students of all abilities are challenged, stimulated, supported and engaged, we have support services at different levels to work with them. The support may take the form of a mentoring.

Staffing

• The Director of Inclusion at Bonus Pastor is Mrs S Quinn (Assistant Headteacher and Designated Safeguarding Lead) 
• The Mentoring & Guidance Co-ordinator is Ms. P John-Baptiste.
• Learning Mentors: Mrs L Reynolds, Mr. M Elliot Mrs. S Quinn, Ms. R Stock and Ms R Hill.

The purpose of learning mentoring in Bonus Pastor Catholic College is to:

• Work directly with identified individuals and groups of students as necessary to help overcome barriers to learning and rise achievement.
•  Provide a complimentary and supportive service to all staff in school, working with pupils and their families whose life circumstances present significant barriers to children’s learning.
• Liaise with parents, appropriate agencies and the wider school community to support all concerned with identified pupils

Why do some children need mentoring support?

Students of all ability levels can be identified as underachieving because of a wide range of social and emotional factors. These barriers can  take the form of low self-esteem, lack of confidence, poor concentration and difficulties in relationships or unmanageable feelings of anger, loss or sadness. They may also affect health, attendance, and level of engagement in learning.

The causes can be multi layered involving a change in family circumstances, bereavement, relationships, adapting to a new culture. Students may need short term support to sort out and make sense of what is happening to them, to reflect on how their actions can be causing problems and to work out ways to making life better.

Referral process

Students are referred for mentoring through the Head of Year, senior staff, by parents or students themselves. experiencing difficulties with Coursework, College Applications, writing CVs and careers advice.

What does a mentor do?

Our Learning Mentors liaise closely with teachers and other support professionals, which is an invaluable link between the family and school. The focus, however, is always on supporting the young person or child, helping them to grow, change and become active learners.  Our Learning mentors work with KS3 & KS4 students and help them to:

• Improve their academic performance
• Increase their self-confidence
• Gain experience of the working world
• Broaden their horizons and raise their aspirations

Bonus Pastor has a designated area based at the Winlaton site for Mentoring & Guidance. Support is provided which is appropriate to the needs of the students using a combination of:

• 1:1 mentoring
• Transition visits to primary schools
• Young Careers support
• Health & Wellbeing workshop
• Relationship & keeping Safe workshop
• Bereavement Support
• KS4 revision sessions
• Peer Mentoring training
• Careers advise and support
• Fire brigade ( life course )
• Peer Mentoring
• Coursework catch up sessions
• Drop in sessions
• Access to specialist projects

The department benefits from additional specialist support and established working relationships with a range of external professionals such as:

• Lewisham Primary Care Team (NHS)
• Kaleidoscope
• School Nurse
• Urban Synergy – Reuters
• New Woodlands School
• Young Carers
• Social care
• Fire Brigade
• Youth service

Quotes from students

I feel more relaxed in lessons they don’t stress me out as much as they use too.

It was good talking to my mentor about my sister being ill.

My mentor has helped me to handle situations that make me upset in school.

My mentor is amazing, I trust her completely.

 I am doing a lot better in school I hardly get into trouble and when I do it’s a minor concern- but I’m still working on that too with my Mentor.

Quotes from parents

From the time my child started getting the support I have seen many improvements in his attitude towards his education, he is more positive in his behaviour.

The mentor has had a positive impact on my daughter it has made her return to school after her illness. The mentor liaised with teachers and always kept me informed. I am grateful for all her help.

My daughter has become more open and talks more freely about things on her mind.

Positive support -my child was able to confide in the mentor about her grandparents’ death and concerns she had about school.

He is handling issues more maturely than before and is not coming home unhappy.

How to Contact us

If your child has identified areas of concern such as attendance, transition, achievement, relationships, bereavement, bullying, victims of crime or other social issues, then please contact:

Mrs John-Baptiste - pjohn-baptiste@bonuspastor.co.uk