Year 8 peer mentors pledge 'I'll be there for you'
Peer mentoring is such a key part of inspiring our pupils to be the best that they can be. For younger children, it gives them role models to admire and look to for advice, and for older children, it gives the chance to make a difference and inspire others. Our Year 8 has a group of ‘Friends.' They are our peer mentors who are trained to support younger pupils at the school.
Miss Hannan trained a record number of pupils this year, each of whom volunteered themselves to become a Friend.
Our Year 8 Friends thought really deeply about many of the elements of the training and were empathetic when discussing scenarios
Miss Hannan, Year 4 Teacher
Whether younger students are feeling sad, or you need some help with their schoolwork, or they have lost their music bag and just need a friendly face to help you find it, our Year 8 Friends will be on hand to help. As well as taking on various challenges and responsibilities set by Miss Hannan, our Friends are also individual members of the student body who can support our children on a day-to-day basis.
Part of their preparation for this role is basic safeguarding training, with a commitment to keeping our pupils safe and sharing worrying information with.
“It was thought-provoking to learn that keeping secrets is not something you should do as a peer mentor. I hadn’t thought about that or expected it. We learnt to say we can’t promise to keep a secret if we are at all worried for someone because we will have to tell an adult"
a Year 8 pupil
“I’m really looking forward to building closer relationships with the younger pupils and chatting to them more in my new role," added another pupil.
