Connect Mentoring Team

Volunteer Mentor

Role Description

You will mentor two or three students in one secondary school each week during school term times. You will use the solution focused approach, the aim of which is to improve self-esteem, confidence and resilience by enabling the student to recognise that they have power over their own circumstances to effect positive change in their lives.

• Working 1:1 with each student, you will use the solution focused approach to help the student to identify one or more goals, to look at what they are already doing well in relation to these goals and to help them identify further small steps that they can take to move closer to their goal.
• You will meet with each student for 6 to 10 weeks. Continuity is vitally important for the students and the effectiveness of the approach therefore, we ask that you commit to being available for all weeks during term time.*
• Complete the End of Mentoring form with each student and pass this and any other informal feedback to the Connect Admin.
• Attend Peer Support meetings three times a year.
• Attend Connect Mentor meetings three times a year.
• Attend the annual update training day in October.
• Understand that your role is also supporting the school staff, who are under immense pressure, and use tact and understanding when dealing with them.
• Schools are very busy places and teenagers are not always the most reliable, you will need resilience and perseverance at times as sessions do not always go according to plan.
• Support is always available through Life & Soul staff for any concerns that you have.
• Follow the Safeguarding Policy with all concerns, incidents or disclosures.
• Work within the guidelines and requirements of all Life & Soul Policies including the Code of Conduct.

* We do understand that you may wish to take holiday during term time, we can accommodate a very limited number of weeks if we have enough notice. Please speak to the Connect Co-ordinator about this.

Life & Soul is a Christian charity. Whilst none of our work in schools promotes the Christian faith or is evangelistic, you must be in sympathy with and supportive of our Christian ethos. This means:

• Treating all people with love, kindness, dignity, compassion and respect
• Using the skills, gifts and talents that you have to help those in need
• Recognising each person is unique and of equal value, has the capacity to grow and become the best version of themselves, becoming confident in their own voice and place in the world
• Staff and volunteer meetings incorporate prayer and bible study but individuals are not required to actively participate if they would rather not.