Mentoring

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Last updated: 13 February 2006

Mentoring initiatives can make a significant contribution to the overall strategies of support available to individuals in education.

'The impact that any individual has on our lives cannot easily be measured. But the benefits of having a mentor...someone who has given freely of his or her own time, can last a lifetime'. Ivan Lewis (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Young People and Adult Skills) May 2002.

The DCSF aims to promote volunteer mentoring activity and stimulate high-quality mentoring opportunities for school-age children and young people, particularly peer mentoring. We work closely with the Mentoring and Befriending Foundation (MBF), to support and develop the range of voluntary mentoring initiatives that can make an important contribution in developing the confidence, abilities and aspirations of young people.

Key focus of DCSF's work 2006-07
The Green Paper, Youth Matters: proposes to expand opportunities for peer mentoring. The MBF will work with the new Russell implementation body to expand opportunities for peer mentoring, with a particular focus on 16-18 year-olds at risk.

National peer mentoring programme: during 2005-06, the DCSF will provide funding of £240,000 to the MBF to respond to the commitment expressed in the Youth Matters Green Paper. This will be used to:

Continue to develop the programme including extending it into 16-18 provision.
Undertake exploratory work in preparation for a proposed pilot of peer mentoring, to encourage post-16 take up of apprenticeships.
Undertake research into accreditation opportunities on behalf of schools wishing to accredit their peer mentoring programmes.
Undertake research into innovative approaches within peer mentoring, this might include, the application of e-mentoring within post-16 context.
Host a national, strategic conference to promote the value of peer mentoring.
Incorporate the Excellence in Mentoring (EiM) as part of the Approved Provider Standard (APS) and trial its impact assessment framework with a group of peer mentoring schools, to demonstrate the impact that peer mentoring can have on individuals involved, specifically on achievement and attendance.

Formalised peer mentoring pilot
In his 2005 pre-budget report, the Chancellor committed £1.5m funding over 2 years for a pilot to establish and evaluate formal peer mentoring schemes in 180 secondary schools in England. This builds on proposals in Youth Matters, to encourage young people to become active citizens. The pilot begins September 2006, and will test different approaches to peer mentoring, before offering recommendations to schools to help them meet the challenges they face. The pilot will complement the National Peer Mentoring Programme currently funded by the DCSF and delivered by MBF.

Mentoring relationship
Volunteer mentoring relationships can often be more effective for young people because mentors do not have any authority vested in them, other than that derived from their own life experience. They often come from the same background as the young person needing support and are therefore perceived as being from the real world.. This is especially true of peer mentors.

A mentor can support a mentee by:

Listening
Discussing relevant issues
Exploring problems
Helping with planning, homework and revision
Giving an awareness of the world of work
Being available for support
Other specific needs

Mentoring programmes aim to meet the needs of various groups including: pupils from ethnic minority backgrounds, those at risk of underachievement and pupils who have special educational needs. Other specific reasons include:

Unmotivated students
Lack of family support
Able students from disadvantaged homes with no history of higher education
Lack of self-esteem
Lack of teacher expertise in a particular topic area or area of career interest
Security and vetting procedures.

Schools should consider suitable vetting procedures where adults (non-school staff) become involved in mentoring activities on or off school premises. The statutory child protection guidance introduced in June 2004 gave Governing Bodies a responsibility for making sure appropriate checks are carried out on new staff and volunteers. However, the guidance also leaves discretion with the head teacher about which volunteers should be CRB and List 99 checked. It does, however, apply to adult mentors and other business people who work regularly with students over a period of time. The basics of child protection should be included in mentor training and should form part of mentee briefing.

Further legal guidance on business mentoring and e-mentoring can be found in the DCSF's publication, Work Related Learning and the Law.

Assessment and accreditation
A number of organisations offer accreditation. MBF has published a guide to various accreditation schemes available through universities and other agencies and they may be able to advise on quality standards such as Excellence in Mentoring and the Approved Provider Standard. If you are considering accrediting your mentoring programme or wish to write your own accredited course, the MBF, as well as the following organisations may be able to assist:

National Open College Network (NOCN)

The Assessment and Qualifications Alliance (AQA)

Main text
Legislation
Key documents
Best practice
Further information