Mentoring
in schools
The Inkpots Mentoring Programme
The Inkpots Mentoring Programme offers more than a sticking plaster approach to supporting students who are struggling in school and, sometimes, with life in general.
The kind of mentoring I offer ensures that students are supported in a spacious, consistent way to help build their confidence and bolster support systems so that they are better equipped to take a full part in school life.
Inkpots Mentoring sessions are 1:1, supportive and calm. I work through a five-step programme taking students from being stressed and worried to resilient and expansive. I am available to provide mentoring directly in secondary schools in East and West Sussex. I am also very happy to advise on setting up such programmes in other areas.
The mentoring that Gill provides through Inkpots in schools is invaluable. The sessions are beacons of hope for students; when everything else feels completely unmanageable and overwhelming, Inkpots is the calm they so much crave and deserve. Students are desperate for these sessions and, for some, the sole reason they can manage a day in school in touch times.”
Pastoral Leader
Peer mentoring
One of the most powerful and inspiring things to have in place in a school is a system where older students support their younger peers. Peer mentoring – when fully supported and resourced – can be such a positive experience for everyone involved and can make such a difference to the educational experience of those involved.
But often, peer mentors are given a few hours’ training and then thrown ‘in the deep end’. We then wonder why such schemes fail to flourish.
The Inkpots Peer Mentoring Training programme aims to change that. For schools in East and West Sussex, this training can be provided in-house; I also have a training package available for other schools too. Please do get in touch to discuss either option.
The training encompasses:
Six weeks of weekly 1:1 mentoring sessions for potential mentors.
A six-week training programme which will introduce the new mentors to the principles and practicalities of the mentoring process.
A resource pack for members of staff supporting the programme (including templates and suggested timetables).
Online support for mentors and staff members as the programme is developed.
I have enjoyed helped Year 7 students settle in and get confident about talking to others. It’s also helped me to talk to people I don’t know too – at the start of Year9, I would never have done that.”
Year 10 peer mentor