How it works
Experts in youth mentoring, we've been implementing
successful programs in schools for over a decade.
Safety comes first
We provide young people with a volunteer mentor who works with your child one-to-one for 23 weeks. Mentors are screened for both child safety and suitability, completing police and working with children checks, as well as being trained to meet national youth safety requirements.
How the weekly sessions are run
The program runs for one school period at the same time each week across Terms 2 and 3 and the first 3 weeks of Term 4. All sessions are facilitated by a qualified counsellor. They are responsible for supervising the volunteer mentors who work one-to-one with your child. Up to 15 students from the school can be invited to participate in the program.
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Group Activity
Ice breaker activity or group activity on the weekly topic
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Mentoring
The students move into pairs, working one-to-one with their mentor on a topic each week
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Morning/Afternoon tea
The group of mentors and mentees come back to share some snacks.
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Mentor support
Mentors then have 1 hour of extra support and training post mentoring
Who are the mentors
and where do they come from?
As part of our mentor recruitment process we ask volunteers to nominate 3 schools where they’d like to mentor. Typically, volunteers select a school within the local or nearby communities. We discourage people from selecting schools where they might be connected to the parents of students or students that could be asked to take part in the program. We allocate the mentor places and bring that group together ahead of the mentee and mentor orientation sessions that we run..
Similar to mentees, mentors come from a range of backgrounds and bring varied experiences and expertise to the role. However, all mentors are screened for suitability and must comply with our code of conduct including provision of working with children and national crime checks.
Our mentors change two lives – their mentee’s and their own. Aside from the sense of community and give back, the experience delivers new insights, knowledge and skills that transfer to their own personal and work lives.
