Our Learning Mentors work within our school to help children and families with any difficulties they may be experiencing. They are here to listen, offer support and practical advice. Learning Mentors are also able to promote positive behaviour, offer encouragement and build self-esteem, resilience and confidence. Our Learning Mentors work with individuals, groups of children, teachers, other members of staff, parents/carers and external agencies. The role of the Learning Mentor is to build confidence, raise self-esteem, build resilience and motivation, improve social skills, form relationships with friends, family and staff, improve attendance and punctuality, remove barriers to learning as well as help children achieve their potential. These are some of the strategies that the Learning mentors use:

• 1:1 mentoring sessions to discuss problems and address how these may be overcome
• Individual sessions focusing on particular issues such as behaviour, bullying, attendance etc
• Group activities - focusing on specific areas, such as resilience, self-esteem, friendships etc
• Utilisation of childs own hobbies or interests to enhance performance
• Liaise with parents and other agencies where necessary

Mrs Mena

Ms Yeboah

This is a daily drop-in session during lunch break and works on fostering friendships and developing positive relations amongst the children. We provide a ‘safe environment’ where children can talk freely about their accomplishments, ideas, concerns, and stories. The group meets in The Treehouse with a Learning Mentor or Play Therapist. We practise polite manners and conversations. The students are encouraged to share something that makes them happy, excited or loving and then something that is bothering them, or makes them sad, angry or frustrated. We work on ‘feeling’ words vocabulary and then open the floor for questions or comments. We are learning to listen silently, share the stage, and offer support to our friends.

We offer a variety of parent sessions meetings and drop-ins.

Please contact reception for details of our forthcoming sessions.

Mental Health Foundation

NHS: Children and young people's mental health services (CYPMHS) information for parents and carers

Mind: Parenting with a mental health problem