Leicestershire Mentor Point

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Leicestershire Mentor Point

• Gilly Mullen
• Mentoring Manager
• Leicestershire Education Business Company

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Information

• Leicestershire Education Business Company
• Leicestershire Consortium for Education Business
  Links (EBLO)
• LEBC Mentoring Activities

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Leicestershire Education Business Company(LEBC)

• LEBC supports schools, colleges and employers
  with their link activities through bespoke
  programmes including
• Mentoring, Enterprise, Professional Development
  Placements, Science EngineeringTechnology,
  literacy and numeracy projects
• LEBC is also Registered Umbrella Body for the
• CRB and conducts Disclosure checks on its
  own volunteers and for other organisations

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Leicestershire Consortium for Education Business
Links (EBLO)

• LEBC Lead Body - aims of Consortium to
• Raise standards of attainment
• Raise pupil motivation
• Support leadership and management in schools
  colleges
• Prepare young people for the world of work,
  including
• employability
• Enhance the relevance of the national curriculum
  to learners
• Develop young peoples key skills

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Leicestershire Consortium for Education Business
Links Partners

• Young Enterprise East Midlands
• SETPOINT
• Leicester City Cluster
• Connexions Leicestershire
• Business in the Community Leicestershire Cares
• Business Dynamics
• Construction Industry Training Board
• Leicester City Council
• Leicestershire County Council

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LEBC Involvement in Mentoring

• MentorConnect
• National Mentoring Network
• Mentor Point

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LEBC MentorConnect Programme

• Well established
• Volunteers from business/FE/HE and the wider
  community
• 25 secondary schools in Leicester and
  Leicestershire
• 250 students being mentored each academic year

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The National Mentoring Network

• Set up in 1994
• Receives funding from the DfES ACU (Home
  Office)
• Current membership c.1500 organisations

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The National Mentoring Network

• The NMN supports the growth of mentoring in its
  various forms. Its aims are to
• Promote the development of mentoring and quality
  standards
• Offer advice and support to those wishing to set
  up or develop mentoring programmes
• Provide a forum for the exchange of information
  and good practice

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The National Mentoring Network

• Current Network Activities
• Quality Standards
• Support for new programmes
• Other services

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The National Mentoring Network

• Quality Standards
• Approved Provider Standard and Working Towards
  (free, simple and confidential)
• Excellence for Mentoring in Schools Award

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The National Mentoring Network

• Support for new mentoring programmes
• Peer Mentoring Programme
• Mentoring Matters workshops

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The National Mentoring Network

• Other Services
• Learning Mentor Network
• Library and Resource Centre
• NMN Website www.nmn.org.uk
• Regional Networks

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The National Mentoring Network

• Library Services
• Over 1000 books, training packs, videos and
  journals
• Access to the library catalogue (via website)
• 6 loans in person
• OR 3 LOANS VIA POSTAL LOAN SERVICE
• Access to electronic databases (via website)
• Literature searching (up to 2 hours)
• Book purchase at discounted rate through
  SeekBOOKS
• Library visits and study space

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The National Mentoring Network

• Network Developments
• National Advisory Council (NAC)
• Commissioned works e.g. insurance for mentoring,
  accreditation

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What is a Mentor Point?

• One Stop Shop for Mentoring
• Funded by Home Office Active Community Unit
  DfES
• Leicestershire - 1 of 7 UK Mentor Points

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Leicestershire Mentor Point

• Aims to bring coherence to mentoring for people
  and organisations across Leicestershire by
• Recruiting, vetting and training volunteers to
  become mentors
• Facilitating and monitoring placements for
  mentors within mentoring projects
• Community Practitioner/Partner Network
• Education Practitioner Network

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What is Mentoring?
Home Office definition Mentoring is a
one-to-one, non-judgemental relationship in which
an individual mentor voluntarily gives time to
support and encourage another. This relationship
is typically developed at a time of transition in
the mentees life and lasts for a significant
sustained period.
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What is a Mentor?

• A mentor is a person who wants to help another
  person develop and grow so enabling that mentee
  to reach their own true potential

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What a Mentor Isnt!

• The answer to everything!

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Aims of mentoring

• Raise mentees self esteem
• Increase mentee confidence
• Help mentee to realise fulfil their potential
• Point out opportunities for the future
• Increase mentee self awareness

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What does mentoring involve?

• Challenging
• Facilitating
• Empathising
• Coaching
• Counselling
• Sign Posting
• Motivating

• Creating building rapport trust
• Supporting
• Enthusing
• Listening
• Questioning

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What do you need to be a mentor?

• Positive attitude, approachable, flexible, open
  minded non judgemental
• Genuine interest in sharing knowledge, skills
  life experiences
• Sensitive to the needs of others
• Ability to talk with rather than at people

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Some skills qualities needed to be a mentor

• Active listening
• Questioning
• Communication
• Interpersonal skills
• Sensitive to the needs of others
• Ability to talk with rather than at other
  people
• Ability to diagnose the real problem
• A sense of humour and enthusiasm
• Open-mindedness good acting abilities!

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Benefits to Mentors

• Comprehensive training developing new and
  existing personal and life skills
• Opportunity to work in a different context,
  colleagues and students
• Feeling valued and having a new challenge
• A sense of achievement giving something back
• Recognition - accreditation

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What is the commitment for Mentors?

• The average mentoring commitment is 1 hour every
  2 weeks but wide variations
• Sustained support, encouragement help to the
  mentee for a specific period
• Providing feedback for the project
• Developing mentoring skills

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Can you make a difference?

• Consider becoming a mentor and/or enabling others
  through a mentoring project
• Contact NMN for guidance, local contacts etc (or
  visit website)
• Access appropriate support
• Get mentoring?

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Leicestershire Mentor Point

• Thank you for listening
• Any questions?