Learning Mentors

“Our door is always open!” The main aim of a learning mentor is to help pupils cope with any difficulties that may be hindering their progress in school, enabling them to reach their full potential. Here’s how: Whatever you are trying to learn, you need: MOTIVATION – Unless we are keen to learn, we won’t have the determination to overcome difficulties. CONCENTRATION – If we can’t focus on a task, our brains cannot receive or store the information needed. BEST ENVIRONMENT – Distractions can affect concentration, making it difficult to learn anything. ATTAINABLE TASKS – Unless some tasks are broken down into small steps they can be difficult to understand. SUCCESS – If we don’t feel that we are making progress, it can be hard to stay motivated. So, how can a Learning Mentor help? MOTIVATION – Mentors can help pupils to understand why learning is important, by letting them see what a difference it can make in the future. CONCENTRATION – Mentors can help pupils to recognise their own preferred learning styles and how to develop them. BEST ENVIRONMENT – Sometimes pupils can learn better in a 1:1 session, away from the distraction of other people. Mentors can also teach strategies that encourage pupils to be less easily distracted in the classroom. ATTAINABLE TASKS – Mentors can help to break down tasks into bitesize chunks and encourage pupils to take one step at a time, so they are less likely to give up. SUCCESS – Mentors help pupils to reflect on their progress so that they recognise regular small successes, to give constant encouragement. The LM team is led by Mrs Grant and each mentor has a different area of responsibility in school: Mrs S Grant (Y11 and post-16 transition) Mrs B Gent (Y9 SATS target group) Mrs Z Grant (Y10/11 ward based target group) Mr M McDonough (11DMC vocational mentor) Unfortunately, at the moment Y7/8 do not have regular access to a learning mentor – but we would like to think that within the next few years all pupils at Branksome will get the chance to work with us!