Program Coordinator - Student Services

Peer mentoring 

Peer mentoring is a new Student Services initiative at the College. The aim of this program is to enable rewarding learning experiences, engage students and staff more actively in the College environment, helping students to transition to life at the College as smoothly as possible. Students will build constructive and rewarding peer relationships, across year groups, which will be helpful in their academic and future careers.  This will be overseen by the College chaplain, Chris. He ran a similar program at his previous school with great success. We are very fortunate to have Chris leading this program.

Peer Mentors at the college aim to help students find support from each other through one-on-one and small-group mentoring. The program, therefore, links established students (Peer Mentors) with all new students entering the College in 2023.

Peer Mentors will provide;

• Friendly peer support and guidance,
• Answers to questions on practical and logistical topics such as uniform, requirements, timetables, routines and procedures,
• Promote appropriate behaviour and learning,
• Positive social interaction and networking, 
• A positive identity with our school and community.   

Each Peer Mentor will be a member of a team of mentors. They will play a key role in assisting and connecting new students throughout the orientation and transition stages.  Peer Mentors will provide practical guidance, encouragement, referrals and ongoing peer support. Peer Mentors are present and approachable. They are good observers and listeners. They have a positive attitude and an ability to generate good ideas.

Chris defines mentoring as:

• A collaborative and purposeful relationship to support people in reaching their goals
• A relationship that facilitates mutual learning, reflection and growth
• Personal and community growth through a variety of formal or informal conversations, primarily through the relationship itself

A mentor is:

• Willing and able to assist and motivate others
• Reliable, trustworthy, and a good communicator
• Confident and well-informed
• Able to build rapport and enjoy others’ company
• Willing to share their knowledge and keep learning new things
• Able to relate to mentees

A mentor is not:

• An academic advisor
• A personal or career counsellor
• Responsible for their mentees’ academic performance
•  Expected to carry burdens that will impact on their own continued success
• An expert on everything!

We have had a healthy number of Year 10 students volunteer as Peer Mentors. One student commented “I wish I had a mentor at the start of the year”. Their training will begin during Study Tour. Year 11 students will be invited to be part of the program soon. 

In brief

• Very pleasing to hear Louise O’Neil at graduation extolling the benefits of open and honest conversations about mental health. Student Services at the college is constantly working on strategies to support the social and emotional health of our students. 
• It was very exciting to meet our new students and their parents over the enrolment days last week. All families met with the Student Service team in The Hive and this signified the beginning of an ongoing relationship in supporting and advocating for the needs of students at the college. Student Services has begun developing an overview of each student, which will assist all areas of the College in catering for their individual needs.