Mentor Period
The central purpose of Mentor Period is to contribute to each student's personal development across their time at Highworth, in line with the school’s REACH ethos. As part of the vertical tutoring system this will include developing each student's identity as part of their Learning Community.
Mentor Period is conducted on a daily basis for 25 minutes. Each Mentor Group is led in an activity by their Mentor, which follows a planned termly overview, to ensure consistency of student experience across each Learning Community. Students are expected to participate in these sessions as they would in any lesson.
Aims of Mentor Period
| Core Aims of Mentor Period | |
| Reflective, creative and innovative | To explore issues in the wider world in order to become more informed of relevant community, national and global events |
| Eager for life-long learning | To develop character traits that enable students to be resilient in the face of obstacles such as leadership, initiative, responsibility and problem solving |
| Aiming to achieve their full potential | To establish and re-evaluate ambitious goals of both an academic and personal nature in order to encourage self-reflection and self-discipline |
| Considerate, confident, independent individuals | To develop positive relationships with peers across different ages, growing the necessary skills to collaborate with and learn from others |
| Happy in a caring, respectful community | To participate in Learning Community and whole-school activities, contributing positively to the wider life of the school, and encouraging others to do so |
Content of Each Session
Each term has a key theme, decided by the Directors of Learning. Students may also contribute to Mentor Period through their roles as Prefects, Community Coaches or as part of the Student Equality Team.
Themes will link to broader PSHE themes of Living in the Wider World, Relationships and Health and Wellbeing. As indicative examples, themes may be based on: Global Awareness Days e.g. European Day of Languages; school events e.g. Children's Mental Health Week; supporting mental and physical wellbeing; our school’s SIRIUS Careers programme; promoting cultural diversity e.g. Black History Month or school culture days.
The Role of the Mentor
The role of the Mentor is to facilitate each student's personal development across their time at Highworth, in line with the school’s REACH ethos. Being a Mentor is a key part of our vertical tutoring Learning Community system whereby personal development is encouraged through learning from and collaboration with others.