In this Section
Mentoring
Mentoring can take many forms. It might be working with a vulnerable young person in a supported environment to open their eyes to what they are capable of achieving and increase their potential for long-term employment. It could be acting as a business adviser to a group of young people or an individual looking to start up their own business. Mentoring can be a rewarding experience for your business and for the staff involved.
To view this video you must have Javascript enabled on your browser and the latest version of Flash installed. Download the latest version of Flash.
View transcript
Getting Involved - Mentoring
Headteacher
We were looking to foster stronger links with local employers. We approached Norwich Union, who are 20 miles up the road, and we asked them if they would be interested in joining us in an e-mentoring project.
Pupil 4: E-mentoring project is emailing mentors from Norwich Union and asking them questions and listening to the responses about things like what I.T they use in their workplaces and computer programs they use and relate them to computer programs you use.
Teacher 1: Employees of Norwich Union volunteer to email a group of pupils on a weekly basis, over an 8 week period and the topics of the emails cover core-skills.
The core-skills are things like:
- Use of ICT in the workplace
- Attendance and punctuality
- Dress and appearance in the workplace
- Time management skills
- Communication skills.
We talked a lot about the differences between informal text language and how that, maybe, wasn’t quite so appropriate for formal emails. For some, that was a struggle to go back to using email using proper business language. But after a couple of weeks, they recognised that they were also getting emails back that weren’t in text language; they were in structured and formal language.
Pupil 4: Not only did I learn how to write emails formally, I also learnt about what I.T they use and how they use it. Whereas before, I didn't really understand some of the things that businesses use rather than just schools.
Teacher 1: I believe in effective partnership between schools and employers happens when there’s a win-win situation. And, in this instance, we were winning because email became real to them and they were also learning about work-based skills.
The E-mentoring Project definitely raises their awareness of Norwich Union as a potential employer on their doorstep. For the employees of Norwich Union, many of them commented that they looked forward to getting their emails and finding out about what’s happening in schools, and they just … it was something different for them to take part in.