MENTORING

At Mangotsfield School we want to generate an ethos of belonging. We have 40 mentoring groups made up of students from a specific year group. In Years 7 and 11 the number of students per group is smaller to support with transition and preparing for GCSE exams.

The role of our mentors is to gather knowledge about each student which enables them to form a strong, positive relationship with each one and their home.  Our students will stay in the same mentor groups for 5 years and hopefully remain with their same mentor throughout. This means that their mentor will know them better than anyone else in the school.

Through seeing the same students each day our mentors play a key role in monitoring and supporting the  behaviour and progress of their mentees.  Mentors are also well placed to notice changes in student behaviour and engagement and communicate this with home.

What are the key responsibilities of the mentor?

At Mangotsfield School mentors are expected to:

• Be the first point of contact with parents/carers
• Monitor the academic and personal progress of students within their mentor group, particularly attendance, behaviour and student well-being.
• Provide information to other staff about their mentees, for example liaising with subject teachers.
• Co-ordinate the way the school can meet each of their mentees’ needs.

What is the mentoring structure at Mangotsfield School?

Each day mentoring takes place between 8.45 am and 9.10 am

Mangotsfield Reading Programme

At Mangotsfield School, mentors read to their mentees four times a week during mentor time. 

Regular reading helps children to develop their vocabulary and their knowledge of the world. This, in turn, helps them to understand challenging subject textbooks at secondary school as well as other reading that they are given in class.

In particular, we are keen to improve students’ levels of literacy, knowing how important this is to their future success.  However, we also want students to enjoy the reading and to develop a love of books. This is why the books have been carefully selected.

The books are all aimed at young adults and the books all feature main characters who are similar in age to the children being read to. Books like The Hunger Games enable children to imagine what it would be like for them if they were, like Katniss Everdeen, put into an incredibly difficult situation and left to their own devices. The books also feature inspiring young characters who manage to overcome incredible difficulties through courage and determination.

Students will read 3 – 4 books per year. The books are chosen to become gradually more challenging with each year. In Years 7 and 8, the students are read shorter, more accessible books. By Year 10, students are read more challenging texts.

The choice of books will continue to be monitored.

The ability to read well is a key life skill and our aspiration is to nurture and to develop this ability in all our students.