Name: Sue Rees
Role: Senior learning mentor (combined with other current roles of child protection officer, first aid co-ordinator, lunchtime co-ordinator, strategic management team member)
Age: 42
Qualifications: NVQ Level 3 in Learning, Development and Support Services, five-day National Learning Mentor Induction Training Programme, Specialist Teaching Assistant course, Counseling Diploma, First Aid Certificate, Safeguarding Certificate, Bereavement for Children Certificate, ongoing NVQ Level 4 in Learning, Development and Support Services
Experience:
When my children were young I took a childminding course and became a childminder. When they started school I offered to help and would read with children in the reception class several times a week. An opportunity arose for me to work with a child who was arriving in year one, who had been excluded from her previous school and had behaviour and emotional problems. I worked right the way through the school with her until she left. I was then asked to become a learning mentor in a pilot scheme in school. This sounded like an interesting job, and it is! I have been a learning mentor now for over six years and am the senior learning mentor.
What I do:
I work very closely with all the staff and children, especially with the younger pupils as they need a lot of support to settle into school life. I work with pupils of all abilities who need help to overcome difficulties that are getting in the way of their learning.
I work with such issues as lack of self-esteem or motivation, behavioural or emotional difficulties, difficulty settling into school and making relationships, personal crises and poor attendance.
I work with pupils outside the classroom, on a one-to-one basis, or provide group activities such as anger management and self-confidence and self-esteem building. An average day could include one-to-one mentoring relationships, developing action plans and monitoring pupil progress, working with teachers and other professionals, such as social workers, counsellors and education welfare officers.
Ambition:
I would love to become the manager of all learning mentors for a group of schools, starting with the South Wye of Hereford.
Options:
Learning mentors have been introduced in many schools to provide much-needed support for children who may have specific learning, emotional, social and behavioural needs. As Sue's role has progressed to team management, she has commenced level 4 training. She may want to consider further study or jobs in particular where she can extend the specific skills she has developed so far.
Educational psychologist
In time, after completing her level 4 qualification, Sue may feel ready to extend her training even further and study to become an educational psychologist. It would mean studying for at least three years to gain a British Psychological Society approved professional qualification at graduate or post-graduate level, depending on any accreditation of prior learning.
Progressing to this role from that of learning mentor, Sue would be able to build on her experience in supporting children and work directly with individuals or groups of children within educational settings, enabling them to overcome or manage their difficulties.
Educational psychologists work closely with other professionals and parents, sometimes providing in-service training to educational staff. More information on training routes to graduate and post-graduate educational psychologist can be found at the CWDC website www.cwdcouncil.org.uk
- Salary range (newly qualified): £31,302 - £41,001
Learning mentor co-ordinator
Sue has expressed an interest in an obvious next step from her current role - to co-ordinate the learning mentor programme across a group of schools in an area. She would be expected to support the ongoing professional development of mentors and enable them to work together to improve learning outcomes for children who are supported across the group of schools, linking the provision with other local authority initiatives and programmes, such as extended schools services. She may not work so closely with children in this role, as it would require more management responsibilities, but nevertheless she would be able to share and enable good practice within a locality. This could be interesting and stimulating work.
- Salary range: £22,000 - £24,500 (varies by local authority)
Children and young people's counsellor
As Sue has previously gained a Diploma in Counselling, she may consider extending these skills to a counselling role. A children's counsellor would usually, though not exclusively, work in a specific area such as bereavement, disability or addictions, sometimes working for voluntary organisations or local health and social care services. Knowledge and understanding of the emotional issues and vulnerabilities children experience when facing challenging life or learning situations is vital to do this job. Sue mentions that she currently supports children with a breadth of issues that could seriously affect the quality of their educational outcomes. A relevant counselling qualification endorsed by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy is essential.
- Salary range: from £25,000 but varies by employer
- Tina Jefferies, The Red Space Company, www.redspacecompany.com, email info@redspacecompany.com