Mentoring and Role Models

Mentoring Scheme for Female, Trans and Non-Binary Identifying Learners

WHAT’S A MENTORING SCHEME?

We’re a group of professionals who want to support students to develop career related skills and goals through a mentoring scheme.

If you want to join the scheme, you’ll be paired with a mentor who has relevant skills or work experience in the area you want to work in, or who can help you with areas of personal development you want to work on.

Your mentor will act as a confidential sounding board, and you’ll be able to discuss your career aspirations and personal development with them. Together you’ll put together an action plan to enable you to reach your goals.

The scheme will run until the end of the academic year, with students meeting up with, or having a video call with their mentors for an hour, once a month.

What the programme may be able to help with

We’d like to help you develop some skills you can use both in the workplace, and in your personal life. We’d also like to pass on the benefit of our experience so maybe, just maybe you avoid making the same mistakes we did.

Here’s some of the things you can talk to us about. There’s bound to be more, but this is a good starting point:

Improving confidence levels
Forming relationships through good communication
Talking to people you wouldn’t normally talk to
Persuading people to see your point of view
How you’ll be expected to behave at work
Goal setting
Preparing for an interview
Putting a CV together
Understanding your own potential
Understanding your strengths and how to use them effectively
Managing your weaknesses
What it takes to be a leader

What you can expect from us

We’re pretty reliable, so we’ll do what we say we will, and if we can’t we’ll tell you as soon as we can.

We’ll keep our discussions confidential, unless what you say comes under the college’s Safeguarding policy. If it does, we have to tell the college, but we’ll let you know before we do.

In our first meeting, we’ll agree some ground rules so we both know where we stand.

What we won’t be doing

We’re not your parents so we won’t be lending you any money or asking you to text us and let you know what time you’ll be home. And we won’t be picking you up a Maccie Ds on the way to our mentoring meeting either.

There’s no absolutes in the mentoring scheme, so if you don’t want to write an action plan, you don’t have to. While you’ll agree with your mentor what you’ll discuss and do in your meetings, you don’t have to keep any records or paperwork unless you want to.

What we expect from you

We just need you to turn up to your meetings (either face to face or virtually), and if you can’t, give us as much notice as you can.

Stick to the ground rules that you agree with your mentor in your first meeting, and you won’t go far wrong.

If things aren’t working out the way you thought they would, or you’ve gotten what you need out of the sessions, let us know. There’s no point in carrying on with the sessions if you don’t want or need to.

Testimonials

Megan Howells

Megan studied at Coleg y Cymoedd in 2017, gaining A levels in Law (A*), English Language and Literature (A*), History (A), and the Welsh Baccalaureate (A). She is now studying law at Oxford University.

“The mentoring scheme has provided me with an invaluable opportunity to develop both my skills and my interest in my subject. Prior to starting the scheme, I felt lost and unsure about how I could work out what I wanted to do post-university. However, working with Employment Judge Davies has provided me with a wealth of experience in a wide range of areas of law. The scheme has enabled me to be stretched and challenged in a way that has improved my confidence, knowledge, and legal skills. I am now in a position where I have a deep fascination with law, the resources to further my academic performance, and the practical experience to aid me with decisions in the future.”

Lauren Rice

Lauren started studying at Coleg y Cymoedd in 2017 and has completed her BTEC Level 3 Health and Social Care Diploma. She is currently studying for her BTEC Level 3 Health and Social Care extended diploma and wants to become a nurse when she graduates.

“The benefits of the meetings so far are I’ve been able to recognise qualities about myself which I’ve never recognised before. It’s allowed me to have more faith and belief in myself which I’ve never had before, this will help benefit me in the future as it will allow me to become more confident.

I think students would benefit from mentoring sessions as they help you discover the real you. Students mostly only concentrate on their studies but forget about themselves in the process, this is where people may start to feel down, but having mentoring sessions alongside your studies allows you to take an hour to work on yourself and work on what your personal battles are such as low confidence or low self-esteem.”