St Werburgh's & St Columba's Learning Mentor (Mrs Williams)
Learning mentors provide a complementary service to teachers and other staff, addressing the needs of learners who require assistance in overcoming barriers to learning in order to achieve their full potential.
I work with a wide range of pupils who need help. Some children need help for a brief period time and others may need help over a longer period.
The variety of issues covered is vast, ranging from punctuality, absence, challenging behaviour, friendship issues, well being and social and emotional challenges.
In addition to working with pupils, it is important to support and help families who might need help for a variety of reasons. This might be as a single agency or as part of the Team Around the Family process.
Team Around the Family
The Team Around the Family (TAF) is an approach to conducting an assessment of a family's additional needs (including the needs of the children) and deciding how those needs should be met.
The TAF will promote more effective, earlier identification of additional needs. It is intended to provide a simple process for an assessment of a family's needs and strengths, taking account of the role of parents, carers and environmental factors on children's development. It is a multi agency approach and so all professionals involved with the family will meet with parents to talk about how best we can help. The thoughts and feeling of the child are also listened to and acted upon. This gives parents an opportunity to voice how we can best help them as a family and give them chance to tell their story.
Open Door Policy
I have an open door policy to all children in the school and this gives them an opportunity to talk as and when they need. I am not a counsellor but I give children strategies to help them cope with any challenges they might face.
Parents
If you have any worries or concerns regarding your child or would like someone to talk to then please phone 01244 478968, email me or catch me on the gates at the beginning of the school day.
We believe that children should be treated as individual and given an opportunity to shine.
Well Being
Well being is a life skill that we would like to teach each of our pupils. Well being aids self esteem, resilience, lowers stress and makes us take time to rest our mind and body.
For more information see the following clip: