Peer support programme implementation - Sale Grammar School

Peer support programme implementation - Sale Grammar School

Following information gathered from pupil voice after the second lock down, it was clear there was need for additional support for our students and their mental health.

We linked with the Anna Freud Centre who successfully trained 20 Year 11 Peer mentors to support our provision in school for younger year groups. The Peer Mentors themselves have received additional safeguarding training and are now fully implemented and utilised with our school.

Each mentor is assigned a mentee through our referral system - this can be from Heads of Year, form tutors or also through a self-referral system tile on our school intranet. There is now a designated meeting space that our mentors can book to use which is a quiet and calm space.

Using the Anna Freud documentation, Mentors sign a contract with their mentee in their first meeting to agree on how the relationships will work, and continue to meet for as long as is needed to offer support. Our mentors also have opportunity to reflect completing a proforma and can share any concerns with the Peer Mentor Lead should they need to. To ensure the school community was fully aware of available support, the Peer Mentors delivered an assembly to year 7-10 at the start of the year, which saw a significant number of students stepping forward for help or being referred.

Parents were also informed through our Mental Health and Well Being Newsletter and we have seen requests for support for students through home referral as well. Feedback from staff, students and parents has been extremely positive, and our Peer Mentors have really enjoyed the experience, as it has given them a sense of responsibility in giving back to the school community. It is hoped that moving forward we will also be able to use our Peer Mentors in Year 6 Transition Clubs, as well as offering extra-curricular activities that can encourage some of the younger year groups to have a free space to speak without it being a formal setting. We look forward to working with the Anna Freud Foundation again in training a new cohort to join our Peer Mentor network and also the opportunity for staff members to be trained to help deliver training to future Mentors.