Training our newest Peer Mentors

St Mary’s places great importance on the positive mental health of our students, and our peer mentoring scheme is one of a range of support measures we have in place.

During the summer term, a rigorous application process took place to recruit twelve additional Peer Mentors to join the existing team of eleven. On 12 September these newest recruits underwent training provided by Miss Elliott (Head of Boarding and Peer Mentoring Coordinator) and Miss Phillips (Housemistress), at Mary Ward House.

After some icebreaker activities, the morning session explored the theory behind the skills of listening and questioning, and in the afternoon the girls were given the opportunity to put the theory into practice. To do this they worked in triads and took turns at the roles of Peer Mentor, mentee and observer. All the girls found the training day invaluable in building their experience and confidence in this crucial role.

Find out more about peer mentoring.