Mentor Me Programme in Primary Schools

Mentor Me is an in-school mentoring service offered free to Chippenham Primary schools. The service is free because it is delivered by volunteers – all recruited, vetted, trained and supervised by The RISE Trust. The RISE are kindly supported by Chippenham Borough Lands with funding to enable this.

The aim of Mentor Me is to support pupils by complimenting the pastoral work undertaken in schools and offers pupils, referred by school, regular, quality 1-1 time with a positive, enthusiastic, interested adult. The volunteer can act as an advocate and is someone who only has the best interests of the child at heart.

The mentor offers consistency and continuity via weekly term time sessions (for up to 6 months) and builds a relationship based on trust and respect. The mentor can be a listening ear and sounding board for the mentee, if and when they wish to talk about themselves, their school, siblings, friends, home life, something they have seen or heard that’s unsettled or confused them – anything they want to chat about.

Mentoring can provide relaxed ‘time out’ of the structured school day for pupils who would benefit from some quiet time or time to talk and has had many positive effects on the young people we’ve worked with. Although mentoring takes place in school the mentor is seen as independent by mentees as they are there on behalf of the RISE Trust and not a member of school staff and only attend school to see the mentee. A mentoring session, usually an hour in length, can consist of arts and crafts, playing board games or simply chatting depending on the mentee’s likes and their age. Mentoring is not counselling but the mentor can support a child with problem solving and, if need be, can liaise with the school in support of the child

Enquiries regarding volunteering with The RISE Trust can be made to Fay Norris on 01249 463040 or email to FayN@therisetrust.org

SENCo – “As always the child benefitted from The RISE mentoring service throughout the duration of the support. This child remained calm and listened to and supported. Thank you.”

Mentoring in Secondary Schools

The RISE Trust runs the ‘Mentoring’ programme in Chippenham secondary schools which provides valuable one-to-one adult interaction to pupils with a trained member of staff. This service is provided through a Service Level Agreement with The RISE Trust and takes place at the secondary school.

A mentor is seen as ‘neutral’ and the young person can talk without being judged.
informal youth work education can be delivered in a fun and engaging way on a 1-1 basis in this time covering a range of topics such as healthy relationships, county lines, vaping and substance use, school attendance and many more.
Mentoring is about building a relationship of trust and respect, and then journeying with the young person.
A mentoring session consists of talking and often the student wants to talk about their feelings and worries.
Mentors provide a listening ear to the young person.
Our trained mentors are not counsellors, and cannot make decisions for the students.
The mentoring sessions take place in school for typically 30 minutes weekly

‘R’s confidence has improved and has a much happier disposition which is great to see, and this has made a significant difference to her in school and how she feels. Chippenham Secondary School’ 2023

Community based Mentoring

Offering 1-1 support and time for young people with a trained member of staff, this can be based at home or in community venues or in the RISE community hub in Chippenham. Helping young people to have a space to talk and be listened to, and supported to achieve goals and positive outcomes. Referrals are accepted by young people, their carers or any professional working with the young person. Contact the team on 01249 460340 or email carinas@therisetrust.org for more information and a referral form.

“I have really liked coming to see my mentor. She has given me a little push to be able to help myself without feeling pressured and anxious. I will try to keep going.” young person aged 15