Engaging students to aspire and achieve

Ablaze‘s Secondary School programme, West of England Mentoring is bringing business mentors together with teens as they prepare for GCSEs.

It’s a programme of 6 sessions over about 12 weeks, each session with its own specific focus.

Groups of 6 to 8 adult mentors work together to get up to 20 students thinking about their future.

“My favourite thing about the group mentoring sessions was how they were teaching us something that we haven’t learnt or thought about before. We found all the people very helpful and encouraging and they all were very kind-hearted people to work with” (year 9 mentee)

Training workplace mentors to inform and inspire young people

We believe the employability, skills and experiences of every kind of worker can be inspirational to school students.

We provide all the training and resources, but encourage mentors to tailor programmes to their own sectors, interests and personalities. Sessions are delivered in school and in the workplace, under teacher supervision.

Helping students stay engaged with school

We can all remember wondering if classwork would be relevant later in life. This programme targets pupils who are capable but may benefit from extra encouragement to fulfil their potential. Mentors providing ideas and encouragement help them plan, work and achieve.

Building mentors’ skills and confidence too

It’s not just students who benefit from our group business mentoring programme. As well as the rewards of helping students in our community, volunteers build and test valuable skills: listening, communication, planning and persuasion. The next generation’s insights are eye-opening, and teams from different business functions build understanding too.