• develop the skills to work effectively as a learning mentor

• learn how to plan an effective mentor programme in school

• learn how to nurture your mentees' skills and abilities

• learn how to motivate children and young people.

Students have up to three years to complete this course, allowing them to work through the modules at their own pace. On average, however, it takes students around 6 - 8 months to complete the course, based on 2 - 3 hours study time per week.

why choose us?

Our tutorial support is second-to-none! You'll be assigned a personal tutor as soon as you enrol who will work with you all the way through. You can contact your tutor directly at any time if you have any questions or problems, or if you would just like a chat about how the course is going. Tutorial support is by e-mail and/or telephone.

Detailed Outline

Course books: The Art of Mentoring, Mike Pegg; How the Child's Mind Develops, David Cohen.

Module 1: What is a mentor? Setting study goals. Where are you starting from? Introduction to some key theories. Introduction to child development. Theories about adolescence.

Module 2: Roles of the mentor. Teacher, coach, model, counsellor, adviser. Introduction to key skills. Self awareness. The learning mentor relationship.

Module 3: Mentoring within school. Planning a mentoring programme to meet school/college needs. Confidentiality. Ethical issues. Boundaries.

Module 4: Identifying mentee needs: Identifying goals and strategies. Identifying your mentee's learning style. Self awareness and emotional literacy for young people.

Module 5: Working with mentees: The first meeting. Creating the right conditions. Establishing a working relationship with the young client. Keeping records. Endings.

Module 6: Behaviour issues for the learning mentor: Managing behaviour. Identifying problems. Understanding referral. A-B-C approach to behaviour change.

Module 7: Understanding the Family: Families in the 21st Century. Family dynamics and the child. Working with families.

Module 8: Motivation and inspiration: Understanding motivation, identifying mentees' motivating factors, motivation in practice.

Module 9: Influencing others: Teaching more effective ways of relating, negotiation and leadership skills.

Module 10: Time management as a tool: Organisation and planning, developing individual time management tools for young mentees.

Module 11: More principles of mentoring. Useful NLP techniques, thinking out of the box, problem solving.

Module 12: The practice of mentoring. A working alliance. Working with difficult and challenging mentees, the mentee in context, self-care for the mentor.