So you want to be a mentor and make the difference to children's lives?

 

You are good with children and want to make the difference in their lives.  Maybe you have experience of a child who struggles with their emotions or social skills.  Maybe you are thinking about a new career or developing your skills.

 

So, here's how you become a mentor to work (or volunteer) with children and young people, gain a nationally recognised qualification and how you use this to get a job.

 

• Decide which age range you feel most comfortable with, we refer to under 12s as Children and 11-18s as Young People and 16-24 as Young Adults.  Think about any experiences you may have had to help you with this.

• Make sure you are mentally ready to be able to help guide and mentor children with their problems.  You will not be able to solve every problem for a child and mentoring takes a lot of practice in teaching them the skills to help them solve their own problems.  These skills are taught on the National Mentor Qualification courses.

 

• There are three Mentor Qualifications:

  • Children's Mentor Qualfication for those wanting to help under 11s with social, emotional and mental health problems;

  • Young Person's Mentor Qualification for those wanting to help address social, emotional and mental health problems in school or colleges with 11-20 year olds;

  • International Mentoring Qualification, for those wanting to help inspire and motivate teenagers or adults.

• The courses are three days long with 17 modules, followed by an assignment to gain the award.

• This qualification can be used as prior learning for some courses at Edge Hill University.

• The courses are suitable for those who already work in roles or those seeking employment.

 

• Decide if you'd like to find a role first or undertake the training.

• Training can be undertaken by Distance Learning by going to The Mentoring School.