Year 10 peer mentors equipped to help younger pupils

7 February 2025

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Our Year 10 Peer Mentors feel fully equipped to help the younger pupils at Priory after two-days informative training.

It’s the second year Priory pupils have undertaken the ASDAN Peer Mentoring course delivered by Lancashire County Council's 'We Are With You' programme leader, Mr Tahir Mahmood.

ASDAN is an education charity and Year 10 pupils spent two days learning more about skills such as listening, teamwork, coping with problems and more to help them to mentor younger pupils. Among other tasks, pupils participated in role plays and communication challenges across five strands to gain a 10 hour ASDAN accredited certificate. They also bagged themselves a £25 'Love 2 Shop' voucher!

Peer mentoring can support children and young people by:

Enhancing social competence,
Building security within the setting and wider community by realising their worth as social beings,
Improving attendance and educational attainment whilst
Developing friendship skills in a positive environment.

Year 11 Umar, who's been qualified for a year now, said: “The option came up and I thought it would be useful and look good on my CV.

“We had two days where we learned about how to manage and control situations.

“Back in September we introduced ourselves to the Year 7s and made them aware we are there at break and lunch times to help them if they need us.”

Harry said: “I love helping people and I also feel I have some experience to help any Year 7s with any problems, like if they're struggling with something, and so on.

“I learned a lot from the two-day course and I feel ready to help.”

Kyle said: “I enrolled as a Peer Mentor because I want to help the younger ones and the course helped us to learn how to speak to them and guide them.”

Jacob said: “I know what I felt like in Year 7 so I feel I can empathise with their problems.”

Rehan said: “We want to be someone they can look up to and talk to.”

Kasper added: “I think I would have benefited from a Peer Mentor when I was younger. I feel I can share my experiences from when I was in Year 7. I think it’s a really worthwhile role and I want to help.”

Lead Practitioner for Personal Development, Ms Smith, added, "At Priory, we always look for opportunities to develop our pupils' life skills and provide leadership experiences. Our current Peer Mentor team has assisted younger pupils in the school, and our new additions will enable us to have more widespread coverage and provide some relief to our Year 11s as they approach their exams".