Mentor Induction Pack
Workshop one: pp 1 Buddy up mission; aims; and objectives.
Overview of Buddy up.
Workshop two: pp 20 What is mentoring?
The code of conduct.
Workshop three: pp 29 Values
Communication skills
Building relationships
Confidentiality
Workshop four: pp 38 Adolescence
Child development
Workshop five: pp 44 Child protection
Young people’s issues; and young people’s resources
Workshop six:
pp 50 GIRFEC
Children Scotland act 2014
Workshop seven: pp 54 Dealing with challenging behaviour
Re – cap
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Workshop one agenda
Mission; aims; and objectives
Overview of Buddy up
Topics and exercises covered:
Housekeeping and anonymous suggestions box
Find common ground exercise
Complete knowledge evaluation
The topics for remainder of induction
Discuss Buddy up mission; aims; and objectives
Discuss our definition of mentoring
Discuss the matching process
.
2
Mission; aims; and objectives
The Y Sort-It peer mentoring programme aims to provide care
experienced young people an opportunity to develop relationships with
each other whilst helping to increase their active citizenship and improve
their lives.
Our objectives are:
To support care experienced young people in their communities.
Allow young people to sustain positive relationships with someone
with a shared experience of care.
Encourage young people to become more active and healthy
members of their community.
The four key outcomes which we hope to help young people achieve
are:
Young people will gain benefit from building relationships with
fellow care experienced young people.
Care experienced young people will improve their lives based on
their personal goals.
Young people will increase their social capital and become more
connected to their community.
Young people will develop a range of intrinsic outcomes.
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Values
Y Sort It aims to connect; support; and inspire young people.
We encourage young people to be the best they possibly can be.
Connecting young people allows young people to be included in their
community; increase their social and personal development and result in
improved life outcomes.
We know that young people come with different life experience; different
personalities and live in different environments. Therefore we aim to
treat each young person in a non-judgemental manner whilst
understanding their needs and supporting them to progress their lives on
an individual basis.
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Who is Buddy up for?
Mentors
18 – 30 years of age.
Experience of care or an understanding of the issues young care
experienced people face.
should have appropriate values and behaviour to act as role
models.
Mentees
14 – 26 years of age.
Three months in a care environment.
Our definition of care experience is:
Looked after at home (this means you live in your family home)
Foster care
Secure care
Looked after through kinship care (with a relative)
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Definition of Mentoring Model
There are many definitions of mentoring which can range from highly
formal mentoring at one end of the scale to befriending at the other end.
There is also highly facilitative mentoring versus more directive
approaches.
The main model is one to one mentoring.
Mentoring will take place in the community with arrangements to
be made between the mentor and the mentee.
The activities will be agreed between the mentor and mentee
Activities will be tailored to meet the needs and goals agreed
between the mentee and the programme coordinator.
We plan to adhere to the following definition offered by David
Clutterbuck:
“In practice, mentors provide a spectrum of learning and supporting
behaviours, from challenging and being a critical friend to being a role
model, from helping to build networks and develop personal
resourcefulness to simply being there to listen, from helping people work
out what they want to achieve, and why, to planning how they will bring
change about.”
6
Core elements of the programme
There are five key elements of the programme:
Consistent relationships
Risk management and management support
Focused activities
Active brokerage and partnership working
Continuous measurement of effectiveness
Consistent relationships mean we will match a reliable mentor with a
mentee and will aim to keep the relationship going on a weekly basis for
up to a year.
Risk management and management support means two things:
Mentors will always have an experienced manager available for
advice whilst they are out with their mentee.
A range of risk assessment and management processes are in
place to protect both the mentor and the mentee
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Focused activities means we the mentor and mentee will plan their
activities in advance and these will lead towards goals the mentee has
identified.
Active brokerage and partnership working means we will help the
mentee to improve their knowledge of other organisations and agencie
and use these.
Continuous measurement of effectiveness means two things:
We will try to prove what we are doing, and
We will try to improve what we are doing
To do this we will ask the mentors to provide a verbal update to the
mentor coordinator after each contact.
For more detail on the key elements or the
processes for the programme please see the
Buddy up practice guide.
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Mentor pathway
This is a diagram of the different stages a mentor will go through
after they start with Buddy up.
Each stage is explained in more detail on the next page.
Induction
On – Going
Support and
Supervision
from
Programme
Coordinator
Optional
Progressions
Independent
Living Skills
Increase Social
Networks
Employability
Skills
Form an on-going
relationship with
young person
Achieve personal outcomes
Group mentor meetings
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Mentor pathway explained
1. After being accepted onto the programme following a short
application form and interview the mentors will go through an
induction process. This will enable the group to learn the
processes and systems within the programme. It will also outline
expectations relating to practice.
2. The young person will then be matched with a young person who
they can mentor once per week for approximately three hours.
3. On-going support and supervision will be provided to help the
mentor in their role.
4. Bi-Monthly group mentor meetings will allow for training and also
an opportunity for the mentors to build relationships with fellow
mentors.
5. An optional progressions element will be delivered by the
programme coordinator should the mentor require support in
employability; increasing social networks or independent living
skills. This will include an accredited SQA qualification.
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Mentor pathway in more detail
Application
A young person should contact Y Sort It by telephone; email;
Facebook or by dropping into Y Sort It.
From this point the programme coordinator will make sure the
young person is eligible before helping them to fill in the
application form.
At this point the young person will be notified they will require a
PVG check and two character references.
Induction
The 20 hours of induction training will enable the new mentor to
understand their role better.
Topics covered include:
What mentoring is; and the limitations of mentoring relationships.
How to keep themselves and the mentor safe during contacts.
The values and beliefs of Buddy up.
Other important issues including confidentiality and other Buddy up
policies.
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On-going support and supervision
Mentoring is a highly rewarding role. The role comes with a high
level of responsibility and can be nerve racking for people who are
new to it
Buddy up will fully support the mentor and be available when the
mentor needs support or guidance.
We ask that mentors have formal supervision once per month
initially. Formal supervision will be with the mentor coordinator
and will be a discussion.
In addition we ask the mentors to phone the mentor coordinator
before and after each contact to clarify any concerns they may
have.
Group mentor meetings
These will be run every two months and are an opportunity for mentors
to come together and chat about their experiences.
The mentors are encouraged to take control of these meetings and bring
their own ideas.
Optional support out with Buddy up
The programme coordinator is available to support mentors with their
employability skills as well as independent living skills.
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Mentee pathway
This is a diagram of the different stages a mentor will go through
after they start with Buddy up.
Each stage is explained in more detail on the next page.
Meet with Programme
Coordinator
Every three
months meet
with
programme
coordinator to
re-assess
needs and set
new goals.
Baseline
formed in initial
meeting.
Optional
Progressions
Independent
Living Skills
Increase Social
Networks
Employability
Skills
Three-way meeting
with mentor and
programme
coordinator
Achieve personal
outcomes
Form an on-going
relationship with a
mentor
Complete exit process
titled “Looking
Forward”
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Mentee pathway explained
1. After being accepted onto the programme the mentors will meet
with the programme coordinator. This will enable the mentee to
express their wishes and needs.
2. The young mentor; programme coordinator and mentee will meet
together for introductions and to agree on boundaries and nature
of initial activities.
3. The young person will then be matched with a mentor.
4. An optional progressions element will be delivered by the
programme coordinator should the mentee require focused
support in employability; increasing social networks or independent
living skills.
5. “Looking Forward” is a plan for the last month of the relationship.
The aims are to ensure a planned ending that enables the mentee
to understand what they have achieved throughout the relationship
and work out their plan for the future.
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Mentee pathway in more detail
Referral process for mentees
A potential referral will come through to the mentor coordinator
who will arrange to meet the young person and the referrer before
deciding on the young person’s suitability for the programme.
This meet will also enable the programme coordinator to provide
more information about the programme to the young person.
The mentor coordinator will then support the young person or more
likely the referrer to complete the referral paperwork.
After this the young person will be shown a description a mentor
has written about themselves and decide whether or not they want
to pursue the match.
The final part before the match starts is a three way meeting with
the programme coordinator; mentor; and mentee. This should
clarify expectations for the mentee; and a mentoring agreement is
signed.
Regular updating
The mentor coordinator and mentee will meet to form a base-
line wellbeing web and set goals prior to the matching process.
The mentor coordinator will then meet the mentee every three
months to re-appraise their needs and re-set goals.
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Exit planning for mentees
The idea is to end the relationships on a good note.
The mentor and mentor coordinator should agree and the mentee
should also be consulted prior to this process commencing.
The exit plan starts four weeks before the final contact and starts
with an exercise titled “looking forward”.
This encourages the mentee to think of a future plan and mitigate
any dependency they may have formed with their mentor.
It is also designed to enable the mentee to reflect on their recent
past and build social networks.
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The matching process
We know the importance of getting a good match at Buddy up.
Matching a mentor with a mentee where both parties feel comfortable
that it’s a “good fit”.
This is a four step process.
Firstly we must get to know the mentor
Secondly we must get to know the mentee
Thirdly we must make an appropriate match, and
Initial introductions and observation
These four steps will be described below:
Get to know the mentor
The programme coordinator will gather information on the mentor using
the following methods:
Mentor application form
Mentor brief interview
Contacting the mentors two references
If there is a referral professional involved such as social work
speak to them
The mentor induction will enable the programme coordinator to
spend time with the mentor discussing issues such as values;
health and safety knowledge; grasp of confidentiality.
Mentor will complete a biography sheet which asks them to
describe themselves and mention their interests
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Get to know the mentee
The programme coordinator will gather information on the mentee using
the following methods:
Speak to referral agent i.e. unit manager; social worker; foster
carer
Informal chat between mentee and programme coordinator
If the referral agent is not the lead professional the programme
coordinator will speak to the lead professional to gather more
information in relation to personality; history and risk; and
protective factors
Match mentee with appropriate mentor
Using the information collected above, the matching decision will be
taken between the programme coordinator; the Y Sort It project
manager; and the West Dunbartonshire mentoring programme
coordinator. All three will have to endorse a match before moving
forward.
At this point the programme coordinator will visit the mentee and the
mentee referral agent with the biography completed by the mentor.
They then have the choice to agree to the match or not.
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Initial introductions and observation
The initial meeting between mentor and mentee will be facilitated by the
programme coordinator in a three way meeting. This will enable
expectations to be clarified. In addition to this the first couple of contacts
between a newly trained mentor and their mentee will be observed by
the programme coordinator within Y sort it or potentially out with.
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Workshop two agenda
What is mentoring?
Code of conduct
Topics and exercises covered:
Ask anything you need to know from last session or put a note into
the anonymous suggestion box.
Discuss what mentoring is.
Discuss what mentoring isn’t and the limitations and boundaries of
mentoring.
Think of a person who has been important to you in your life.
What qualities and skills did they have? How did they treat you?
And how did this make you feel.
Presentation and video on mentoring.
Discuss the purpose of a code of conduct before brainstorming to
form a code of conduct.
Presentation on the Buddy up code of conduct
Discuss mentoring agreement
Case studies and scenarios based around code of conduct and
personal safety
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What mentoring is
Challenging and being a critical friend?
Role model?
Helping build social networks?
Develop personal resourcefulness?
Listen?
What they want to achieve and why?
Planning how they bring about that change?
“In practice, mentors provide a spectrum of learning and supporting
behaviours, from challenging and being a critical friend to being a role
model, from helping to build networks and develop personal
resourcefulness to simply being there to listen, from helping people work
out what they want to achieve, and why, to planning how they will bring
change about.”
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What mentoring isn’t?
Lecturing
Best friend
Colluding
A support worker
A parent
Thinking you know best and telling them so
Don’t have the mind-set of trying to reform the
mentee. Get to know them first.
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Code of conduct
The frontline mentors are the people who make the programme
work and without your buy in we will be unable to effectively
support young people to improve their lives.
The purpose of the code of conduct is to keep the mentor; and the
mentee safe; and uphold the good reputation of Y Sort It.
The mentor must demonstrate the values as outlined in the value
statement. In short the mentor should behave in an empathetic
non-judgemental and non-discriminatory manner.
Mentors should acknowledge that every young person is different
and they should take this into consideration. The likes; dislikes
and needs of the young person should be central to how the
mentor approaches the relationship.
The following guidelines will help to keep the mentor and mentee safe
and ensure the best possible developmental relationship for both parties:
Mentors should adhere to the advice from the induction training
and the on-going support and supervision processes; and in
particular in relation to relationship boundaries and limitations.
The mentor should be reliable and ensure they make contacts in a
timely fashion – therefore adhere to the stipulations within the
mentoring agreement form.
The mentor should take the mentees preferences into
consideration when choosing activities and inform the mentor
coordinator prior to participating in these activities.
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The mentor must familiarise themselves with policies and
procedures and adhere to them. These include vitally important
health and safety and confidentiality procedures.
The mentor should attend Mentor meetings every two months and
actively participate in supervision.
The mentor should provide an update to the programme
coordinator after each contact and verbally check in prior to each
contact.
The mentor must provide receipts or refund cash to programme
coordinator after accepting a cash advance.
The mentor should inform the Peer Mentor Coordinator if the
mentee offers them gifts and should not offer gifts to the mentee.
The mentor should not enter into any financial arrangements with
mentee such as loaning them money
There should be no alcohol, drugs or gambling during contacts and
if the mentee is thought to be under the influence the contact
should be ended immediately by the mentor.
The meetings between mentor and mentee should not be
conducted at eithers home address.
The mentor must ensure their mobile phone is working prior to
contacts and that there is adequate battery life and at least enough
credit to text the programme coordinator
The mentor must maintain their personal information which means
notifying the peer mentoring coordinator of updates and changes.
This includes the mobile number which will be used during
contacts; emergency contact details; current address and car
details if applicable such as registration, make, model and proof of
insurance and MOT.
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Mentoring agreement
Date:
This agreement is between: Mentee and Mentor
This document will be countersigned by the programme coordinator.
Copies will be given to both the mentor and mentee. The information
contained in this document and in the Meeting Logs will preserve
anonymity for monitoring and evaluation purposes. The mentee and
mentor will be responsible for updating the document as necessary.
Copies of updated documents will be forwarded to, countersigned by
and held by the project manager/co-coordinator.
A. Purpose and goals of the contacts – The mentor and mentee meet
for a contact each week in an agreed place and participate in an activity
of their choosing so long as it has been agreed by the mentor
coordinator in advance. The mentor will work towards an agreed action
plan.
B. Mentoring meetings - The mentee and programme coordinator will
meet prior to the three way introduction meeting with their new mentor.
At this meeting the mentor will agree an action plan and this will
influence what the focus of the contacts with their mentor will be. The
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mentee and programme coordinator will meet every three months to re-
evaluate the action plans.
C. Confidentiality - The mentor and mentee will honour confidentiality.
The degree of confidentiality and any exceptions will be outlined in the
mentor induction.
D. Challenges and premature ending of the relationship - In the
event of difficulties arising in the relationship both parties agree to
mediation by the supervisor/co-ordinator to conciliate or formally end the
relationship. Re-matching is at the discretion of the programme
coordinator. (Mentoring: Good practice guide 49)
E. The Role of the Supervisor/co-coordinator - The supervisor/co-
coordinator will provide on-going support and training for mentors.
E. Code of conduct - The mentor agrees to abide by the Code of
Conduct and any other policies relevant to the role of mentor.
F. Monitoring and Evaluation - The project may require mentors and
mentees to contribute to both written and verbal evaluation.
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G. Commitment to the term of the programme - The mentor agrees
to provide mentoring, on a one-to-one basis to one or more mentee/s,
for a period of __________ . Over that period the mentor and mentee
will meet _____ times per week. Dates and venues are as mutually
agreed and communicated to the programme coordinator.
Communications between mentor and mentee will be restricted to the
mentoring sessions and the mentee will not have the mentors personal
phone number and the mentor and mentee will not communicate on
social media.
H. Reschedule or cancelling – Either party must inform of
cancellations or rescheduling with as much notice as possible. Mentees
should contact the programme coordinator who will pass the message
on to the mentor.
Mentor signature: _______________________________________
Programme co-ordinator signature: __________________________
Mentee signature: ________________________________________
Date:
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Case studies
You are out with a 14 year old girl and she says to you:
“Can I tell you something but you can’t tell anyone?”
After this she then blurts out:
“I’ve dogged school a couple of times. My friends were all
taking legal highs but I didn’t”
You are out with a 15 year old boy and a few boys come
on the bus and he tells you he fights with them
You pick up a 14 year old girl from her mums house and
you have a good time at the cinema.
On the way home she decides she is going to stay out with
friends for a couple of hours before going home
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Workshop three agenda
Values
Communication skills
Building relationships
Confidentiality
Topics and exercises covered:
The group should discuss their own definitions of the words;
values; stereotypes; prejudice; discrimination.
Presentation on standard definitions for these words.
Discuss the concept of a “role model”
Watch a short video on role models.
Discuss what good communication looks like; and what not so
good communication looks like.
Presentation on communication effective skills.
Discuss how trusting relationships are formed and barriers to this.
Presentation on building trusting relationships.
Open ended question discussion and role play.
Discuss the concept of confidentiality.
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Stereotypes
• Can be positive or negative and contains assumptions about a
person which may not accurate
• When a label is attached to a person or a group it can lead to
negative opinions or prejudice being formed
Values
• Important and lasting beliefs or ideals shared by
the members of a culture about what is good or bad and
desirable or undesirable.
• Values have major influence on
a person’s behaviour and attitude and serve as
broad guidelines in all situations.
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Prejudice
• Usually a negative opinion or thought formed without taking time
and care to judge fairly
Or….
• A preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual
experience
Discrimination
• Can be direct or in-direct
• Unequal treatment as a result of stereotypes or prejudices –
both positive or negative
• To be treated in a detrimental way because of perceived
differences from others
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Role Models
What is a role model?
• “A role model is someone to look up to”
• Someone “you want to be like”
• “Sets an example”
• “Does good things”
• “Who inspires you,” “who teaches you,” and who “helps you.”
Be a positive role model
Realise you’re a role model
Listen, listen, listen
Respect their privacy
Don’t think you know everything
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Communication skills
There are a range of skills and things to consider when communicating.
We will concentrate on communicating in person rather than by email.
The three elements of communication are tone; what we say; and body
language:
Tone: This means the way we say something. It is possible to say the
exact same thing and it means two different things. We must be aware
of this.
What we say: This means the words we use.
Body language: Again our body language is something we must
become aware of. Do we have open body position or closed? Are we
engaged in what the young person is saying or do we appear distracted?
Two good techniques involve active listening and paraphrasing.
Active listening and paraphrasing are described on the following page.
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Active listening
Active listening means you should fully concentrate and engage in what
the other person is saying. We should not be thinking of what we are
going to say next whilst the other person is speaking.
Whilst listening we should demonstrate to the other person we are
listening. This can be achieved by giving the person your full attention;
making eye contact and nodding and saying a word or two to let the
person know you’re engaged.
Paraphrasing
Paraphrasing is an active listening skill and is a three step process:
Listen to what the person has said; make sense of what they have said;
put what they have said into your own words and repeat it back to them.
Other skills include questioning; clarifying; and summarising.
Questioning demonstrates we are interested and encourages the
person to speak.
Clarifying allows you to fully understand what the person is saying
and ensures you have not misunderstood.
Summarising is similar to paraphrasing and can be used to
reinforce that you have listened and fully understood what the
person has said
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Building relationships
For a mentoring relationship to be successful the relationship must be
nurtured. Below are some suggestions for building effective
relationships.
Both the mentor and the mentee should have realistic
expectations. The mentee should understand the limitations of the
mentoring role.
It takes a lot of time for some young people to trust people and it is
important a mentor realises this is a longer term commitment.
Young people are likely to feel safer if a mentor is consistent in
their approach. So mentors should do what they say they will do;
and not make promises they can’t keep.
The mentor should be on time and stick to the boundaries set out
elsewhere in the mentor induction…..Code of conduct!
Mentors can use “active listening” and in general be positive and
make things fun when possible
Treat the mentee how they want to be treated!
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Confidentiality
This session should be conducted with the Buddy up confidentiality
policy in mind.
Mentors are expected to share any information they think could
cause harm to the young person or any other individual to the
programme coordinator.
The mentee will have been told this prior to the relationship
starting by the programme coordinator. The mentee will also have
signed a “mentoring agreement” which outlines this.
Mentor should have a password lock on their phone to protect any
information or data from texts or emails.
The mentor must not share or repeat any information relating to
the mentee or their families with anyone other than the programme
coordinator unless instructed.
Page 26 and 27 of the “National guidance for child protection in
Scotland 2014” document outlines the terms of information sharing and
confidentiality in Scotland
http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0045/00450733.pdf
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Workshop four agenda
Adolescence, and
Child development
Topics and exercises covered:
Presentation on adolescence and child development Discussion on adolescence and child development
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Child Development and Adolescence
Children and young people move from dependence to autonomy.
This means they go from being totally dependent on another to
gradually becoming more independent.
There is an order to this process and this is demonstrated in the
table below:
Infancy Birth – 2yrs Dependent on care giver
Rapid growth
Childhood 2 – 12yrs Learning social skills
Adolescence 12 – 18yrs Thinking develops rapidly
Preparation for adulthood
Conflicts with peer pressure
Adolescence is the likely stage of our
mentees and there is more depth on the
following page!
Adulthood 18+ Support themselves economically
More mature
Adults also go through stages
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Adolescence in more details
In addition to physiological growth, seven key intellectual, psychological
and social developmental tasks are squeezed into these years. The
fundamental purpose of these tasks is to form one’s own identity and to
prepare for adulthood.
Physical development
By mid-adolescence, if not sooner, most youngsters’ physiological
growth is complete; they are at or close to their adult height and weight,
and are now physically capable of having babies.
Intellectual development
Most boys and girls enter adolescence still perceiving the world around
them in concrete terms: Things are right or wrong, awesome or awful.
They rarely set their sights beyond the present, which explains younger
teens’ inability to consider the long-term consequences of their actions.
By late adolescence, many youngsters have come to appreciate
subtleties of situations and ideas, and to project into the future. Their
capacity to solve complex problems and to sense what others are
thinking has sharpened considerably. But because they are still relatively
inexperienced in life, even older teens apply these newfound skills
erratically and therefore may act without thinking.
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Emotional development
Adolescents can shift moods rapidly, vacillating between happiness and
distress and self-confidence and worry. Also, complex social
interactions such as conflicts with friends, school pressures and
experimentation with romantic relationships can exacerbate the labile
emotional state of adolescents.
Adolescence is a time when teenagers begin to explore and assert their
personal identities. During this developmental period, teenagers engage
in a process of searching for where they fit in with peers and society at
large. It is common for adolescents to have an unstable sense of self
and try out new personal labels and associate with various peer groups.
Additionally, adolescents might struggle to define their sexual and
gender identity during the teenage years.
During adolescence, relationships with peers begin to take precedence
over relationships with the family. Although family interactions are still
important and essential for a teen’s development, adolescents often
place a stronger emphasis on their friends’ perceptions and values.
Likewise, during the adolescent years, teens might be strongly
influenced by their peers’ beliefs and behaviours. Paired with
adolescents' limited life experience and under-developed decision-
making skills, teenagers are often vulnerable to negative peer pressure.
Adolescents often test boundaries, in most cases, this behaviour is
driven by the adolescent’s need to develop autonomy, experience new
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activities and earn more independence. Even though teenagers can
benefit from testing boundaries during adolescence, they still require
rules and boundaries if they are to avoid negative influences and
achieve their potential.
It is often difficult for adolescents to look at circumstances from other
people’s perspectives. This is due, in part, to their still-developing brain
structures. Thus, adolescents might come off as self-centred and
focused on their own needs without considering how those needs affect
others.
Social development
As described an adolescent is searching for their identity. They are
looking to strike out on their own whilst also wanting to conform to their
peers. They will search for independence whilst still having financial and
other dependences on others. They will start to be influenced more by
peers and go on romantic dates.
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Workshop five agenda
Child protection, and
Young people issues and resources
Topics and exercises covered:
Presentation on child protection Case studies and scenarios on child protection Learning from significant case reviews An awareness raising session on young people’s issues An awareness raising session on resources and provisions for
young people locally and nationally
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Child protection
This session should be worked on with the Buddy up child protection
policy in mind.
The key points to remember about child protection are listed below:
Child protection is everyone’s responsibility
A child’s wellbeing should be taken into consideration
What is a child?
Everyone under the age of 16 is a child
For those between 16 and 18 the protective interventions that can
be taken will depend on the circumstances and legislation relevant
to that child or young person.
What is child abuse and neglect?
Abuse and neglect are forms of maltreatment of a child. Somebody
may abuse or neglect a child by inflicting, or by failing to act to
prevent, significant harm to the child.
The forms of abuse are physical; emotional; sexual; and neglect.
What is child protection?
Child protection means protecting a child from child abuse or
neglect. Abuse or neglect need not have taken place; it is sufficient
for a risk assessment to have identified a likelihood or risk of
significant harm from abuse or neglect
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Child protection scenarios
You are mentoring a 14 year old girl and she informs you she watched a
film with her foster carer and a friend. You realise a couple of days later
the film is an 18 and has some violence in it.
You are mentoring a 15 year old boy and he asks you if he can tell you
something…
On your last two contacts with a 14 year old girl she has asked you to
buy her something to eat. You think there may be a chance her gran –
who she lives with – may not be making her meals.
A 14 year old girl you mentor starts to shout at her mother. The girl gets
into her mother’s face and her mother slaps her. The girl starts shouting
towards you “you’re my witness; you saw her slap me”
A boy of 15 shows you a bruise they have on their upper arm and
suggests this happened at school. He then presents a few weeks later
with scrapes on his face and won’t discuss how this happened.
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Risk factors for teenagers (learning from significant case reviews)
Young person factors Family/ environmental factors
Agency factors
Mental health
problems
Risk taking
behaviours e.g.
self-harm;
substance
misuse;
offending
Long-term
involvement with
social work
Looked after with
multiple
placements
Non-
engagement with
agencies
Absconding
Previous abuse/
neglect
Social isolation/
lack of family/
community
support
Known to
associate with
peer/ family
involved in risk
taking behaviour
Lack of
resources to
meet young
people’s needs
Risks presented
by transition to
adult services
Professional
powerfulness
Mental health
needs not met
Housing needs
not met
Other considerations for mentors
The reasons for challenging behaviour/ attendance at school; or
absconding from foster or residential care should be explored
Think about patterns and levels of missed contacts
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Young people’s issues and resources
As stated in the core elements of Buddy up, brokerage is an important
part of what a mentor does. Mentors should be aware of issues that
might affect their mentee as well as organisations and resources who
can help. Some of these issues may be specific to the local area and
some may be issues which are prevalent around the country.
As Buddy up mentors you are local to West Dunbartonshire and have a
recent working knowledge of what is out there. It is good practice to
share this knowledge with other mentors at the mentors meetings.
Below are some thought provoking questions:
You are mentoring a 14 year old girl and she stays in her room for
most of the time. She only leaves her room to go to school. What
resources could she benefit from?
A 15 year old boy you mentor has recently had two deaths in the
family. Since then he has not been the same person and often
comes across as though he is a bit down. What resources could
he benefit from?
A girl of 14 who you have recently started mentoring is going out at
weekends and drinking alcohol. Last week she picked up police
charges for breach of the peace and vandalism. What resources
could she benefit from?
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Workshop six agenda
GIRFEC, and
Children Scotland Act 2014
Topics and exercises covered:
Presentation on GIRFEC Presentation on Children Scotland Act 2014
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GIRFEC (Getting it right for every child)
The national approach in Scotland to improving outcomes and
supporting the wellbeing of our children and young people by offering
the right help at the right time from the right people. It supports them and
their parent(s) to work in partnership with the services that can help
them.
Child-focused
The child and young person should be at the centre of the support they
receive and the decisions made.
Well-being of the child
The overall wellbeing of the child should be considered. This can be
assessed using the SHANARRI acronym. Safe; healthy; achieving;
nurtured; active; respected; responsible; and included.
Tackling needs early
We hope to identify needs early to prevent any issues or problems
getting worse in the future
Joined up working
Young people; parents; carers and the services they need should work
together
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Children and young person act 2014
After consulting CELCIS (centre of excellence for looked after children in
Scotland) we were advised young people don’t often know their full
range of rights.
This is especially true for the new parts of this act.
Remember our core elements say we value brokerage and we should
signpost young people to advocacy agencies when possible. “Who
cares Scotland” for example.
However it is important for mentors to have an understanding of the act
and the relevant sections are listed below.
If you want to read the full act you will find it at this address:
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/asp/2014/8/contents/enacted
Part 4: Named person
Part 5: The child’s plan
Part 9: Corporate parenting
Part 10: Aftercare
Part 11: Continuing care
Part 12: Services in relation to children at risk of becoming
looked after, etc
Part 13: Support for kinship care
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Workshop seven agenda
Dealing with challenging behaviour, and
Re-cap of the entire Induction
Topics and exercises covered:
Encourage mentors to understand and be aware of their own
tolerances and trigger points with challenging behaviour
Work through coping strategies for dealing with challenging
behaviour
Presentation on general tips for dealing with challenging behaviour
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Dealing with challenging behaviour
Challenging behaviour can come in many shapes and sizes and it is
important for each mentor to work out what they deem to be
challenging behaviour. Having the opportunity to brainstorm
challenging behaviours and discuss the nature of these behaviours
increases awareness.
For each challenging behaviour there are likely to be many factors
that contribute to why this behaviour. It is therefore beneficial to be
able to understand the causes and drivers of the behaviour.
Once we have a greater awareness of challenging behaviours and
some of the reasons for this helps us to identify solutions.
Some general tips for dealing with challenging behaviour
Remain calm. Do not get angry or upset
Listen; and understand the persons frustrations
Be aware of body language and remain unthreatening
Provide concise instructions where possible
Use dos and avoid don’ts when possible
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What we have covered
If you are unsure of anything please do not hesitate to ask the
programme coordinator or anyone else associated with Buddy up
including fellow mentors.
Workshop one Buddy up mission; aims; and objectives.
Overview of Buddy up.
Workshop two What is mentoring?
The code of conduct.
Workshop three Values
Communication skills
Building relationships
Confidentiality
Workshop four Adolescence
Child development
Workshop five Child protection
Young people’s issues; and young people’s resources
Workshop six
GIRFEC
Children Scotland act 2014
Workshop seven Dealing with challenging behaviour
Re – cap
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