Emotional Health & the Learning Mentor

Learning Mentors bridge the gap between the academic and pastoral roles within schools. They work towards removing barriers to learning in order to promote effective participation, enhance individual learning, raise aspirations and achieve full potential within students.

A number of opportunities are available for pupils to engage in group activities with our learning mentor which involve the development of a wide range of skills:

Assertive Skills Group
This takes place on a weekly basis before the start of lessons. Aimed at students in Year 8 the course of work usually runs for twelve weeks, during which healthy discussion and debate about what it means to be a young woman in today’s society is facilitated.

Pupils are encouraged to address issues and concerns which relate to all areas of their social and emotional welfare and that of their peers. The wide ranges of topics include:

• Being a Girl in Today’s Society
• Establishing a Positive Body Image
• Establishing a Positive Mindset
• Making and Keeping Friends
• Establishing Independence Through Problem Solving
• Establishing Independence Through Assertiveness
• When it All seems Like Too Much
• Planning for The Future

The Assertive Skills Group has been up and running for four years; based on feedback from participants throughout this time it has been a resounding success.

Pupils particularly enjoy the freedom to discuss and express views in a ‘safe’ and non-judgemental environment. It also provides an ideal opportunity for pupils from different forms to get to know each other in a relaxed social setting.

The over-riding message of this group work is, "As a young woman in today’s society, you can be whatever you choose to be. Just go for it!"

Film Making
Film making is a regularly used activity in The Grey Coat Hospital. In recent years a number of mini films have been produced entirely by the pupils themselves.

Bringing pupils together to create a film encompasses a wide range of skills. In particular, pupils are encouraged to work together as a team, involving in depth discussion, sharing of ideas and decision making.

It is very rewarding for pupils to witness the process of film making evolve from story board creation to a completed, professional-looking product.

Once complete, a film is then shown to the rest of the school during a morning assembly. The confidence that the pupils have developed during the making of the film enables them to then have the confidence to stand on the stage and read in front of the rest of the school-a major achievement in itself!

Documentary Film Making
An exciting project which is currently taking place is an accredited fifteen week documentary film making course. Involving a number of Year 9 pupils the aim of this work is to promote positive self-esteem through exploring the history of female representation in art and the media, and understanding and dealing with feelings about body-image and physical appearance.

The project will involve extensive research in which pupils will analyse female body image and its representation in the media and how this impacts on their lives.

• Female representation in art and the media
• An overview of feminist thinking
• What lies behind eating disorders
• Celebrating difference: exploring cultural differences in the depiction of beauty

The pupils involved will be encouraged to use the documentary method to explore issues directly affecting their lives.

‘Taking a video camera in to the community as a regular method for teaching and learning gives young people a critical lens through which they can explore the world around them, and to develop a ‘critical literacy’; the ability to analyse, evaluate, and produce print, aural and visual forms of communication.’ (Steve Goodman,Director of Educational Video Centre in New York).