Remote Learning Mentor Service

9th June 2020

Dear Parents and Carers,

Remote Learning Mentor Service at Highfield

As you know, here at Highfield the emotional and physical well-being of our school community is of the utmost importance. In recognition of this, as well as acknowledging the many positives there may be for families in spending more time at home, there may also be many unforeseen struggles and challenges that begin to have an impact. To address this potential need, for the rest of this current term we are pleased to be able to offer you the opportunity to access a remote Learning Mentor Service at Highfield.

While operating in school the Learning Mentors offer pastoral support to pupils who are experiencing ‘barriers to learning’. This covers anything that may stop pupils fully engaging with their learning and school life and aren’t specifically educational. These may be related to a young person’s emotional resilience, confidence or self-esteem, friendship and social challenges, or situations at home such as a family bereavement, along with a whole range of other issues.

During this period of home learning for much of the school community, we would like to extend this support and offer help to families and pupils while at home. If you have any concerns about how your child is presenting in relation to their emotional well-being or behaviour, and feel it is impacting on their ability to access home-learning tasks, affecting relationships within the family or is significantly different to their ‘norm’ we would like to invite you to contact us here at Highfield.

The service will be run by our two Learning Mentors, via telephone contact and email support. In the first instance you will be asked to complete the attached referral form outlining your concerns and return it to school at the e-mail address below. One of the Learning Mentors will get in touch via email and organise an initial telephone appointment at a time that suits you, to discuss your concerns and assess any next steps or further support as required.

We anticipate this being a short-term intervention, involving up to a few weeks of support with potential signposting to other services and resources sent out where required, but each case will be assessed and responded to on an individual basis. Records will be kept, and information shared where appropriate in accordance with the school’s current policies and procedures. This will ensure continuity of support going forward and that the right members of staff/professionals are able to get involved if needed. If you have any questions or queries about this, please don’t hesitate to ask.

The e-mail address to contact us on is: christina.townsend@highfield.northumberland.sch.uk

Thank you for your continued support and we hope to see you all soon.

Kind regards

Christina Townsend & Clare Mcintosh

Learning Mentors

LEARNING MENTOR Referral Form JUNE 2020