Components of the Work Education Program

The Community Volunteer Mentoring Program has been a part of the support services offered to students at Stanthorpe State High School since 2003.
The purpose of the mentoring program is to assist young people to stay connected to family, education and training by utilising Volunteer Community Mentors.

What is mentoring?
For this program mentoring is defined as “a one to one caring, supportive relationship or partnership between a mentor and a mentee that is based on trust. This relationship focuses on the needs of the mentored individuals and encourages them to develop to their fullest potential based on their own vision for the future.” Source: California Mentor Resources Centre

The Program
The school identifies students who they feel would most benefit from working with a mentor. Students can also self refer to the program or be referred by their caregiver. Typically the young people may be at-risk of leaving school, lacking focus, having difficulty working out career or life goals, having difficulty adjusting to a new location or family arrangement, in need of an adult role model and/or in need of a positive change in their attitude.

Students spend approximately one hour per week with their mentor, under a facilitated, supervised mentoring model, on site at school.

Volunteer mentors are interviewed, reference checked, undertake mandatory training and require a blue card before they can begin mentoring a young person.

The Training
Course in Youth Mentoring
Volunteer mentors complete 3 competencies from the course in Youth Mentoring. The course work takes one day (approx 7 hours), and then the mentors must complete ten sessions of mentoring, which forms their practical component, before the qualification is granted.

Australian Career Development Studies (ACDS)
To broaden the volunteers’ knowledge of career development learning opportunities volunteers are encouraged to complete ‘Component One’ from the ACDS programme. This component ‘Awareness of Career Development’ is a non accredited introductory programme covering the basics of career development in a brief, enjoyable and easy to understand format. Go to www.career.edu.au for more information