Academic Peer Mentors 

After attending regular training sessions over the course of the Michaelmas Term, 20 Year 12 pupils are ready to begin as Academic Peer Mentors to younger pupils, in the second year of this initiative. Having applied to act as mentors to other pupils in the school, these pupils have attended sessions on challenging academic self-limitation, questioning skills, listening skills and understanding different types of academic motivation.   

Over the course of the rest of the year, these mentors will meet with pupils from a range of year groups who have agreed that peer mentoring will help them to explore areas of challenge and will also help empower them to find their own solutions.   

One mentor, Emi, says “I volunteered to become an Academic Peer Mentor because simply, I want to help people. One career I have considered is teaching; the academic mentoring experience will be invaluable to me if I choose to pursue this path.”  

Another of our mentors, Bertie, noted that “the training was really interesting, it actually helped me identify how I learn and what drives me to do work”, while Rosie says, “I'm hoping that by working with my mentee they will feel more confident in areas that they were struggling in before.”  

Academic peer mentoring is one of many avenues that pupils can use here at RHS to develop the key attributes of service, leadership and empathy. Matt Routledge, Director of Learning, who is leading this initiative comments: “I am very proud of this cohort of Academic Peer Mentors and have thoroughly enjoyed working with them over the course of this term in preparing them to support their fellow pupils. Each of them has, in their own separate and personalised way, articulated their motivation for helping younger pupils with their studies and I am delighted to see RHS’ core values of service and selflessness reflected in their work.”