Are you driven by a desire to uplift young people facing social, emotional, and mental health hurdles?
Tradewind Recruitment is actively seeking dedicated Student Support Mentors to provide crucial one-on-one guidance for Key Stage 3 (Years 7-9) and Key Stage 4 (Years 10-11) pupils within Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH) schools across the Scunthorpe area.
We're searching for an individual with genuine passion and empathy, eager to forge meaningful connections and offer tailored assistance. Can you empower young individuals to develop self-management skills, build resilience, and adopt constructive coping mechanisms? If you're ready to guide students towards success, we want to hear from you.
About the Opportunity
As a Student Support Mentor, you'll have a profound impact, delivering bespoke, student-centric backing. Your primary focus will be to cultivate a secure, trusting, and nurturing environment where young people can safely process their challenges, master healthy ways to cope, and foster essential resilience. Your interventions will be carefully designed to address specific areas such as emotional regulation, managing anxiety, processing trauma, boosting self-esteem, enhancing peer interactions, and improving academic engagement. This ultimately aims to enable students to thrive within their educational setting and beyond. This role is vital for providing intensive emotional and behavioural guidance.
Core Responsibilities
Individualised Student Guidance: Devise, implement, and deliver highly effective one-to-one mentoring and coaching sessions for students identified as requiring focused emotional and behavioural assistance.
Relationship Cultivation: Build and sustain strong, positive, and professional rapports with students, cultivating an atmosphere of trust, respect, and psychological safety.
Holistic Needs Assessment: Conduct informal evaluations to understand students' unique emotional and behavioural landscapes, then craft bespoke support plans that champion well-being and positive coping.
Fostering Emotional Intelligence: Actively assist students in developing emotional awareness, self-calming techniques, personal fortitude, and effective strategies for navigating personal difficulties, including stress and frustration.
Promoting Engagement & Positive Conduct: Work collaboratively with students to enhance their participation in learning activities, mitigate disruptive behaviours, and encourage constructive involvement within the school environment.
Child Protection Compliance: Strictly uphold all child protection and safeguarding protocols, adhering rigorously to school policies and national directives ("Keeping Children Safe in Education"). Ensure prompt identification and reporting of any safeguarding concerns to the Designated Safeguarding Lead (DSL).
Cross-Functional Collaboration: Engage effectively with teaching staff, pastoral leads, SENCOs, families, and external agencies (e.g., CAMHS, social care, educational psychologists) to ensure a comprehensive and integrated support framework for students.
Championing School Culture: Positively contribute to the inclusive, supportive, and therapeutic ethos prevalent throughout the SEMH school.
The Ideal Candidate Will Demonstrate
Qualifications:
A pertinent qualification in fields such as Counselling, Therapeutic Practice, Psychology, Social Work, Mental Health Nursing, Youth Work, or a related discipline (e.g., a Psychology Degree, Counselling Diploma, Level 3/4 Diploma in Youth Work Practice with an SEMH emphasis, or relevant Health & Social Care qualifications).
Experience:
Substantial practical experience (preferably 2+ years) directly supporting young people aged 11-18 in a one-on-one capacity, ideally within a secondary school or SEMH environment.
Proven capability in applying effective de-escalation methods, trauma-informed practices, restorative approaches, and strategies for supporting emotional regulation.
Extensive background in assisting young people with intricate Social, Emotional, and Mental Health (SEMH) needs, challenging behaviours, and/or Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND).
Skills & Attributes:
Outstanding active listening and empathetic communication skills, with the ability to swiftly establish deep rapport and trust with young people from diverse and often challenging backgrounds.
Profound patience, empathy, and resilience when navigating highly complex situations and varied student needs.
A non-judgemental, profoundly supportive, and solution-oriented approach to working with young individuals.
Robust organisational abilities, including managing a caseload and maintaining precise, confidential records.
A proactive, adaptable, and flexible mindset for problem-solving, particularly during challenging moments.
Safeguarding:
A thorough comprehension of UK safeguarding legislation and "Keeping Children Safe in Education" guidelines.
An Enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check (on the Update Service is highly advantageous) or a willingness to undergo one.
Application Procedure
To apply for this profoundly rewarding and influential position, please submit your CV along with a compelling covering letter (not exceeding two A4 pages). In your letter, detail your relevant experience in providing one-on-one support for young people with SEMH needs and how your skills align with this person specification.
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