·       Peer mentoring can increase the use of critical thinking skills, improvements in interpersonal skills, and the use of conflict resolution skills. 

·       Success was seen in all areas of the research.
·       A one- or two-year age difference is most effective

·       This model boosted self-esteem on both the mentor and the mentee

·       Students began to problem solve 

·       Meet over lunch times and over the phone

·       Mentee were trained in active listening, goal setting and counselling skills. 

·       Some peer programmes used in transitions

·       Improvements in attendance and grades

·       Continual assessment of the student is required for a good outcome

·       A survey of English primary and secondary schools which aims to give an overview of the way peer support is currently used. 

·       Responses received for 240 schools. 

·       Definition of peer support as “an umbrella term that describes a range of activities and systems within which the potential of people to be helpful to one another can be fostered through appropriate training.”

·       Questionnaire used to understand the use and characteristics of peer support initiatives in schools.

·       77.5% of responding schools said they had peer support in place.

·       22.5% of responding schools said they did not use peer support.

·       More secondaries than primaries use peer support.

·       Allowance made for non-responding schools by using conservative estimations and adjusted assumption based on non-responsive bias. 

·       Study conducted in 9 regions of England, no regional variables found. 

·       The most common peer mentoring approach used was befriending, the least common was peer counselling.

·       Training for peer mentors was mostly inhouse by school staff and usually involves the older year (Y5&6, Y10&11).

·       Common reported outcomes fell into three categories: whole school, peer supports and targeted groups.

·       Most common outcomes for peer supporters included the development of social, empathetic, communication, interpersonal, leadership, listening and life skills along with increased self-esteem and confidence. 

·       Most outcomes were reported by either an improvement in “school ethos” or an improvement in a specific area such as bullying.

·       Secondary schools were found to use a wider variety of approaches than primaries which the article suggests is due to a more developmentally appropriate, diverse approach being needed for 0oldere students.

·       Primary school were found to use less formal peer support, secondaries use a more formal approach. 

·       The response rate and sample size – 726 school selected, only 240 responded.

·       It was felt that schools with an interest in peer mentoring were more likely to respond than those with no interest as they would be more positive about it.

·       Adjusted calculation estimates of non-responding sample size used which do not provide a true figure.

·       More recently adopted methods of peer support via the internet were not included in the survey.

 

"Mentoring in education involves pairing young people with an older peer or volunteer, who acts as a positive role model. In general, mentoring aims to build confidence, develop resilience and character, or raise aspirations, rather than to develop specific academic skills or knowledge." 

Mentors typically build relationships with young people by meeting with them one to one for about an hour a week over a sustained period, either during school, at the end of the school day, or at weekends.  

·       Sone useful key finding including the growth of peer mentoring over the last 10 years and how until recently most findings have been qualitative.

·       Provides an over view of current provision in England.

·       Notes that research is still relatively limited.

·       Refers to the significance of the US and research carried out over there.

·       Discusses various pilot schemes that have been trialled in England.

·       Refers to two articles which look at peer mentoring and transition.

·       Discusses the Outcome Measurement Tool and the previous lack of previous formal monitoring.

·       Explanation of how the measurement tool was created.

·       Overall findings are that despite gaps in the evidence base, peer mentoring has a role to play in an education setting.

·       Schemes that are more formal are found to be more effective, have more longevity to them and produce greater results.

·       The report ends with a number of case studies.

·       I was surprised by the lack of published research on transition from primary to secondary school despite the huge change both academically and socially

·       There was a lack of consistent language utilised across research articles

·       There was a large amount of research about the transition from school to university 

·       I struggled to find current, peer reviewed literature that spoke purely about peer mentoring schemes in the UK.
The literature review highlighted the fact that there is little research around peer mentoring and transition. Most transition related research involves the move into university or into the workplace and therefore does not fit with the EMHP remit. However, the articles based on peer mentoring in general show the benefits to be gained from the programmes. There are also lots of non-academic repots and guidance documents available which support the use of peer mentoring, and these contain some particularly useful pieces of information.

A recurring theme through much of the literature is the lack of quantitative data available to measure outcomes. Most data is qualitative, and whist this provides a useful insight into the benefits and problems associated with peer mentoring it does not provide clear, numerical data to back up the findings.

·       This paper wanted to look at a) target groups of mentors/mentees b) the design of mentoring programmes and their settings c) the methods of recruitment used d) the ways mentors/mentees were matched e) training provided for mentors f) aspects of the mentor/mentee relationship associated with good outcomes g) the way effective support could be supplied to mentors

·       A) Mentees - Most recent meta-analysis suggests mentoring programmes have a stronger effect when they serve young people who are experiencing either individual and environmental risk simultaneously or environmental risk alone.  Another theory is CYP experiencing intermediate levels of difficulty (rather than severe or mild) will benefit most.  Mentors – mentors themselves benefit from peer mentoring programmes. The benefits of mentoring include increased self-reflection, self-awareness and improved interpersonal and communication skills.

·       B) This paper is primarily concerned with PM in school environment. Offering mentoring sessions in school has been found to help students to direct positive feelings about the program toward the school, improving their overall attitude to school.  However mentoring in schools has limitations – limited by academic calendar and PM relationship rarely takes place out of school time and is therefore often less intensive.  Engagement with stakeholders has a positive impact on success of programme e.g. involving parents from the beginning is beneficial.

·       C) Currently little evidence about how to recruit mentors/mentees.  Literature agrees its important to screen participants to check they can partake in a relationship of a longer duration as short term relationships are associated with negative experiences. 

·       D) Studies suggest the importance of matching mentors/mentees appropriately and thoughtfully.  The thinking is having more common ground between mentors/mentees is more likely to make the relationship sustainable.  Research also suggests matching based on interests is more important and that mentors/mentees who share similar interests make the mentors/mentees feel closer and mentees more emotionally supported. 

·       E) General consensus in literature is how important it is to train mentors prior to any activities and that ongoing training is important to sustain mentoring relationships. In a qualitative study lack of mentoring skills was cited as a major contributing factor to the ending of mentor/mentee relationship.  Mentors might benefit from training on how to sustain mentees interest in the mentoring relationship and how to encourage them.

·       F) Researchers have attempted to identify the components of mentoring relationships that are essential for a high-quality mentoring relationship. The main components of mentoring relationships identified as essential pertain to the youth’s interpersonal history, social competence, and developmental stage, the duration of the mentoring relationship, program practices that help establish and support the mentoring relationships, and the youth’s family and surrounding community.  Duration of relationship is also important – evidence suggests while enduring peer mentoring relationships have benefit, short lived relationships can actually be harmful.

·       G) Mentors – General consensus in literature is mentors need ongoing support during the relationship. This is essential because programmes where mentors quit prematurely or which provide short term mentoring have been associated with negative outcomes.  Ongoing support also ensures the fidelity of the programme implementation.  Mentees – Mentoring has traditionally been 1:1 but now groups are common.  Research has indicated mentees in groups feel less close to their mentors so groups might be more beneficial in improving social skills and peer relationships.  

·       The research focused mainly on the transition from primary school to secondary school. This was chosen as their can have often be a negative impact on student’s mental health and wellbeing. The study focuses on measuring the outcomes of emotional and behavioural wellbeing during transition in secondary school to promotes positive mental health in children and young people. 

·       Schools have identified the need to use preventative interventions to support social and emotional needs during primary transitions, these are explained to be gaining in popularity in schools (Department for Education, 2015); SEMH groups are often identified for early intervention as they are seen as a vulnerable group of students.

·       It was identified that the key reason why peer mentor schemes can be so affective is that Pupils respond to people they can relate too. In the study 12 of 13 mentors noticed positive changes in students which included increased confidence, preparation for secondary school and relational changes. The key aspects where to build trust and supportive relationships.

·       Identified for early intervention where young people ages 11 transitioning to year 7. The peer mentoring scheme focused on mental health wellbeing and resilience. It was recognised that girls are more likely to be diagnosed with ‘emotional disorders and boys with ‘behavioural disorders’ (Sadler et al.,2018). This rate was noticed to increase through mental health disorder presenting as anxiety and depression when moving into high school.

·       Mental health difficulties were recognised to be more prominent in SEND students not necessarily through increased emotional mental health disorder but increased rates of bullying when transitioning to high school. It was also shown that pupils from SES (low socio-economic housing) and LAC and those with parents of MH disorders had the highest rate of developing further mental health disorder into adolescents.

·       It was reported that most children express some concerns prior to the transition, typically related to getting lost, bullying, increased workload and friendship difficulties.

·       The paper showed that peer mentoring can provide a cost-effective preventative action to help promote wellbeing, build connections in students, and helps provide positive impact for mentees for up to two years.

·       The paper shows that barriers could include schools having insufficient resources and staff time to affectively run and monitor the peer mentor scheme. The paper reports the importance of the schools needing to affectively take ownership of the peer mentor scheme as this is dependant up on how successful the outcomes are.

 

·       The article shows that key mentoring scheme has boosted academic achievement within its students however it was unclear as to whether the affect is long term. The article reinforces this by explaining how there is not as much research on this development as it is a new scheme but has recognised the positive affect it has on confidence and self-esteem in the short term 

·       It was recognised to increase incentive for the mentors who are participating in the scheme schools noticed better engagement when linking how the students would gain good skills and qualities for university and jobs. The mentors also highlight how it was important to them to stand for a higher purpose in schools. 

·       The peer mentoring scheme was noted as being successful when it was performed once a week during break times or other times in school hours such as form time. The article also highlights how results on impact on the peer mentoring scheme have been difficult to collate because self esteem and confidence is hard to measure. 

 

Thoughts 

The reading highlighted the need for further research to be undertaken within the peer mentoring scheme transitions from primary to secondary school. It also highlights the importance to choose a specific focus group that are identified as needing support with mental health and wellbeing. Risk factors in peer groups should be those who are at greater risk for developing further mental health difficulties into adolescents. It also highlights the need to generate a new form of quantitative data which can show how students wellbeing and mental health has been impacted on through out the peer mentoring scheme. It would also be important to show results of these students throughout the entirety of their academic years to gauge the impact on long term impact.

 

·     In 1999, three Y10 were pupils matched with three Y6 pupils, based on gender, choice of hobbies, and having attended the same primary school. Nelson (2003) hoped this matching process would form a good base for a cross-age friendship. 

·     The pairs met for one session in the summer term of Y6, subsequent sessions were agreed on by the mentoring pair. 

·     No documentation of the meetings was recorded and the sessions were not supervised. 

·     The programme was evaluated qualitatively through self-evaluation sheets (details of this were not included) and structured interviews with participants. 

·     Mentors said they had improved communication and problem solving skills, and felt more responsible for their own learning. They said they had helped their mentee build confidence and settle into the school. 

·     Mentees reported to feel less worried about starting secondary school and more confident in general. 

·     Both thought more meetings prior to the transition would be beneficial. 

·     Following this positive feedback the programme expanded for a further two years, culminating in the whole of Y10 being trained as mentors. 

·     However, an evaluation of the whole-year approach to PM was not included in the paper and therefore the evidence cannot be critically evaluated, which would have been a useful advancement in the literature. 

·     Moreover, the data is 20 years old, and therefore its relevance to YP in schools today needs to be held in mind while considering the findings.

·      Mentors and mentees were trained separately and matched based on ‘expected compatibility’ and gender; and subsequently met for 40 minute weekly sessions comprised of individual and group-based activities for one school year. 

·      The researchers evaluated the project in 23 schools (out of 65 involved in the project) in 2010-2011. 

·      Fifty mentees said the main benefit of having a mentor was having someone to talk to about problems, making new friends, and knowing someone was ‘looking out for them’ at school.

·      Fifty-six mentors identified a sense of satisfaction from helping, and spoke about development of their confidence, listening and communication skills. 

·      Mentors reported mentees had increased confidence following the mentoring and were less likely to be bullied. However, they thought better supervision would ensure commitment from mentors and mentees. 

·      Interviews with 38 teachers highlighted the importance of the PS element of the program, and suggested this was the key to the positive outcomes. They thought the mentees felt safer and more settled at school, and had better friendship networks. 

·      Teachers attributed the mentoring intervention to the increases in self-esteem and confidence for the mentees and mentors and the reduction of bullying in the school. They identified challenges in setting up the 33 program, finding the time for the YP to meet regularly, and in the mentee selection process.

·     Twelve programme staff offered thoughts on the experience of working with different schools. They reported some operational difficulties, which included schools complying with the model and matching process, and the differing levels of support offered by the link staff member in the different schools. They also noticed a contribution of the programme to the wider school ethos particularly when the programme had been running for over five years.

·     The researchers concluded that this PMP can be considered a model of good practice when compared to best practise school PM guidelines (Karcher, 2007). They suggested that although PM is not a solution to the challenges of school transition it can offer a unique and valuable contribution in addition to other preparatory events and pastoral initiatives. 

·     This study benefits from a larger sample and input from all main stakeholders; however, generalisability is limited as the sites were selected on the basis of best fidelity to their model, which may have positively skewed perceptions compared to the broader range of schools involved. This is important as schools are often unable to stick strictly to intervention models due to staffing and time pressure.

·       Programme delivered across three years (2017-2019) – longitudinal study

·       Overall 377 participants (mentors and mentees)

·       Conducted in secondary schools in London – 8 secondary schools located in 3 London boroughs

·       “Mentors’ ages ranged from 11.08 to 17.75 (M = 15.72, SD = 1.62), and mentees’ ages ranged from 11.00 to 18.25 (M = 13.34, SD = 1.52).” (pg. 2) – not a transition-specific peer mentoring programme

·       Mixture of quantitative and qualitative data

·       Measured wellbeing, resilience and mental health

·       Observed an overall improvement in the mental health of mentees

·       Observed an improvement in the sense of participation at school and at home in mentors

·       Noted that higher attendance at peer mentoring sessions showed more positive outcome

·       Highlighted that for mentees “the importance of having someone to talk to” (pg. 1) affected the impact of the programme

·       Highlighted that for mentors “gaining new skills and knowledge” (pg. 1) was a “mechanism of impact” (pg. 1)

·       Mentees – Year 6s

·       Questionnaires given to mentors and mentees

·       19 out of 20 mentors responded

·       “At least 65 per cent of the mentors agreed or strongly agreed with the statements relating to personal development” (pg. 253)

·       “At least 70 per cent of the mentors agreed or strongly agreed with the statements related to interpersonal skills” (pg. 253)

·       “All but two of the mentors responding agreed or strongly agreed that their work had increased the chances for younger students to learn” (pg. 253)

·       “…all of those who responded to the questionnaire (95 per cent) agreed or strongly agreed that they had helped the younger students to feel less worried about secondary school” (pg. 253)

·       “Games with letters and words was the most popular activity (16 positive responses), then speaking and listening (11 positive responses) and reading together (9 positive responses). Games with numbers was the least popular activity (6 positive responses).” (pg. 253)

·       10 out of 20 mentees responded

·       “On every statement relating to personal development 90 per cent of pupils responded positively, agreeing or strongly agreeing” (pg. 254)

·       “At least 80 per cent of the responses agreed or strongly agreed with statements relating to interpersonal skills” (pg. 254)

·       “All the pupils responding felt that they had been helped to learn” (pg. 254)

·       “The activity which was thought to have helped them the most was games with letters and words (9 positive responses), next came reading together (7 positive responses) and speaking and listening (3 positive responses). The least popular activity was games with numbers (2 positive responses)” (pg. 254)

·       “All of the Y6 students stated that they had enjoyed working with their mentors, that they felt comfortable working with them, that it had been good to have a chance to do something different and that they wanted it to continue. Four of them said they would like to work with their mentor more often. When asked why they would like to continue, several comments centred around the fact that they thought they were learning something” (pg. 254)

·       “The aims of developing friendships, easing transition, extending learning opportunities, and developing the confidence and interpersonal skills of older students along with their awareness and responsibility in being able to help others, have been achieved if the responses to the questionnaires are taken as evidence.” (pg. 256)
·       Doctoral thesis – not published in a journal, likely not peer-reviewed

·       Good source of references for wider reading regarding peer mentoring

·       Looked at transition from Year 6 to Year 7

·       Mentors – Year 7s

·       Mentees – Year 6s

 

·       Good source of references for wider reading regarding peer mentoring

·       Looked at transition from Year 6 to Year 7

·       “Young people prefer support from people who can relate to them; therefore peer approaches, predominantly peer mentoring interventions are increasingly being used in schools (Podmore, Fonagy, & Munk, 2018).” (pg. 2)

·       “Despite broadly positive outcomes for YP taking part in school-based PMPs, research investigating PM for school transition is limited in the UK” (pg. 30)

·       Offers recommendations for peer mentoring programmes

·       Mentees – 1^st Year Psychology students (241 ppts; 166 F, 65 M)

·       At a metropolitan university in Australia

·       “In this project, we used the five senses of student success model developed by Lizzio (2006) as a framework for a mentoring programme designed to better support students in the first year of their undergraduate psychology study. The programme also focused on the enhancement of effective learning approaches and psychological literacies.” (pg. 30)

·       “The five senses of student success model is a conceptual summary of the variables that predict first year student satisfaction, engagement, and retention in higher education (Lizzio, 2006, 2012). The model is based on student needs in five areas (capability, connectedness, purpose, resourcefulness, and culture) and can be used to shape transition strategies, without prescribing solutions (Lizzio, 2006).” (pg. 30)

·       “Significant positive change was noted on three of the five aspects of student success, with an increase in deep and strategic learning approaches and a decrease in surface learning.” (pg. 30)

·       “Significant change was reported for six of the nine psychological literacies.” (pg. 30)

·       “Compared with previous cohorts, grades also showed a shift upwards, with a higher proportion of final grades in the range between 60% and 80%.” (pg. 30)

·       “Together, these findings suggest that proactive interventions in the first semester of first year can enhance important aspects of learning and increase success for undergraduate psychology students.” (pg. 30)

 

·       Considers cross age peer mentoring as a model to enhance the social relationships, learning skills and positive identity development of young people. 

·       This article considers the evaluation process of a peer mentoring programme implemented in a secondary school in Australia. 

·       Article is broken down into four sections

·       1. International literature and the local programme implemented.

·       2. Evaluation strategy and methods – a qualitative approach.

·       3. Key findings focusing on voices of the students – mentors and mentees.

·       4. Link findings to literature and how they support or diverge existing literature. 

Key points from discussion:

·       Finding suggested that the benefits of the programme went further than the development of literacy skills.

·       Potential for enhancing social, interpersonal, and problem-solving skills.

·       Mentees benefits included: “improvement in literacy skills, affirming learning experiences though engagement with supportive and trustworthy peers, and a greater sense of agency”

·       Mentor’s benefits included: “the development of communication, problem-solving and leadership skills, together with a strong sense of satisfaction about contributing positively to the program”.

·       Researchers acknowledge that they were unable to gain any measurable data and relied purely on qualitative data. 

·       The researchers recognise that pre and post programme data would allow them to capture the findings.

·       Also noted that gender and ethnicity data would allow them to identify any social differences in outcomes.

·       It was also noted that staff engagement in the programme is also necessary otherwise they could inadvertently block learning activities.

Conclusion

·       The evaluation shows the potential and value in the cross-age peer mentoring programme, highlighting the main benefits for both academic and no academic skills.

·       It highlights meaningful, responsible relationship as being central to success. 

·       It acknowledges the need for a more rigorous, measurable way of recording outcomes.