The Path to Evolve

After graduating University with aspirations for teaching PE and working with children, Andres saw being a Health Mentor as a way of doing this while also supporting the wellbeing of pupils who need it most. After having a peer mentor in school himself, he knew the impact that mentoring could have. Almost a year and a half later, Andres has made some great developments with his mentees and is a valued member of our team.

Highlights of Being a Health Mentor

Andres finds joy in his work just being around the pupils at his school, despite working with primary aged children, he finds that they have just as much to say as anyone else and loves having conversations with them.

He also enjoys feeling like a valued member of staff both within Evolve and at his school, and seeing the impact he has on his mentees and even in the pupils he doesn’t work with directly. Great Health Mentors like Andres don’t just support the pupils they are assigned to but strive to create and nurture a healthier school environment for all the pupils.

Challenges of Being a Health Mentor

Working in a school with many Hispanic and Black Caribbean pupils, Andres found the school facing unique challenges due to the language barriers within the diverse student body. Andres’ fluency in Spanish was an invaluable asset to the school. He was able to connect with students who struggle with English, communicating to the school about the support they need. He also helps teachers understand and support these students better. By being at the school gate, Andres can talk to parents directly, building trust and learning how to support their children best. Parents feel comfortable opening up to him, especially about important issues. Andres often deals with heavy topics, but his approach of listening and understanding makes a big difference. Families appreciate being heard, and Andres helps them find solutions together.

Significant Achievements

One of Andres’ proudest achievements being a Health Mentor was helping one young boy in particular who would get angry in class and didn’t know how to regulate his emotions, often becoming aggressive. The teachers struggled to manage this behaviour and Andres would often step in to remove him from the classrooms and spend time with him to help him settle down. After some time and hard work, Andres helped him to regulate his emotions better and integrate more with his class. He now attends after school clubs, like football and has reduced his aggressive episodes. 

Andres had noticed that his school had a very female heavy staff and noticed that because of this, a lot of the boys could feel unrepresented and not supported in the same way the girls did. Feeling the need to do something for the boys in his school, Andres got in touch with a local football club for support with incentives to help get pupils involved in the sport and learn self discipline skills which can then transfer into the classroom. He surprised the pupils with the opportunity to play in the club stadium, which motivated them to focus more and work harder in school.

Andres also runs a SEND exclusive PE class which allows pupils with special needs to enjoy and engage in physical activity without being overwhelmed by bigger and noisier groups.

Why Health Mentors are so Important

Self-titled class clown and ‘naughty kid’ when he was in school, Andres knows first hand the impact that a mentor can have on a child. Andres was given a peer mentor when he was in school, an untrained sixth former who sat down with him and helped him to make the progress he needed to get on with school. If an untrained older pupil can help make that kind of difference to one pupil, then the impact that a fully trained and qualified Health Mentor can have on a whole school is immeasurable.

Health Mentors are there to support the wellbeing effort of the whole school. This responsibility often falls to teachers, who already have a primary responsibility to teach the curriculum and focus on pupils’ academic development. As a result, welfare provision too often cannot be given the full attention it requires. Health Mentors are able to support teachers with health and wellbeing support, helping to close the gap between pupils and teachers and create a healthier school environment.