Young Mentors

About this resource

A mentoring program bringing together secondary school students and older Australians.

Level

Middle secondary, Upper secondary

Keywords

Digital resilience

Type of resource

Timeline template, promotional flyers and posters, trainer’s guide, slide pack, teaching plan template, mentor revision booklet, facilitators guide, videos, name tags, certificates.

Timeframe

Up to 3.5 hours of student training and multiple mentoring sessions between students and older learners.

Key outcomes

The Young Mentors program builds community engagement through intergenerational learning and shaping a culture of generosity. Your students can participate in the program as part of service learning, leadership, or work experience.

Students build teaching, communication and problem-solving skills and learn the value of patience, respect and empathy while improving essential digital life skills for older Australians.

This program can be used towards the Service section of the Duke of Edinburgh Awards.

Using this resource

The Tool Kit contains all the promotional, training and facilitation materials you will need to successfully recruit and guide your students through the program.

You will also have access to a program feedback report on completion.

Five simple steps for school coordinators

Register your school to access the Tool Kit of resources.
Find a community partner such as a library, aged care facility or community group that will recruit older participants to pair up with your students. A letter of introduction template, program overview and suggested program timeline are provided to help you with this step.
Promote the program to your students using flyers, posters and newsletter articles, all provided in the Tool Kit.
Train the student mentors to help an older person using the step-by-step training guide and slide pack provided.

The training covers the benefits of mentoring, the skills required to mentor, different learning styles and safety aspects of the program. It also provides students with resources and handouts to help with their mentoring.
Supervise the mentoring sessions over the time period agreed with your community partner (e.g. one hour per week, over six weeks). A facilitator’s guide and end of program certificates for all participants are provided.

Register

Here's what teachers thought of the program

Kay, All Saints' College

“Students are encouraged to think for themselves…with the program giving them a view of society beyond themselves," says Kay.

Maria, Beverly Hills Girls High School principal

School principal, Maria, sees the program empowering her students while helping the school build relationships in the community.

Michelle, St Mary's Anglican Girls' School

Michelle loves that the program is led by the students themselves. “It gives them an opportunity to teach and learn new skills.”

Helen, Beverly Hills Girls High School

“The program is an example of reciprocal learning… encouraging students to work with people of different backgrounds," says Helen.

Student mentor training

Students will complete training in mentoring an older person, including mentoring and its benefits, the skills required to be a good mentor, safety concerns, possible difficulties when mentoring an older person, support materials to help with mentoring and how to complete a teaching plan.

The training is interactive and includes a few short YouTube videos as well as some role playing.

A certificate for student mentor training hours is included in the Tool Kit.

Mentoring sessions

Following training, students are supervised as they mentor their older learners. The one-to-one sessions are fun, informal and tailored to cover topics that older people would like to learn.

Older learners use their own devices, so the new skills they learn can be put into practise straight away.

Here's what students thought of the program

Carmen, Beverly Hills Girls High School

“It’s a two-way street. It gives me a sense of reward and satisfaction." Carmen, Beverly Hills Girls High School vice captain.

Student, All Saints' College

Listen to how the program supported this student mentor to help an older learner engage online.

Student, Beverly Hills Girls High School

“I’m very privileged to be part of the program," says this Year 12 student.

Program timelines

The program delivery timeline provides guidance on how long the program will take.

FAQs

If you still have questions, please take a look at our frequently asked questions (FAQs) or contact us.