The Path to Evolve
With a passion for education and an aim to work in the education sector for the betterment of the students, Tushar was immediately inspired by the work that Evolve did and he was eager to be a part of the Health Mentor model prescribed by Evolve. Having completed a masters in education, Tushar was able to apply that knowledge, along with his previous teaching experience and make a positive impact in the school he was placed in.
Tushar’s eagerness to support the struggling pupils and contribute to the development of the school as well as Evolve as a company has helped him to develop positive relationships with his mentees as well as the staff in the school.
Highlights of being a Health Mentor
Tushar is comfortable and confident in his role as the Health Mentor at his school where he is given the necessary independence and staff support so as to mentor the pupils from the school. The schedule at the school includes playground activities, classroom coaching, clubs and activities along with one-to-one and group mentoring sessions which helps him to be all around the school in different environments so as to have a holistic impact on the pupils. Tushar is at the school gates in the morning as well as during home time which lets him interact and form connections with the parents who are the most vital stakeholders of the pupils Tushar works with. Engaging the pupils in sporting activities, arts and crafts and joining them in playground games helps the pupils to form a trusting relationship with Tushar.
Tushar has been able to make effective use of the resources made available by Evolve through the leadership team and other Health Mentors and is able to use the session plans and resources in his own mentoring sessions thus being able to collaborate with his peers despite being by his own in the school. Tushar enjoys the learning and training sessions organised by Evolve for the Health Mentor Development Programme (HMDP) and is able to apply the learnings during his mentoring sessions in the school. Tushar, being an empathetic and enthusiastic Health Mentor, creates a safe space for his struggling mentees and provides them unwavering support.
Challenges of being a Health Mentor
Tushar works in his school on his own with rarely any interaction with the other Health Mentors around in London because of the hectic workload at school and student-centric work model. This sometimes leads to a lack of inspiration and ability to challenge himself during his work at school. Thus, Tushar takes extra efforts to be active during the training sessions and peer learning activities in the HMDP workshops so as to get inspiration from the work done by other Health Mentors from all over London and Birmingham.
Significant achievements
Tushar has been able to create great connections with the school staff right from year 1 to year 6 in his primary school. This has helped him to support his mentees with a holistic approach by keeping their teachers and support staff in loop. Tushar’s caring and empathetic approach has helped the mentees to form a trusting relationship with him and have shown significant improvement in their engagement at school which can be seen in the data as well.
Along with working hard for the pupils, getting the required data to track his progress has been one of the biggest achievements of Tushar. As he likes to say, he loves “badgering” the teachers and pupils to complete the feedback forms and surveys on a regular basis to track improving/decline in the pupils he works with as well as the rest of the pupils. Through the analysis of the data, he is able to present the data to his line manager at school and also is able to select his own mentees for the next mentoring cycle.
Why Health Mentors are so important
The role of Health Mentors is to bridge the gap between the academic development and the emotional development of the pupils at school. Some pupils get overwhelmed and stressed at school due to the amount of learning and work, disciplinary structures at school and an overall competitive environment while struggling with their own family issues. Some pupils with autism, ADHD and other special requirements struggle to cope up in this environment. The Health Mentor’s role is to provide them all with the necessary support to feel comfortable and safe at school and enjoy being happy and social at their school. The Health Mentor’s role is beneficial for the school as the school leadership team and staff get access to the wellbeing data and feedback from the Health Mentor so as to plan better for the health and wellbeing of their pupils.
