Types of mentoring
- School Mentors
for Beacon School Scholars - Target Sheet Mentors
for all Beacon Scholars - Away Country Mentors
for Beacon University Scholars - Home Country Mentors
for Beacon University Scholars - Beacon Buddies
for all new Beacon Scholars - Peer Mentors
for Beacon University Scholars
Beacon Mentoring
Beacon Mentoring is designed to guide and assist Beacon Scholars as they travel up the vertical pathway through secondary and tertiary levels of education and move into the workplace.
We target those points in a Beacon Scholar’s education where performance targets are set and reviewed; where important choices have to be made; and when scholars have to be prepared for the next step in their development.
1. School Mentors
Key to The Beacon Scholarship for School, School Mentors are staff members of the Beacon School where a Beacon Scholar is enrolled, and are generally appointed by the Head of the School.
School Mentor responsibilities
School Mentor responsibilities include:
- Meet with Beacon Scholars first to set targets, then at mid-term and finally at the end of term to assess performance against target;
- Send completed Target Sheets to The Beacon Equity Trust on time; Target Sheets serve as donor reports for the charity and are an important aspect of monitoring the investment in Beacon Scholars and their education;
- They should be sufficiently trained to be able to offer tailored advice to Beacon Scholars on how to improve performance against targets;
- Act in a pastoral or consultative capacity to Beacon Scholars for any issues or problems they are encountering in any aspect of school life;
- They need to understand how to enhance leadership traits in children within a school environment;
- Help place Beacon Scholars in leadership roles so they can test their leadership capabilities.
2. Target Sheet Mentors
A team of Beacon Mentors work with scholars and School Mentors to help develop and fine-tune appropriate goals for Beacon Target Sheets. This team also produces an annual Summary Performance Evaluation (SPE) which is personalised for each Scholar.
The annual SPE reviews achievements in the past year as well as suggesting a focus for next year in each of the four Beacon Leadership Criteria: academic; extracurricular; social influence; and citizenship.
3. Away Country Mentors
Away Country Mentors are based in a university scholar’s education destination country. They live close to universities Beacon Scholars are attending. Increasingly, Away Country Mentors are themselves Beacon Alumni.
See Bios of of current Beacon Away Country Mentors.
Away Country Mentor responsibilities
Away Country Mentor responsibilities include:
- Meeting at least once a term;
- Bonding with their paired scholar socially, and widening their horizons;
- Acting in a pastoral or consultative capacity for any issues or problems scholars are encountering in university life;
- Offering career guidance and advice on how to improve performance;
- Connecting them to personal and professional networks;
- Understanding how to enhance their leadership skills and traits;
- Helping them find internships and jobs;
- Liaising with the scholar’s Home Country Mentor;
- Helping to shepherd these young people into ‘changemaker’ roles as they mature, to increase the probability that they will indeed one day return to their home country and ‘give back’.
4. Home Country Mentors
Beacon Home Country Mentors are individuals who have often been educated overseas at a world-class university, and have subsequently returned to their home country. They occupy a senior position in a profession, industry, entrepreneurial venture, or public service and want to ‘give back’ by mentoring a Beacon University Scholar.
Each current Beacon Scholar at University is ‘match-paired’ with a Beacon Home Country Mentor to guide their leadership development and keep them connected to their home country.
See Bios of of current Beacon Home Country Mentors.
Home Country Mentor responsibilities
Home Country Mentor responsibilities include:
- Make at least 6 contacts with their Beacon Scholar per year, and report on the contact;
- Assist in resolving any cultural acceptance or orientation issues the scholar encounters overseas;
- Maintain contact with the scholar’s family in their home country;
- Help find holiday internships/work experience/placements, and provide career counselling.
5. Beacon Buddies
This is an informal relationship facilitated by Beacon between a new scholar and an older Beacon Scholar at the same school or university.
The senior ‘Buddy’ helps the newcomer with their induction into the school or university, as well as ‘showing them the ropes’ for Beacon requirements, for example helping them understand the target-setting process; encouraging the adoption of Beacon values; getting them involved in extra-curricular activities; and building confidence.
6. Peer Mentors (P2P)
The P2P process is designed to create a broad framework for discussion on how to build self-efficacy. Beacon University Scholars are each paired with another university scholar, likely from a different university, to exchange and give feedback on Target Sheets.
The process begins with scholars giving suggestions on strengths and areas for improvement that they see in each other’s Target Sheet and goes on to exchanging tips on career advancement, internships and life at university.
