Volunteer engagement with young people at risk of exclusion: developing new perceptions of pupil and adult relationships

In 1999 the English government launched its Excellence in Cities (EiC) initiative, one aspect of which advocated the deployment of mentoring as a means of supporting children and young people who were having either social or academic difficulties in school. In English schools the designation ‘learning mentor’ has generally been used to describe salaried non-teaching school support staff who work with school and college students and pupils to help them address barriers to learning (Department for Education and Skills 2001). In identifying these barriers, an emphasis has been placed upon those personal and behavioural challenges that pupils face in schools that often inhibit social inclusion or lead to disengagement from learning. The introduction of mentoring approaches was one of a number of initiatives intended to raise educational standards and promote both educational and social inclusion in locations perceived to be problematic in terms of social cohesion and low aspiration within specific areas of England. In 2003 it was reported (Office for Standards in Education 2003) that the introduction of mentoring systems in schools was beginning to have benefits in terms of raising pupil expectations, and tackling issues related to poor attendance and disaffection.