Company Description
Leyton Orient Trust (LOT) is the charitable arm of Leyton Orient Football Club, a professional club based in East London. The Trust delivers a wide range of engagement and development programmes for communities across Waltham Forest, Tower Hamlets, Hackney, and Redbridge. Its mission is to design and run programmes and interventions that are relevant, engaging, and inspiring for local residents. Since 1989, LOT has invested over £30 million in North and East London, positively impacting the lives of more than 100,000 people. The Trust continues to expand its community reach, offering meaningful opportunities for learning, participation, and social impact.
Purpose
The Schools Mentor will be responsible for delivering high quality, targeted mentoring support to young people participating in the Building Futures Programme.
The programme aims to support young people in Years 8–10 who may be experiencing challenges that could affect their engagement with education and increase their risk of becoming not in education, employment or training (NEET) in the future.
Working directly within partner secondary schools, the Schools Mentor will establish consistent, positive and trusting relationships with young people, providing personalised one to one support to help them overcome barriers, improve their engagement with education and develop the skills, confidence and resilience needed to achieve their potential.
The post holder will deliver weekly mentoring sessions over 2 full terms, using a person centred, strengths based and trauma informed approach. They will work closely with school staff, families and relevant professionals to understand individual circumstances, identify areas of need and support positive and sustainable change.
As a representative of Leyton Orient Trust, the mentor will use the positive influence, values and community reach of professional football to inspire young people, promote inclusion and help them build stronger foundations for their future.
Main Tasks
- One to one mentoring and relationship building – Delivering weekly, structured one to one mentoring sessions with an identified caseload of students over two full school terms. Build positive, trusting relationships, providing consistent guidance and tailored support to help young people overcome personal and educational barriers.
- Education engagement and personal development – Support young people to improve their engagement, attendance, motivation and attitude towards educations. Support students to develop confidence, resilience, communication skills and positive decision making through targeted mentoring.
- Wellbeing and individual support – Provide a safe, supportive and non judgmental environment, adopting a person-centred and trauma informed approach. Help young people recognize challenges, develop positive coping strategies and access support, where appropriate.
- School and Partnership Working – Build an effective relationship with the partner school, maintaining regular communication with school contacts, sharing appropriate updates on pupil engagement, progress and any concerns.
- Monitoring, Evaluation and reporting – Maintain accurate mentoring records, attendance registers, session logs and individual progress reports.
- Safeguarding and professional practice – Promote the safety and wellbeing of all young people, following organisational safeguarding policies and reporting concerns promptly. Maintain professional boundaries, confidentiality and appropriate conduct while promoting equality, diversity and inclusion.
- Attend training events, supervision meetings and other team, formal and informal meetings as required to contribute to professional, service and self-development.
- Fulfil other duties such as are required from time to time.
Person Specification-Essential/Desirable
Knowledge
- Background (demonstrable achievement)/qualifications in youthwork and or mentoring. Must hold a recognised Mentoring qualification at L2 or above.Essential
- Experience of working with young people at risk of becoming NEET. Essential
- Training or experience in trauma informed practice. Desirable
Skills and Experience
- Experience of providing support to young people with complex needs in a one to one setting.Essential
- Experience of working with young people to create and follow action plans.Essential
- Experience of designing and delivering interventions to address barriers to education, employment and training.Essential
- Effective and creative engagement skills with young people.Proven ability to build positive relationships with children, young people, school staff, and community stakeholders, with strong interpersonal and communication skills. Essential
- Experience of advocating on behalf of young people. Desirable
- Experience of coordinating services for young people.Desirable
- Experience of mentoring, using coaching tools, conducting assessments and providing group/individual support.Essential
- Familiarity with community clubs and the work of the English Football League Trust.Desirable
- Good IT skills, particularly Microsoft Excel, and Outlook.Essential
- A high level of organisational skills with the ability to schedule and review work effectively and balance conflicting demands.Essential
- Ability to review, monitor and evaluate casework and address relevant issues to ensure effective outcomes.Essential
- To be flexible in the hours of work, including evenings and weekends.Desirable
- Understanding of safeguarding, child protection, and inclusive practice, with a commitment to promoting equality, diversity, and safe learning environments. Essential
Other
High levels of emotional intelligence and empathy.Essential
Personal attributes
Passionate about people and have a genuine respect for views, talents and expertise of others.Essential
Lead by example and act with integrity at all times.Essential
Ability to innovate and inspire with a willingness to take calculated risks and challenge the norm.Essential
Committed to continuous improvement, strive to deliver the best possible outcomes.Essential
Enthusiasm for community development, education, sport, or wellbeing, and an interest in the social impact work of a football club trust. Essential
