Youth Mentor | Secondary School Student Support

Central & South Bristol
Full-Time | Monday-Friday
Start Date: ASAP
Mainstream Secondary Schools

Are you the kind of person young people naturally connect with?

I am recruiting Youth Mentors to work alongside mainstream secondary schools across Central and South Bristol, supporting young people who would benefit from a consistent, positive adult presence in school.

This is a relationship-focused role. You'll work with students who may be disengaged from learning, lacking confidence, struggling with behaviour or experiencing challenges outside of school that impact their education.

Schools are looking for people who can genuinely connect with teenagers, listen without judgement and build trust, while still providing the structure, boundaries and encouragement young people need.

✅ What Does a Youth Mentor Do?

Your day could involve:

• Providing 1:1 mentoring to individual students
• Running small-group interventions
• Supporting students within mainstream lessons
• Helping young people re-engage with education
• Building confidence, resilience and self-esteem
• Supporting behaviour and emotional regulation
• Helping students set achievable personal and educational goals
• Supporting students within inclusion and pastoral spaces
• Encouraging positive relationships, routines and decision-making
• Working closely with teachers, SEND teams and pastoral staff
• Being a consistent and reliable role model

The aim isn't just to manage behaviour. It's to understand what might be driving it and help young people find more positive ways forward.

✅ Who Will You Support?

Every young person is different. Students may:

• Be disengaged or reluctant to learn
• Struggle with confidence or self-esteem
• Find it difficult to regulate their emotions
• Present with challenging or unpredictable behaviour
• Have SEMH or SEND needs
• Have Autism or ADHD
• Be at risk of suspension or exclusion
• Have difficult circumstances outside of school
• Need additional help developing positive relationships with adults and peers

You'll need to be comfortable supporting a wide variety of behaviours, emotions and personalities.

✅ Who We're Looking For

The best Youth Mentors aren't necessarily people who have spent years working in schools.

We're interested in people who are:

✔ Natural relationship-builders

✔ Confident communicating with teenagers

✔ Calm when situations become challenging

✔ Patient, resilient and emotionally intelligent

✔ Friendly and approachable while maintaining clear boundaries

✔ Able to motivate young people without lecturing them

✔ Comfortable with behaviour that can sometimes be challenging

✔ Reliable and able to provide consistency

✔ Genuinely passionate about helping young people succeed

✅ Your Experience Could Come From:

We'd particularly like to hear from people with backgrounds in:

• Youth Work
• Youth Mentoring
• Community Outreach
• Behaviour Mentoring
• Sports Coaching
• Children's Support Work
• Residential Childcare
• Family Support
• Pastoral Support
• Teaching Assistant / LSA work
• Alternative Provision
• SEND / SEMH Support
• Mental Health Support
• Tutoring
• Children's Charities or Community Organisations

Previous experience working directly with children or young people is highly desirable.

✅ What You'll Need

• Experience building relationships with children or young people
• Confidence supporting secondary-aged students
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills
• A calm and resilient approach
• Confidence maintaining professional boundaries
• Reliability and commitment
• Understanding of safeguarding
• Enhanced Child-Only DBS, or willingness to apply for one

✅ Why Apply?

• Make a genuine difference to a young person's experience of education
• Develop meaningful 1:1 mentoring relationships
• Work within mainstream secondary schools across Central and South Bristol
• Gain experience across youth mentoring, pastoral, SEND, SEMH and inclusion
• Access ongoing training and CPD
• Develop experience relevant to careers in youth work, teaching, social care, psychology and pastoral support
• Long-term and permanent opportunities available

Apply Now

If you're approachable, resilient, relatable and naturally good at building relationships with young people, I'd love to hear from you.

Emilia Harris
emilia.harris@teachingpersonnel.com
0117 239 1557