Photo – 2021/22 mentee, Emily Lawson (Upper Sixth) with mentor Suzanne Tanser (née Rinaldo, BHS 1988)

On Thursday 12th January, we welcomed our new cohort of Mentors into school to meet their Mentees as part of the successful BGS Alumnae Mentoring Programme, which began in 2017. We have 17 pairs taking part this year and each cohort attends an initial workshop with Head of Careers, Mrs Whitlock, which kick-starts the working partnership for the year ahead.

The BGS Alumnae Mentoring Programme is a great way for former students to reconnect with school life and work with a Sixth Former on subject matters that are pertinent to this age group, be it university applications, mock interviews or CV building etc. over the course of a year. The Mentors also have the opportunity to connect with the other Mentors and build their own professional networks further. For the students at a critical point in their education, the benefit of being paired with an adult, who is neither their teacher or parent, for supportive guidance and perspective is invaluable.

Our Mentors this year represent our three alumnae groups and are from a diverse range of careers including Dentistry, Education, Surveying, Engineering, Marketing and Property.  Eight of them have taken part in the programme before. As always, the programme receives a large number of applicants: for those students who were unable to be part of the programme this year have been connected with other members of our alumnae community, within their chosen field, to discuss their academic and career routes.

We are always keen to hear from our alumnae community that are interested in being Mentors. If you would like to find out more, please get in touch with Emma MacKenzie [email protected].