BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) Case Study - Bernard Aritua

A genuine interest goes a long way—BME Undergraduate

Bernard Aritua a Leeds University post graduate student was the Black and Minority Ethnic mentor attached to Allerton High School Leeds

“Show the mentee that you are genuinely interested in them and their development. Treat them with kindness and respect”. That was a theme that I took away with me from the training workshop. That advice seemed interesting but little did I realise at that stage just how useful it would be in the success of the programme.
It was clear to me that I had to handle more subliminal issues that were shaping their attitudes and affecting their school work. Based on the workshop training material and previous experience in mentoring, I widened the scope to include such things as; time management & SMART goals, study and reading skills, communication and reading skills, career planning & university, confidence building & motivation, organization skills, and work & life skills. I asked each student to select what they felt were the 3 most important issues they wished to talk about. I then proposed to spend half the time discussing these aspects and the other half doing the numbers.

Time management, study skills and career planning & university featured most prominently among the year 11’s. Among the year 10’s confidence building & motivation, organization skills and SMART goals were the issues of main concern. Some were having a hard time getting their coursework done in time and needed assistance in designing timetables for revision without making too much compromise in their social lives. It was clear to me that while mentoring was no substitute for the role played by parents, teachers and other institutions in the school, it played a complementary part in affecting the hearts and minds of these youngsters and gave them confidence in themselves and opened their eyes to the opportunities available to them.

It is worth noting that I got exceptional support from Carol Armitage the Aimhigher Coordinator and deputy Head Teacher at Allerton High School.

Bernard Aritua (University of Leeds Post Graduate student)