Learning Support Mentor, Mental Health Cardiff, Wales
Job description
The opportunity
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Learning Support Mentor to join the Learning Support Team within Student Services. You will be joining the team at an exciting time as we implement and shape our ‘open access’ provision for students. The main aim of the role is to contribute towards planning specialist support programmes for students experiencing academic challenges in relation to their mental health. Support will be delivered through individually tailored 1-1 sessions, groups and included in a digital toolkit of resources.
- To work with students on a 1:1 basis in order to implement specialist support recommendations from their DSA Needs Assessment Report and/or address challenges identified through engagement with other teams within Student Services, for example organization, managing the impact of medication, focus and concentration, establishing realistic study patterns, accessing campus etc.
- To support students to overcome barriers to learning using psycho-educational techniques, strategies derived from therapeutic and coaching frameworks leading to increasing the autonomy of learning and resilience for students alongside greater insight into the impact of their difficulties.
- To agree Individual Learning Plans with students supported on a 1-1 basis, tailoring sessions in order to meet individual needs and provide clear timescales for achieving goals.
- To contribute to open access support delivered by the Learning Support Team for students struggling academically by conveying specialist techniques through digital tools, resources, workshops and events thereby ensuring inclusive learning and equality of access to support for all students.
- To be able to recognise signs in students of disengagement with studies and/or a decline in mental health and take appropriate action to ensure safety of students and meet standards of professional practice.
What we are looking for
- An understanding of the challenges of studying at HE level and knowledge of the impact that mental health issues can have on a student and their studies.
- Knowledge of solution focused, psycho-educational strategies and coaching frameworks and how they can be applied in an educational.
- Excellent interpersonal and communication skills to be able to work on a 1:1 and group basis with a diverse range of students.
- Excellent organisation skills to effectively prioritise and manage a caseload.
- Excellent team-working skills.
- Ability to adapt approaches and working practice to meet the changing needs of students and the services.
- The ability to recognise signs of deterioration in students’ mental health and take appropriate action.
- Ability to create engaging digital content for use in webinars, workshops and independently by students and other stakeholders.
- Ability to use appropriate digital tools to support efficient practice including standard MS Office packages and online conferencing platforms, e.g. MS Teams.
- Experience of maintaining professional boundaries appropriate to the role.
- Experience of supporting people with mental health needs that vary in impact and severity in a professional capacity.
- Experience of maintaining accurate and up to date electronic case notes and records of interactions.
Why join Cardiff Metropolitan University?
In 2020, the University was named The Sunday Times ‘Welsh University of the Year 2021’; in 2021 it became the Times Higher Education ‘UK and Ireland University of the Year 2022’; and in 2022 it was ranked the top university in the UK in the People and Planet Green League.
Further information regarding the Learning Support Team can be found here: Student Services Learning support (cardiffmet.ac.uk)
In addition, the University offers highly competitive terms and conditions including:
- Annual leave of 35 days, plus 12 bank holiday / concessionary days (pro rata if part time).
- Membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme with generous contributions.
- Flexible and remote working opportunities.
- Excellent family friendly policies.
- Award winning sports and fitness facilities with subsidised membership, plus subsidised physiotherapy/complementary therapy/sports massage.
- Access to all library facilities.
- Salary sacrifice schemes including cycle to work.
- Free family access to our independent specialist wellbeing support provider, Health Assured.
If you would like to talk with us about this opportunity please contact Cari Thomas, Learning Support Coordinator, at [email protected] or phone 02920205547.
Should a high volume of applications be received, we may need to close this vacancy early. We therefore encourage you to apply as early as possible.
The University is committed to creating a highly inclusive culture. We offer family friendly and flexible working arrangements and a range of staff networks, forums and events to support and develop our people. We warmly welcome applications from those traditionally underrepresented in the higher education sector.
Further information
Please read our Candidate Pack or visit our staff recruitment website for information about working for us, our culture, benefits, work-life balance and our career progression and development opportunities.
