Daniel started working with Light Up Learning in S3...
and quickly found a shared interest in sports with his mentor. Many of their initial sessions were focused around their shared love of football, and Daniel enjoyed the chance to get out of the classroom and have long talks while walking around the school grounds. While there were many learning topics explored over the four years with LUL, Daniel lists football, great leaders, sports event planning and future studies as his favourite ones.
Daniel has reflected on the ways in which working with a Light Up Learning mentor benefitted him during his time at school:
“I am much more confident at speaking and am more confident in the way I study and learn. I can use skills I learned while learning for fun and apply them to my school work. I am better at debating now. I liked the balance of being able to chill at sessions and discuss non school subjects, but also work on planning for approaching school exams and the future””
Daniel says that another benefit of mentoring has been that “LUL sessions also helped improve my confidence in dealing with adults”. This led to him taking on extra responsibilities in school, including helping organise a sports event which raised money for charity, and also acting as a student ambassador for Light Up Learning by helping explain the impact of mentoring to visitors in the school.
His mentor says that a highlight of working with Daniel has been watching him grow in self belief. It has been extremely rewarding to develop such a strong and long lasting relationship with his mentee. He states that Daniel is almost unrecognisable now, so different from the shy young man he met all those years ago.
At Light Up Learning we want to help students develop a passion for learning and channel this into their future plans. This is exactly what Daniel has done, channelling his passion for sports into his plans for next year. After staying on at school until the end of S6, Daniel has been accepted to study Sports Management at college in September.
We are all so proud of the work he’s done to get there and he has promised to keep his mentor updated with how he is getting on!