“A powerful tool for encouraging success”

Following the successful running of a mentoring scheme for Black pupils guided by Black alumni, I’m delighted to announce the launch of our OE Mentoring programme – open to all current sixth-formers and old boys. I warmly encourage you to get involved.

Our senior boys find it hugely helpful to gain the insight and advice of alumni as they follow in their footsteps. And happily, our recent alumni survey revealed that there is a great deal of interest among our old boys in providing this support – thank you!

You can gain a sense of what mentoring could be like from the case studies below, featuring the perspectives of both mentors and mentee. It’s important to say that OE Mentoring is an inclusive programme: we’re keen to hear from you regardless of your background or current field. The same goes for our current students: all those in Years 12 and 13 are eligible to take part.

Many of our old boys already provide this kind of support informally after taking part in activities such as mock interviews, careers guidance and delivering talks to pupils. OE Mentoring formalises the mentoring relationships that both pupils and alumni are seeking and makes it easier for us to match pupils with the mentors right for them.

You can get involved quickly and easily just by joining the new OE Mentoring group on QE Connect – details below. Signing up to this group doesn’t commit you to anything – it is just an indication that you would be happy to hear from current pupils in the coming weeks and months if you are a good match to their interests and aspirations.

Neil Enright

Headmaster

Join the new OE Mentoring group

We invite any OE who wishes to provide active mentoring support to current Sixth Form students to join the new OE Mentoring group. If you haven’t done so already, you’ll need to join QE Connect.

Once you’re signed in, go to the OE Mentoring group and select ‘join’ from top-right. Our Development Office will then approve your group membership.

Upon joining, please post on the group feed a summary of yourself, your experiences, and what sort of mentoring you can provide. We’ll let sixth-formers know about this group in due course and encourage those interested in being mentored to reach out to the OEs who are the best match for them.

Ifeanyi Chinweze (OE 2008–2015)
Ifeanyi, co-ordinator of the Black mentoring scheme, is an associate for Quantexa, a data-driven decision intelligence company. He read Biomedical Engineering at Imperial College London.

Why did you initially develop the scheme?

Teachers are an important part of personal development throughout an academic career. I had fantastic role models through my time at QE and Imperial, but had periods where I struggled to find answers to questions that arose being a Black student in largely non-Black environments. At university, I did not study under a Black lecturer, nor did I meet many Black lecturers otherwise. It was a similar situation during my time at QE. I was keen to start a mentoring scheme that would help fill that gap for students who would follow a similar path to myself.

Why is a strong mentoring programme important?

Entering the wonderful world of adulthood can be intimidating once it becomes clear how big that world is. In addition to providing valuable guidance and support, I believe that having a mentor can be a powerful psychological tool to encourage success. A mentor who has followed a similar path to you is a reference point for what you can achieve. This is a powerful way to change feelings of intimidation into ambition, and reinforce that you can accomplish whatever you set your mind to.

Emmanuel Olagbaju (OE 2005-2012)
Emmanuel, who works as a data analyst, studied Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering at Imperial. He was a mentor to Heemy Kalam.

Why did you choose to become a mentor?

I remember being unsure of what I wanted to do at university or for a career when I was younger. I thought how I would have benefitted from talking to someone from a similar background who had been where I was relatively recently and had the experience of finishing uni and starting their career. So, I wanted to be that person for someone else.

What do you hope boys will take from the experience?

I hope my advice and experience will be useful in their preparations for the future and in any tough decisions that need to be made. But also that they will remember that negative outcomes, and what we take from them, are an important part of personal growth.

How have you found mentoring so far?

Rewarding. It was good to know that my knowledge and experiences could hopefully answer some questions, but sometimes difficult knowing what the right thing to say was.

Heemy Kalam, current Year 12 student  

Being a mentee has been a brilliant experience. Mentors were assigned based on your aspirations; I've received engineering-focused information and guidance, alongside invaluable advice on professional development and university preparation. We exchanged details at the programme's commencement, and I've been able to contact Emmanuel with concerns and questions ever since, ranging from queries on technical concepts to selecting the right university course. In this way, the OE mentoring scheme has provided me with flexible and personalised support at a crucial stage within my academic career. I would strongly encourage others to join the mentoring scheme - it offers a valuable opportunity to learn from someone who has walked in your shoes, and is focused on helping you achieve your goals.

Safeguarding

For safeguarding reasons, please note the following important rules:

1. Only boys in Years 12 & 13 may be involved in mentoring.

2. All mentoring must take place within QE Connect. So, messaging between the OE and Sixth Form student should go via the direct-messaging feature of QE Connect, whilst any video-mentoring should use the QE Connect video calling tool (not currently available via the QE Connect app).

3. Mentors are not expected to act as counsellors, and must refer any matters or concerns relating to pupil wellbeing to the School by contacting Michael Feven (Assistant Head) via QE Connect, or via enquiries@qebarnet.co.uk.

And finally…

We trust you have enjoyed reading this edition of the QE Connect e-magazine produced by QE for all our old boys. What next? Well, if you haven’t already discovered QE Connect, our online social and business network, why not take a look.