You are here Schools > Opportunities for Students > Secondary School Programmes

Community Mentoring

About Community Mentoring: Now in its fourth year, Community Mentoring programme belongs to a consortium of projects in Leinster Pillar 1, a cluster of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) that is comprised of:

Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology (IADT)
Marino Institute of Education (MIE)
National College of Art and Design (NCAD)
Trinity College Dublin (TCD)
University College Dublin (UCD)
Royal College of Surgeons (RCSI)

This cluster is collaborating on a unique inter-institutional community-based mentoring programme that is coordinated through the Trinity Access Programmes, Trinity College Dublin. Online training modulees for host organisations are available by scrolling to the bottom of this page. The objective of Community Mentoring is to both build and strengthen existing communal ties in order to create equity of access and establish a sense of belonging within third-level education for under-represented communities across Dublin. The Community Mentors: Community Mentors are a valuable community resource, who help to share information and advice about their college experience to support and inspire prospective students. They are trained to build confidence, awareness of college life and courses, application knowledge and the many benefits of education. This year, 60 under/postgraduates or recent graduates will be recruited to act as Community Mentors. Community Mentors will be paired inter-institutionally to deliver 3 online mentoring sessions to a secondary school, further education institution or community group of their choice with the aim of inspiring the next generation of students across Dublin. Community Mentors are drawn from groups under-represented at higher education including first time mature students, students with a disability, Irish Travellers, lone parents and socio-economically under-represented students in third-level education. Community Mentors will work together in pairs with a group no larger than thirty. The resources used for Community Mentoring are most suited to:

Students in secondary schools
Mature students in further education and training institutions who plan to progress to third-level
Community Groups with young adults aged between 15-17
Community Groups with adult learners who plan to progress to third-level

The Community Mentoring Programme: The Community Mentoring Programme, funded by the Higher Education Authority (HEA) and underpinned by the College Awareness Week national campaign involves:

Effective recruitment and training of Community Mentors
Provision of materials and training modules for both Community Mentors and the group engaging in the programme to ensure meaningful mentoring sessions. Materials can be found on the College Awareness Week website, the official platform for Community Mentoring
Pairing Community Mentors from different HEIs together with an emphasis on promoting a diverse variety of student experiences, as well as a broad scope of options available to prospective HEI students
The assignment of 2 Community Mentors to a group of 30 in a school, community group or further education institute in the Community Mentors' own communities (where possible)