Step Up Mentors 2025

Over the past couple of months, our Step Up Mentor group has been meeting at the PIE office for their Saturday sessions – and they’ve been busy!

In the first few sessions, we explored what it really means to be a mentor. The group talked about the kind of role models they want to be, what’s expected of them in the Step Up Mentor programme, and how they can support younger students through the big transition to secondary school.

One of their biggest challenges so far? Planning the Step Up Family Day! The goal was to put on a fun, welcoming event for Year 6 pupils and their families who are about to make that leap from primary to secondary. And with a set budget, the group had to get stuck into everything—from choosing activities and organising the space, to thinking about food, signage, and making sure everyone would feel welcome.

Our amazing peer mentors ran the Family Day session themselves, welcoming the new Year 6s and their families with fun games, chats, and loads of positive energy. It was all about making connections, easing nerves, and giving everyone a feel for what Step Up is all about.

We hosted the session at Make Good, which was the perfect space for the day. The mentors absolutely smashed it, each of them leading their own activities such as pin the tie on the student, creating school survival packs, glitter tattoos, planting sunflowers, hook a duck and many more.

It was such a great start to the Step Up journey, and we’re so excited to see how this group grows over the year. Big thanks to everyone who came along – we loved having you there!