Mentoring Matters workshop,12 and 13 November - places still available 

This workshop will teach you all you need to know about setting up and running an effective youth mentoring programme! 

Places are still available on our next workshop. The details are:

Dates:  Tues 12 and Wed 13 November 2013

Location: Rosepark Hotel, 92 Gladstone Road, Parnell, Auckland

Start time - day one:  The workshop will start at 9.30am to allow for people travelling from out of town. 

Finish time - day two:  The workshop finishes at 4.00pm on Wednesday. 

The Rosepark Hotel offers special accommodation rates for people attending the workshop.   

This is an excellent programme if your organisation is either thinking of establishing a Youth Mentoring programme or is wanting to ensure your current programme is aligned with international best practice. Topics covered include:

• planning and designing a programme to meet your communities needs
• recruiting mentors
• selection and screening of mentors and mentees
• mentor / mentee orientation and training
• successfully matching mentors and mentees
• supporting the mentor / mentee relationship, and
• Evaluating programme outcomes

Read more about this course and register online now. 

Conference presentations and papers now available

Conference presentations and papers that have been made available are now uploaded to our website. Click here

There is also a small selection of photos that were taken at the conference.  click here  

On behalf of the Youth Mentoring Network thank you to our many speakers who generously gave their time to present at the conference. 

Caption:  Sir Anand Satyanand and Supt Wally Haumaha

Conference surveys - what people told us

We asked conference delegates to provide feedback on: 

• the conference itself, and
• the New Zealand Youth Mentoring Network's key priorities.  

Feedback on the Conference

Delegates' feedback was overwhelmingly positive, rating the conference highly on the range of speakers; opportunities to network and programme content.  Overall ratings for the individual conference sessions and speakers were also very positive:

• four sessions were rated good
• ten sessions were rated very good, and
• seven sessions were rated excellent.

Nathan Mikaere-Wallis aptly named session 'Bootcamps won't build a frontal cortex' was the most well-received session with a rating of 4.55 out of 5.

Specific suggestions tabled for consideration were:   

• Share conference participant information to foster connections
• Provide opportunities to establish networks with other agencies to share information and knowledge and to explore collaborate opportunities - people are keen to understand who is doing what in the sector
• Incorporate interactive group discussions to delve more deeply into key issues providers and the sector face and to explore possible solutions
• Incorporate different faiths and cultures
• Make it more affordable and accessible to grassroots organisations.

Feedback on the New Zealand Youth Mentoring Network's key priorities

Feedback received indicates people are very supportive of role the NZ Youth Mentoring Network fulfils in the sector.  In all instances the majority of respondents rated the four key priorities the Network has outlined for the next three years as 'very important' and either 'agreed or strongly agreed' with the 20 specific deliverables that full under the respective priority.

Specific suggestions tabled included:

• Run regular youth mentoring focused meetings in the community
• Consider mini conferences / presentations in places other than Auckland
• Survey the sector to establish a more comprehensive database of organisations offering mentoring services
• proactively contact programmes providers, particularly those in more remote areas to find out their needs and how the Network can support them
• Provide website functionality to enable the sector to share information more readily
• Include the voice of youth in the delivery and implementation of any youth initiatives. 

Thank you for this valuable feedback.  It is extremely useful input to our strategy plan, which we are currently updating and will share with the sector shortly. 

In closing

Please pass this e-newsletter on to others in your community that work with young people and have an interest in mentoring.  

Nicki McDonald

General Manager New Zealand Youth Mentoring Network | PO Box 99726 Newmarket M: 027 520 2981 | W: 09 521 8240 | E: nicki@youthmentoring.org.nz | W: www.youthmentoring.org.nz