It is important that you make all reasonable effort to attend and maintain continuity in your mentoring relationships. Essay deadlines are not regarded as an acceptable excuse, except in extenuating circumstances, as you are expected to manage your own time appropriately.

Authorised Absence 

Throughout the programme the Access Mentoring Team monitor mentor attendance. If you know in advance that you will be absent from your school on a particular day (e.g. exam, interview or hospital appointment) you should let your School Operational Coordinator and mentees know when you see them the previous week.  

Please advise the Access Mentoring Team in advance by emailing mentoring@sheffield.ac.uk and this will be logged as an authorised absence.  

Reporting an Absence

To report an absence you should send one email to the Access Mentoring Team, School’s Operational Coordinator, and Lead Mentor. Make sure it is visible you have contacted all parties and avoid blind copying (bcc). 

Illness

If you are unwell on the day, or you have an unexpected emergency, you should follow the school’s absence notification policy, as outlined in your induction (e.g. message the coordinator/ ring the staff absences phone number etc.). 

You should always ensure your Lead Mentor knows you will not be attending, so they do not delay setting off in the taxi/electric car whilst waiting for you. 

You should also inform the Access Mentoring Team at the University of any absence because of illness by ringing 0114 222 1389 or 0114 223 8040 or 0114 222 1023 as early as possible, leaving a message where necessary. Please report your absence by email to the Access Mentoring Team, School’s Operational Coordinator, and Lead Mentor.

Unauthorised Absence

If you fail to inform the Access Mentoring Team, your Lead Mentor and the School’s Operational Coordinator when you know you are going to be absent from an in-school mentoring session, this will be recorded as an unauthorised absence. If you do this more than once we will call you into the office for a short interview to discuss the reasons for this.     

It may be the case that for personal or academic reasons your mentees are not able to attend sessions. If this is happening on a regular basis with one or more of your mentees, you must inform the School’s Operational Coordinator who will decide whether or not the mentee should continue to participate in the programme. 

Please inform the Access Mentoring Team and your Lead Mentor so we can keep the records on mentee attendance up to date. The information you provide directly to the Access Mentoring Team and Operational Coordinator will support the weekly mentee register completed by the Lead Mentor on each school’s Google Drive folder.