The mentor group program has been a valuable addition to the pastoral and holistic care offered in the high school. Each grade is split into four smaller groups of learners and paired up with a mentor teacher with the goal of these groups staying together from the start of grade 8 through to the end of grade 12. This strengthens the crucial three way partnership between learners, their families and the school by providing a space to grow and develop genuine relationships, with the mentor teacher as the first point of call between Graemian families and the school.

The program was introduced in 2022, when the current grade 12s were in grade 9. This has provided almost four years of relationship building and allowed the staff to watch first hand the growth and maturity of a group of grade 9 boys into capable and confident young men. This week saw, likely, the last mentor lesson together, with trial exams on the horizon for the matrics, which felt like the perfect opportunity to celebrate with a sunny picnic feast on Marais. The Business Studies learners were unfortunately doing important work and were missed, but this was a chance to wish the matrics all the best for the final push of their school careers.