Mentoring: Be the best at what you do
Welcome to the UoB ITE partnership mentoring programme. Whether you are a new or an experienced mentor you will find all you need here to support you through your next steps in being a mentor.
Remember the mentor that you had when you were training to be a teacher?
Remember how important they were to you and your development as a teacher?
That’s the biggest reason mentors give for being a mentor, becoming that same role model they had, but for the next generation of teachers.
The other big reason is to take the next step in your own professional development. Mentoring involves a variety of skills, all of which teachers have already developed successfully in their classrooms and school, and include providing feedback to student teachers and setting targets for their development.
The University of Bedfordshire ITE Partnership will also provide you with a Lead Mentor, to support you in your placement with the student teacher, alongside a community of other practicing Mentors to help guide your journey.
There is a flexible and supportive learning and development programme to help you with all of this which includes a mix of activities which can be completed at a time and place to suit you. Once this training programme is completed a mentor can claim 30 M level credits towards a Masters with UoB for undertaking the role and completing the training.
In addition schools can claim funding for each mentor for the hours of mentor training completed up to 20 hours per mentor at £43.80 per hour (£876 for 20 hours) for cover, TOIL, over-time so that schools can enable mentors to do the role; in addition we are continuing to make our normal placement payments.
Mentors who have worked with us before will know that we have worked hard over the last few years to streamline our core mentoring activities and paperwork to ensure that the role is manageable and not overwhelming. We’re adding to this next year by creating some week by week resources to go alongside mentor meetings to ensure everything is really clear and easy to access in a step by step way.
Ready to jump in? contact educationservices@beds.ac.uk for more information
Think you want to develop some skills and understanding about mentoring more generally first? Why not ask about our Aspiring Mentors Programme – contact educationservices@beds.ac.uk
Mentors enable opportunities for Student Teachers to:
- Practice: providing multiple opportunities to rehearse and refine particular approaches, possibly beginning outside the classroom before using approaches in classrooms;
- Discuss and analyse with expert colleagues: interrogating together - with an expert colleague and using the best available evidence (observation/reading) - what makes a particular approach successful or unsuccessful and reflecting on how this approach might be integrated into the Student Teacher’s own practice;
- Observe how expert colleagues work and deconstructing this approach: enabling Student Teachers to work with expert colleagues – using the best available evidence – to critique a particular approach, whether using in-class observation, modelling or analysis of video, to understand what might make it successful or unsuccessful;
- Provide clear, consistent and effective mentoring: receive structured feedback from expert colleagues on a particular approach – using the best available evidence – to provide a structured process for improving the Student Teacher’s practice.
Ready to jump in and be a mentor? contact educationservices@beds.ac.uk for more information
Think you want to develop some skills and understanding about mentoring more generally first? Why not ask about our Aspiring Mentors Programme – contact educationservices@beds.ac.uk
Our esteemed colleagues at The University of Nottingham’s have a very useful ITE blog, now with 79 posts. This has grown into a wide-ranging resource for teachers and student teachers. While targeted chiefly at primary practitioners, most posts are highly relevant to the secondary phase too. Contributions come from the university and beyond including a growing number of teachers. The posts have links to further reading and resources, providing a valuable starting point for exploration. Recent topics span curriculum subjects (the role of storytelling in science teaching); inclusion (designing inclusive classroom environments); education-wide issues (social justice in ITE) and teachers’ professional learning (collaborative inquiry with schools). The latest post takes a provocative look at the status of primary school homework. The complete series can be found on UoN Blogs - Primary Education Network
They are always keen to consider potential guest contributions or collaborations so please contact Rupert.knight@nottingham.ac.uk if you have something to share and would like to get involved.
Contact educationservices@beds.ac.uk or 01234 793065
Learning and development: Training for mentors
- Complete ALL of these materials BEFORE the placement begins or in the first week of the placement.
- If you attended the mentor development conference in June 2024 when these materials were delivered live you do not need to complete the training again (although you may find it useful as a refresher.)
UoB ITE Partnership Approach to Mentoring
Understanding the Value of being a Mentor
Developing skills to enhance Itap experience for student teachers
- Complete ALL of these online self-study modules during the placement at your own pace.
Safeguarding and student teachers’ needs
How student teachers learn - Observation and feedback conversations and Rosenshine’s 10 principles
Building confidence, resilience and autonomy in student teachers
- Select ONLY the webinars that relate to the course of your student teacher from the selection. There are 2 webinars per placement.
- If you attended any of the mentor development webinars when they were live you do not need to complete this training again (although you may find it useful as a refresher.)
- Webinar 1 should be completed at the start of the placement
- Webinar 2 should be completed at the half way point of the placement
BA PRIMARY (QTS) 3-7
Overview of the Course Curriculum from summer conference June 2024
Extract Targets Section QTS PRP Interim
Target Setting And Actions To Achieve Targets For Cocos Sessions
Year 1 Placement - webinar 1
Year 1 Placement - webinar 2
Year 2 Placement - webinar 1
Year 2 Placement - webinar 2
Year 3 Placement - webinar 1
Year 3 Placement - webinar 2
BA PRIMARY (QTS) 5-11
Overview of the Course Curriculum from summer conference June 2024
Extract Targets Section QTS PRP Interim
Target Setting And Actions To Achieve Targets For Cocos Sessions
Year 1 Placement - webinar 1
Year 1 Placement - webinar 2
Year 2 Placement - webinar 1
Year 2 Placement - webinar 2
Year 3 Placement - webinar 1
Year 3 Placement - webinar 2
PGCE PRIMARY (QTS) 3-7
Overview of the Course Curriculum from summer conference June 2024
Extract Targets Section QTS PRP Interim
Target Setting And Actions To Achieve Targets For Cocos Sessions
Placement A - webinar 1
Placement A - webinar 2
Placement B - webinar 1
Placement B - webinar 2
PGCE PRIMARY (QTS) 5-11
Overview of the Course Curriculum from summer conference June 2024
Extract Targets Section QTS PRP Interim
Target Setting And Actions To Achieve Targets For Cocos Sessions
Placement A - webinar 1
Placement A - webinar 2
Placement B - webinar 1
Placement B - webinar 2
BA/MPHYSED SECONDARY (QTS) PE
Overview of the Course Curriculum from summer conference June 2024
Extract Targets Section QTS PRP Interim
Target Setting And Actions To Achieve Targets For Cocos Sessions
Year 1 Placement - webinar 1
Year 1 Placement - webinar 2 in development
Year 2 Placement - webinar 1
Year 2 Placement - webinar 2
Year 3 Placement - webinar 1
Year 3 Placement - webinar 2
Year 4 Placement - webinar 1
Year 4 Placement - webinar 2
PGCE SECONDARY (QTS) all subjects
Overview of the Course Curriculum from summer conference June 2024
Extract Targets Section QTS PRP Interim
Target Setting And Actions To Achieve Targets For Cocos Sessions
Early Placement Contact with Student - Mentor Meeting Record 1
Student Teacher Induction & Early Expectations Discussion - Mentor Meeting Record 2
Online Student Teacher & Mentor Progress Check - Mentor Meeting Record 3
Good Practice Planning Discussion - Mentor Meeting Record 4
Interim Record of Progress (Mid Placement) - Interim PRP
Final Record of Progress – FINAL PRP
Record of Observation and Discussion Record
Cumulative Evidence Record (CER)
Enhanced Support/ Cause for Concern
Podcast Recordings - Student Support
How to help Student Teachers to access support for their health and well being
Find out more about the programme
For more information contact mia.hanson@beds.ac.uk
Mentor Training 2023-24
PART A – Mentor Development Conference materials
- Complete ALL of these materials BEFORE the placement begins or in the first week of the placement.
- If you attended the mentor development conference in July 2023 when these materials were delivered live you do not need to complete the training in Section A again (although you may find it useful as a refresher.)
| 1. Welcome (welcome back to) the UOB ITE Partnership | Open course A1 |
| 2. Partnership Approach to Mentoring | Open course A2 |
| 3. Introduction to the Core Content Framework (CCF) for ITE | Open course A3 |
| 4. Understanding the value of being a mentor | Open course A4 |
| 5. Keynote: How student teachers learn | Open course A5 |
| 6. Developing the skills to be a mentor in the new landscape | Open course A6 |
Select the webinar(s) relevant to the student teacher(s) you are mentoring.
| 7. Understanding the Student Teacher’s Curriculum: PGCE SECONDARY (QTS) all subjects (Summer pre-placement) | Open course A7 |
| 8. Understanding the Student Teacher’s Curriculum: PGCE PRIMARY (QTS) 3-7 (Summer pre-placement) and Understanding the Student Teacher’s Curriculum: PGCE PRIMARY (QTS) 5-11 (Summer pre-placement) |
Open course A8 (3-7) and Open course A8 (5-11) |
| 9. Understanding the Student Teacher’s Curriculum: BA PRIMARY (QTS) 3-7 (Summer preplacement) and Understanding the Student Teacher’s Curriculum: BA PRIMARY (QTS) 5-11 (Summer preplacement) |
Open course A9 (3-7) and Open course A9 (5-11) |
| 10. Understanding the Student Teacher’s Curriculum: BA/MPHYSED SECONDARY (QTS) PE (Summer pre-placement) | Open course A10 |
PART B – Online self-study modules
- Complete ALL of these online self-study modules during the placement at your own pace.
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1. Student teachers in need |
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2. Coaching - key principles |
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3. How student teachers learn - Observation and feedback conversations And Rosenshine’s 10 principles |
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4. Building confidence, resilience and autonomy in student teachers |
In development |
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5. Managing challenging conversations and negotiation skills |
In development |
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6. Developing you as a mentor |
In development |
PART C – Course specific webinars
- Select ONLY the webinars that relate to the course of your student teacher from the selection in part C. There are 2 webinars per placement.
- If you attended any of the mentor development webinars when they were live you do not need to complete the training in Section C again (although you may find it useful as a refresher.)
- Webinar 1 should be completed at the start of the placement
- Webinar 2 should be completed at the half way point of the placement
AUTUMN TERM PLACEMENTS 2023-24
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1. Understanding the Student Teacher’s Curriculum: PGCE SECONDARY (QTS) all subjects (Autumn) |
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2. Understanding the Student Teacher’s Curriculum: PGCE PRIMARY (QTS) 3-7 (Autumn) |
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3. Understanding the Student Teacher’s Curriculum: BA PRIMARY (QTS) 5-11 Year 3 (Autumn) |
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4. Understanding the Student Teacher’s Curriculum: BA/MPHYSED SECONDARY (QTS) PE Year 4 (Autumn) |
SPRING TERM PLACEMENTS 2023-24
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5. Understanding the Student Teacher’s Curriculum: PGCE SECONDARY (QTS) all subjects (Spring) |
Webinar 2 In development |
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6. Understanding the Student Teacher’s Curriculum: PGCE PRIMARY (QTS) 3-7 (Spring) |
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7.Understanding the Student Teacher’s Curriculum: BA/MPHYSED SECONDARY (QTS) PE Year 1 (Spring) |
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8. Understanding the Student Teacher’s Curriculum: BA PRIMARY (QTS) 3-7 & 5-11 Year 3 (Spring) |
SUMMER TERM PLACEMENTS 2023-24
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9. Understanding the Student Teacher’s Curriculum: BA PRIMARY (QTS) 5-11 Year 1 |
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10. Understanding the Student Teacher’s Curriculum: BA/MPHYSED SECONDARY (QTS) PE Year 2 (Spring) |
To note: the mentor network meetings (held twice per placement for 30 minutes) are arranged by Lead Mentors and are not recorded.
Frequently asked questions: Answers to common questions
As you know mentoring is extremely rewarding and an immensely valuable role.
We’re doing everything we can to combat any potential concerns about the workload for mentoring, for example:
- We’re not changing the core mentoring activities e.g. frequency of observations and mentor meetings. Also the paperwork requirements will remain the same. We’ve done a lot of work on this over the last few years so we know we’ve scaled this right back so it’s manageable.
- We’re structuring the mentor training to be flexible so that it doesn’t involve travel and so that it can be undertaken online in small chunks in a way and at a time that suits mentors.
- We’ve created a community of practice this year led by Lead Mentors to ensure that there is frequent high quality support, out of school as well as during the visits to placements.
- We’re creating supportive week by week curriculum resources to go alongside the mentor meeting record so that everything is really clear and easy to access and follow in a step by step way.
- There will be 30 M level credits towards a Masters with UoB for undertaking the role and completing the training next year
- Schools can claim funding for each mentor for the hours of mentor training completed up to 20 hours per mentor at £43.80 per hour (£876 for 20 hours) for cover, TOIL, over-time so that schools can enable mentors to do the role; in addition we are continuing to make our normal placement payments.
The University of Bedfordshire ITE Partnership understands and embraces the principles in the DfE (2023) Reducing Teacher Workload resources when considering a Mentor and Lead Mentor’s workload and wellbeing. This is important to further support the retention of Mentors and Lead Mentors. Strategies enacted to ensure this include:
- Mentor training is offered during the school day.
- A variety of Mentor training modes is employed – directed self-study; online webinars; face to face sessions in University and school. This means that there is flexibility in the modes and times of study. It also minimises travel.
- No repeats for training material. The refresher materials are different and developmental from the initial training. In addition, our regional partnership approach, means that where Mentors work across ITE providers there will be no duplication of core Mentor training.
- Streamlining of the amount of documentation completed by Mentors, as well as the mode in which the documentation is completed.
- Regular updates are communicated to Mentors through the templates for Mentor Meeting Records and the monthly Mentor Update email, thus the salient and immediate points for mentoring are surfaced for ease of access.
- If a workload or well-being issue is identified with a Mentor the Lead Mentor and ITE Coordinator in school would work together to resolve the situation. Where this was identified with a Lead Mentor the Head of School of Education and Partnership and Professional Development Leader (and Lead Partner where appropriate) would work together to resolve.
In most cases Lead Mentors are also tutors at the University. Their role is to be supportive of you as a mentor and the student teacher working together. There are lots of details about their role and their visit in the Placement Handbook, so you can see what to expect before you ever meet them. In addition you will always be able to ask questions of educationservices@beds.ac.uk or 01234 793065. We all work together to help you to be the best mentor you can be.
Student teachers manage busy lives and schedules as well a studying. At times the needs of something else going on in their life might impact on their abilities to concentrate on becoming a teacher. Don’t worry it’s not your job as a mentor to solve all the problems a student teachers might have. As well as EST and the Lead Mentor there is a large support system at the University. We have Placement Support Coordinators to work with the student teachers to guide them through getting the right support at the right time. These can be reached through EST if needed. In addition there is a range of services that the University proves for student teachers to access. Your role is to be supportive and guide the student teacher back to the University to get the help they might need.
There is a lot of material to help you to understand the student teacher’s curriculum on this website. In addition mentor training and development sessions will bring you up to speed. Further we’re creating supportive week by week curriculum resources to go alongside the mentor meeting record so that everything is really clear and easy to access and follow in a step by step way. These will tell you what you need and when you will need it. You are not expected to be the expert in everything. There are other people in your school who may be able to support your student teacher in particular areas better than you can for example the SENDCo. There’s no problem with you facilitating opportunities for student teachers to work with your colleagues – let them do some of the support.
We strongly encourage schools to select the right person to be a mentor and support them to do the role with adequate time to undertake training and meetings and so on. We’re really clear when we talk to schools about who the mentor will be that they are the right person for the job. If you are having problems, please don’t hesitate to contact the person in school who organises the ITE placements and see if there is anything they can do to alleviate the pressures you are feeling. You can also speak with your Lead Mentor who may be able to find some workable solutions or share alternative approaches that have been effective for others they have worked with in the past. You are not expected to be the expert in everything. There are other people in your school who may be able to support your student teacher in particular areas better than you can for example the SENDCo. There’s no problem with you facilitating opportunities for student teachers to work with your colleagues – let them do some of the support.
The University of Bedfordshire (UoB) ITE Partnership accepts that learning never stops and therefore it is consciously and proactively committed to enhancing the skills, knowledge and understanding of our Mentors and Lead Mentors. In addition we expect that individual Mentors and Lead Mentors will take ownership of their learning and development over time. Showing a commitment to continuing to professionally develop as a Mentor or Lead Mentor will help confidence, competence, consistency and quality.
The University of Bedfordshire ITE Partnership creates a safe and inclusive learning environment for Mentors and Lead Mentors. Training is current and evidence informed with collaborative opportunities included in order to share expertise. Regular feedback and support for Mentors and Lead Mentors enables them to take ownership of their own development.
The UoB ITE Partnership realises that professional development for Mentors and Lead Mentors needs to be balanced with other working and personal commitments. Therefore it is expected that training takes place during the working day. In addition the programme of training that has been developed is deliberately flexible in approach to enable work-life balance and minimise travel time. Mentors and Lead Mentors can:
- Attend and participate in the face to face annual conference
- Attend and participate in online webinars
- Read, listen and watch resources online
- Join the conversation with other Mentors through the networking communities
- Talk informally with ITE Coordinators in school and other colleagues and reflect on progress
- Research to keep themselves current and up to date
- Become an active member of the committees and working groups in the UoB ITE Partnership
The success of the UoB ITE Partnership’s commitment to professional development is seen through the Mentors and Lead Mentors who are:
- engaged in learning activities, having completed the minimum requirements for training
- satisfied and retained in their role
- impacting on the quality of the experience of student teachers in schools
- promoted to new opportunities.
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