Last week mentors from Seymour House Nurseries met for their first training session with Maureen Lee, the Regional Lead Tutor from Best Practice Network, to find out all about the mentor role in the Early Years Initial Teacher Training (EYITT) programme.

The session was hugely successful with everyone joining in enthusiastically and reflecting on their personal and professional strengths and how they will use these to benefit EYITT trainees. A highlight of the session was the mentors engaging with Best Practice Network’s Canvas based Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) on various devices. They all had a good look around and asked questions, ensuring they felt comfortable with the platform before supporting their mentees on it.

Seymour House mentors check out the Best Practice Network Canvas VLE.

Eight trainees from Seymour House, a successful chain of outstanding rated nurseries in Essex, have joined the programme. Best Practice Network and e-Qualitas are looking forward to supporting them through EYITT in partnership with their mentors and team of supportive colleagues at their Essex based settings.

The mentors will meet at least each term to share what’s working well in mentoring and to problem solve any issues or challenges that arise during the year. This enables the mentors to help each other and share their best practice. Mentoring is valuable professional development for those that take up the role and we look forward to developing a mentoring community.

Please get in touch or have a look on our EYITT page to find out more about the programme and our mentoring opportunities.