What is a mentor & what do they do?

Early Careers Mentors (ECMs) have a central role to play in the Early Career Framework (ECF) and are pivotal to their Early Career Teacher (ECT) being successful on the programme. As already established teachers, mentors join the Early Career Framework seeking to not only enhance their own knowledge of how teachers learn and develop best practice, they also join to support the ECT on their teaching journey. It must be emphasised that this does not only mean supporting their ECT's learning and progression but also their wellbeing and to promote a healthy work-life balance.

The impact of this programme on ECTs and their wider school community is maximised when mentors have a clear understanding of the programme structure and of how it can contribute to an ECTs’ progress alongside, and in concert with their statutory induction.

The mentoring approach

The programme allows for a range of mentoring approaches to be used as directed by the school and/or individual mentor. However, we recommend the use of Hobson’s ONSIDE Mentoring model. The full model can be viewed in the graphic below. 

This model is explored more in a mentor’s Pre-Deployment Training module which is provided for mentors to understand their roles and responsibilities towards their ECT in more detail before the programme commences in full. 

ECM Learning 

ECM learning is based around the ECT content to enrich their learning with context-specific case studies and examples tailored to the school and ECT’s setting, phase and subject. All mentors should familiarise themselves with the ECT self-study materials and reflect upon these as well as the multitude of resources made available for each module (located on Canvas, our Virtual Learning Environment).

The one-to-one ECT mentor meetings then draw on the ECT’s self-study as well as activities, skills audits and case studies. The mentors, like their ECTs, will also attend a combination of online and face-to-face sessions to gain more insight into each ECT module and brief them on their next steps.

This ongoing process offers mentors a chance to reflect on their own best practice and is a great development opportunity for them and something current ECMs often highlight in feedback as being extremely valuable.

Differences between Year 1 & 2 meetings

Year 1

In Year 1 of the programme the one-to-one mentoring sessions with ECTs are weekly and there are more modules and events with structured learning. This helps both ECT and mentor find their feet and gives the opportunity for mentors to provide more direct support to their ECT while they navigate their first year in the classroom.

Year 2

Year 2 of the programme is intended to deepen the ECTs practical knowledge and improve their ability to implement changes and improvements in their own teaching through inquiry led modules. Therefore, the one-to-one mentoring sessions with an ECT will become less frequent, occurring once every 2 weeks. The number of events is less, offering the opportunity to build the ECT’s confidence and independence in their own practices.

Key roles within the programme

There are a few key roles for our ECF programme that every ECM should be aware of before starting. Building up strong working relationships with all of these roles is advantageous to every ECM, this is particularly true for their Early Career Teacher (ECT) who they are there to support.

Programme Leader

The programme leader oversees the successful implementation of the programme nationally. 

Regional Tutor

They are responsible for supporting ECTs online and at regional workshops helping an ECT get the most out of these resources. 

Induction Tutor

Responsible for overseeing ECTs and Mentors at their school and they are responsible for setting them up correctly with BPN as their Provider

Early Career Teacher (ECT)

The mentor is responsible for supporting this person's learning and development throughout the ECF programme

Looking for more information?

If you would like any more information on our ECF programme, get in contact with us:

Email: enquiries@bestpracticenet.co.uk

Tel: +44 (0) 117 920 9200 (8.30am-5.30pm, Mon-Fri)

View our ECF page