Mentor Training at St Mary's University
St Mary's mentor training programme has been designed to support all mentors to be able to deliver the St Mary's ITT curriculum during school experience placements. As part of our commitment to high quality and comprehensive training, our provision for mentors will consist of the following:
- St Mary's curriculum training (mandatory for all mentors)
- Intensive training and practice (ITaP) training (mandatory for all mentors hosting a training during an ITAP period)
- NASBTT mentor skills training (recommended).
NB. Schools hosting trainee teachers commencing their ITE programme in 2024-25 will be able to access up to 20 hours of DfE funding to enable mentors to complete our mentor training programme.
St Mary's curriculum training
Our CPD UK accredited curriculum training has been carefully designed to meet the DfE requirements for the new academic year while simultaneously offering professional development for mentors. Delivered in distinct sessions focusing on key topics, this training promotes a research-informed approach to pedagogy and practice by offering expert colleagues the opportunity to reflect on how concepts apply to their context before exploring how they would effectively mentor a trainee teacher in their setting.
St Mary's University delivers its curriculum training in whole day sessions both on campus and online. While further training dates will be made available throughout the year, the upcoming dates are:
Please note this training should ideally be completed prior to hosting a trainee or during the early stages of a placement. Mentors only need to attend one curriculum training day.
Alternatively, mentors may can complete this training asynchronously via their abyasa account, once their trainee begins their placement. This can be accessed by clicking 'Mentor Training' on the Abyasa dashboard.
These training sessions will include content on mentoring at St Mary’s, classroom pedagogy, and your role in supporting trainees’ practice while in school. Sessions will be led by colleagues passionate about the areas of professional learning covered and aim to offer training in both the theory and application of these topics.
Intensive training and practice (ITaP)
ITaP offers trainees and mentors an opportunity to consider granular pedagogical concepts in detail. This training will include a combination of a recorded introduction from expert colleagues and a range of further resources to support mentors in working with trainees. As these differ for each trainee based on their phase of training, ITaP resources will be emailed to mentors ahead of the week. ITaP training videos can be accessed using the 'Mentor Training' button on the Abyasa dashboard.
NASBTT mentor skills training
This suite of professional development allows mentors to develop some of the skills key to effective mentoring. The recommended modules serve as complementary CPD and are shared modules across the PLITEN network, which means mentors to trainees from other providers will not have to repeat this portion of the training. The recommended modules are:
- Reflective practice
- Understanding the CCF
- Mentees and metacognition
- Observing your mentee
- Mentoring or coaching
- Deliberate practice
- Difficult conversations
- Mental health awareness.
These modules can be accessed asynchronously at a time that suits mentors using the NASBTT platform. Information detailing registration and access to NASBTT has been sent to mentors and PCMs hosting trainees in their school.
Frequently asked questions
English schools who host a trainee starting their training in 2024/25 can claim funding from the DfE to cover the cost of mentors completing up to 20 hours of training. This can be claimed at the end of the academic year for each mentor in the school.
Please note Welsh schools are not able to claim this funding.
Schools can claim funding directly from the Department for Education following the fulfillment of the training requirements.
Following the completion of the required training, mentors will not be required to repeat any completed training should they mentor again in the following year. The DfE has stipulated that mentors will need to engage in 6 hours of refresher training in subsequent academic years.
Yes, mentors are strongly encouraged to complete mentor skills training as complimentary CPD. For academic year 24/25, we will continue to offer this free of charge to mentors who wish to engage with this and schools hosting trainees that started their course in 24/25 can claim funding for mentors that have complete modules this year.