Best Practice

Teacher mentors: The secrets to making this approach work

Pastoral issues Pupil wellbeing Pupil Premium initiatives Vulnerable children
A teacher mentor takes on the responsibility of supporting an individual child or a group of pupils with their academic progress and/or pastorally. Emmanuel Awoyelu looks at how to make a success of this role in schools, including how mentors can to build relationships with your mentees
Image: Adobe Stock

When you take someone’s hand and guide them over a bridge that you yourself have crossed before that is mentorship.

 

The power of mentoring

Before the Department for Education rolled out its National Tutoring Programme (NTP), mentoring was not a term widely used in the education space, especially when it comes to supporting pupils’ learning.

However, post-pandemic, the DfE has identified the role of academic mentor as a key part of its recovery plan and the NTP.

Before Covid had even raised its head, I had already experienced the impact that mentoring could have on a young person.

At the age of 10, I experienced my first permanent exclusion from school and by the age of 13 I was completely disengaged in almost all aspects of school life.

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