Each participant will take part in practical workshops on the benefit of mentoring for both the mentor and the mentee. The material presented will examine the process by which a positive mentoring program can be established within a school or subject department. The process of establishing a mentoring program and the required infrastructure are also provided. This short course will also look at Mentoring in relation to the trend of coaching and how the two working together can assist in the development of either staff new to the school or beginning teachers. Attention will also be focused on peer mentoring for students. This is a particularly strong transition and retention tool whereby students relate with students. The development of self esteem and the establishment of a positive link will assist in helping the student obtain a sense of belonging.

Bring a USB key, Notepad and biro. If your school has, or did have, a mentoring scheme in operation a copy of this or any notes about the system would be ideal as it will be used in the discussion process. If you have staff new to teaching and/or new to the school please ask them how they felt at the start of the year and whether a mentoring system would have helped them or not. Also ask them what they would have wanted in the form of resources.