Appointment of an Induction Tutor and Mentor
Last updated:Appointment of an Induction Tutor
The Headteacher should identify a person to act as the ECT’s Induction Tutor, to provide regular monitoring and support, and coordination of assessment. The Induction Tutor is expected to hold QTS and have the necessary skills and knowledge to work successfully in this role and be able to assess the ECT’s progress against the Teachers’ Standards.
This is a very important element of the induction process and the Induction Tutor must be given sufficient time to carry out the role effectively and to meet the needs of the ECT. The Induction Tutor will need to be able to make rigorous and fair judgements about the ECT’s progress in relation to the Teachers' Standards. They will need to be able to recognise when early action is needed in case of an ECT who is experiencing difficulties. It may, in some circumstances, be appropriate for the Headteacher to be the Induction Tutor. The Induction Tutor is a separate role to that of the Mentor.
Appointment of a Mentor
The Headteacher should identify a person to act as the ECT’s Mentor, to provide regular mentoring. The mentor must hold QTS and have the necessary skills and knowledge to work successfully in this role. Mentoring is a very important element of the induction process and the mentor is expected to be given adequate time to carry out the role effectively and to meet the needs of the ECT. This includes attending regular mentoring sessions and mentor training where appropriate.
The Mentor and the Induction Tutor are two discrete roles with differing responsibilities, and it is expected that these roles should be held by different individuals. In exceptional circumstances it may be necessary for the Headteacher to designate a single teacher to fulfill both roles, which may be the Headteacher themselves. Where this is the case the Headteacher should ensure that the Induction Tutor understands that they are fulfilling two discrete roles and that adequate safeguards are put in place to ensure that the mentoring support offered to the ECT is not conflated with assessment of the ECT against the Teachers’ Standards.