With the most positive “shout-outs” for more than one Mentor, Widey Court Primary School’s Deputy Headteacher and Induction Tutor, Jo Llewellyn shares their journey and top tips to effective mentoring.
 
I have been an Early Career Teacher (ECT) Induction Tutor at Widey Court since starting here as Deputy Headteacher in September 2022. My mentoring journey has been both rewarding and developmental for me. Whilst I have had many years’ experience of mentoring students and Newly Qualified Teachers, to lead the process myself, has necessitated knowing and understanding the expectations of my role and content and progression through the Early Career Teacher Programme.  
 
When I started in my role, ECTs at Widey Court were about to start their second year and were fully embedded into the programme, which was helpful as their journey was already underway. 
 
Now that I am in my fourth year, I reflect on how important it is to value the amount of time and effort Mentors and ECTs have to invest in the success of the programme and how building trusting relationships is vital between the three parts of the process: Tutor, Mentor and ECT. Tailoring our approach to individual needs and having open, honest and reflective conversations are essential to our mentoring journey. Careful thought is given to our ECTs, ensuring that they feel supported - not only in developing their classroom practice, but also in becoming part of the wider life of the school. This holistic approach helps ECTs to build confidence quickly and to develop a strong sense of belonging. 

I believe that being an Induction Tutor is as a collaborative process where both Mentor and mentee learn and grow together. We are very fortunate to have the most experienced, nurturing, supportive mentors at Widey Court and are equally proud of the ECTs that we have recruited over the last four years. All of whom are engaged, eager to reflect, improve and enhance their teaching toolkit as they begin their teaching careers.
 
What truly works at Widey Court is the culture of openness and collaboration. Staff at all levels are committed to sharing practice and to supporting one another, creating a team ethos that ECTs quickly become part of. Successes are celebrated, challenges are shared, and everyone works together with a common goal: providing the best possible education for pupils.
 
A key strength of the provision lies in the work of the Mentors, who play a pivotal role in guiding and supporting new teachers. Mentors meet regularly with ECTs, offering advice, constructive feedback, and encouragement. An effective Mentor combines strong interpersonal skills with clear pedagogical expertise. 

I like to think the key ingredients of an effective Mentor include:
 

• Trust and empathy – creating a safe, non-judgemental environment.
• Active listening and respect – understanding the mentee’s perspective before offering guidance.
• Clarity and structure – providing focused and actionable feedback.
• Adaptability – tailoring support to the ECT’s stage and needs.
• Challenge and support – balancing encouragement plus that professional stretch.
• Consistency and rigour – being reliable and maintaining regular communication.
• Time - prioritising time and structure for meaningful Mentor-Mentee / Induction Tutor-Mentee interactions.

Same Phase Mentors
We have four trained Mentors at Widey Court: one in each phase (EYFS, Key Stage 1, Lower Key Stage 2 and Upper Key Stage 2). This enables us to ensure that the Mentor assigned to the ECT, whatever their teaching year group, has experience of teaching in that phase, knows the planning, team, data and teaching/learning expectations to support the ECT.
 
Mentoring has significant benefits for both me and my mentoring colleagues.
For me, it has deepened my understanding of teaching and learning, as articulating best practice requires clarity and reflection and has strengthened my leadership skills, particularly in communication and professional development.
 
For my colleagues, mentoring fosters a culture of collaboration and shared responsibility and encourages open dialogue about teaching practice and creates opportunities for staff to learn from one another. Ultimately, it contributes to a more supportive and reflective school environment.

If I had to note a learning curve, it would be finding the balance between supporting ECTs and allowing them the space to develop their own teaching identity. They are qualified teachers, after all, which we fully appreciate and respect.
 
When I was new to the role, I sometimes felt the need to provide too many solutions that I would reflect on and advise. However now, our discussions/meetings are very much ECT-guided and reflective of their practice, with next steps guided by them. I ask questions but self-evaluation is the biggest driver for improving. Engaging with Induction Tutor training and reflecting on my own practice, has also helped me to refine this balance.
 
Feedback from ECTs reflects our endeavours. ECTs often highlight the value of feeling supported and listened to and appreciate having a consistent point of contact who provides both warm, positive reassurance and constructive challenge. Many have commented on the usefulness of regular, structured meetings and clear, actionable feedback that helps them to improve their practice. Others have noted that the mentoring process has helped to build their confidence and encouraged them to reflect more deeply on their teaching.
 
Strong relationships and maintaining a personalised approach are very important to us.

Looking ahead, I am hopeful that mentoring ECTs at Widey Court continues to be the success that it has come to be. Ultimately, my aim is for mentoring to remain a strength of our school in supporting, not only ECTs but contributing to a culture of continuous improvement for all staff.
 
I also hope that ECTs at Widey Court will develop into confident, reflective, and skilled practitioners who are well-equipped for the demands of the profession. Thanks to the dedication of their Mentors, they are given the strongest possible start to their teaching careers.
 
We thank Jo for her insight and upbeat report on effective mentoring at Widey Court Primary School.
 
By Jo Llewellyn, Deputy Headteacher and Induction Tutor, Widey Court Primary School

“Regular feedback and knowing that I will have a moment where my Mentor and I are going to sit down, with a cup of tea and reflect and have that time together scheduled into my week, has been the most valuable part for me as an Early Career Teacher.”

Sometimes life turns full circle.
Harriet Sleath is in her first year of teaching French and Spanish at Teign School (part of Education South West); which happily happens to be her own former secondary school.
This Devon girl got the bug for Languages when she was at school and studied Spanish at GCSE and A Level and French to GCSE, before going overseas to put her language learning into working practice teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) in Spain for a year, and then further afield to Mexico for eight years.
 
As well as teaching Languages, Harriet was recruited by her former Teacher of Music at Teign to teach Music to Key Stage 3 as she plays the piano. This is providing further additional joy in Harriet’s timetable with some cross-curricular Languages music-making. Remember, the traditional French nursery rhyme, "Frère Jacques…" ?
 
Harriet trained last year with SWIFT Teacher Training, of which ESW is a partner, as Kingsbridge Teaching School Hub (based at the Community College) is one half of SWIFT.

1. What did you most enjoy on your teacher training course?
There are two things in particular that I enjoyed on the teacher training course with SWIFT.
Firstly, I enjoyed seeing the progression of students that I got to meet over the course of my two different placements.
 
I felt very grateful to be in two different schools and for the time to get to know the students and especially seeing them make that progress with me. I think I had thought as a trainee teacher I might be a bit like a fly on the wall and not get to know the students very well. But having that opportunity to teach them something and witness that light bulb moment when they fully understand, or even when they ask me an insightful question were some of the most enjoyable moments, because they offered me an opportunity to explore what the students themselves would like to learn. I think, discovering what was interesting for them definitely shaped me as a teacher.
 
The second thing was being given the space to find my own personality as a teacher.
I feel very lucky as both my Mentors were fantastic and allowed me to take the time to realise what I want to be as a teacher, what I want my teaching to look like, and what I want to bring to my classroom environment. For me, this was very important.
 
2. What was the greatest learning curve and how did you overcome it?
My greatest learning curve was adaptive teaching in learning how to manage and meet the needs of a wide range of learners in one class.

During my training year, a lot of the focus was on adapting to SEND students, and those with significant barriers to learning, and quite rightly so.
 
I am still finding that balance in adapting to students’ needs, whilst also continuing to inspire and interest other students who have less barriers to learning, or who are simply more passionate about the subject. Finding that balance was one of the biggest learning curves; but being able to again work with my Mentors and have that time to learn and try out different things in the classroom was important to help me overcome that barrier as part of my learning curve.
 
3. What have you found to be particularly rewarding in your first term?
Firstly, it has been rewarding to build relationships and trust with students.
​
I anticipated it would be difficult coming in as a brand-new teacher and in an environment where students know that I was a trainee teacher. However, I wanted the students to be able to get to know me; hence, it was particularly rewarding in the first term that students who already felt comfortable in coming to talk to me, and who trusted me as their Teacher of Spanish and asked me questions about the Spanish culture.
 
Secondly it has been rewarding to take part in some of the school’s extracurricular activities and feeling part of a collaborative student and staff community. Seeing the students outside of my classroom doing something that they enjoy, and showing them my other passions, pushing myself out of my comfort zone has been some of the most rewarding moments of the first term.
 
4. How is the Early Career Teacher Programme helping you in your first year of induction?
It is helping me a lot!
My school Mentor is fantastic, and their guidance has been invaluable. Being able to refine some elements like my routines: for example, countdowns and waiting to have everybody's attention, has been very helpful.

Regular feedback and knowing that I will have a moment where my Mentor and I are going to sit down, with a cup of tea and reflect and have that time together scheduled into my week, has been the most valuable part for me as an Early Career Teacher.
 
5. What are your hopes for the teaching of Languages in our schools now and in the future?
This is a big question, and I could talk about this for a LONG time!

Certainly, I hope to see language learning viewed not only as an academic subject in learning French and Spanish; but as a key to understanding other cultures and how we all connect on a global scale. I hope that students continue to be open minded, so that they come into the class knowing they are going to learn some Spanish and French. But that's not all.
 
I hope that we can continue to guide young people to move past the whole “everybody speaks English” mentality - because that is still an issue. By making lessons engaging, relevant and inclusive, I want to inspire students, particularly in Devon and in the South West to know that Languages will open doors for them throughout their lives. Not only as they try to figure out what they want to do when they are 18 and to show them how it can contribute to their careers in the future.
 
Some of my most successful moments in lessons are when students might ask a question, like where is Barcelona? Or do they speak Spanish in Barcelona? But I like these inquisitive questions, and I like that students want to find out more and I am taking the time to answer these questions.  All the students in the classroom are listening because they are genuinely interested.
 
It might be obvious to me where and why people speak Spanish, but even more intriguing is where and why French is spoken. I have been redoing the display boards with my tutor group and am planning to get a big map of the world to show where people speak French and Spanish, because a lot of the time we simply do not know and I would like that information to be more readily available to my students.

So, my hopes for the future of teaching Languages are that it is much more than teaching Spanish in the classroom, it is about teaching the students about where we speak languages, and why we speak different languages, which I am very much looking forward to bringing into the curriculum more and more.

Interview by Jude Baylis, SWIFT Executive Assistant

 “It is great that units of learning can be adapted to align with the school’s own development, which means that the ECT’s areas for development are rooted in the context of a “real life” school. The impact of the ECT’s development will be tangible, observable and practicable.”

Our Teaching School Hubs Team have been busy leading the Early Career Teacher Programme induction conferences this week and we seized the opportunity to interview Jayne Miners, a Primary Mentor at Halwill Primary School.

Jayne qualified as a Teacher of the Deaf over 20 years ago and has taught most year groups across the primary phase. She also has a Master’s in Educational Audiology and an NPQ in Leading Teacher Development. Jayne returned to mainstream teaching at Halwill Primary School, part of The Carey Federation led by Executive Headteacher Ruh Alford and in 2014 became the Head of Teaching and Learning.
 
Jayne recalls her excitement teaching her first class of children armed with a PGCE qualification and endless enthusiasm. Luckily, she took to teaching and loved it then and she still loves it all these years later and is grateful to have worked with a fabulous team of teachers where personal and professional support was unwavering.
 
However, thinking back to her NQT year (as it was called back then) her experience was very different to that of an Early Career Teacher (ECT) today. Her development as a teacher was measured through formal lesson observations, and this felt very much like a judgement rather than an opportunity for professional development. There was little space in the system, at that time, to sit and reflect on best practice and ways to develop skills needed to ensure each child was getting the best possible teaching.
 
This is why Jayne believes the Early Career Teacher Programme (ECTP) framework offers the ECT a very different and much needed experience that scaffolds and sequences learning across a well-planned two-year cycle.

​1. How does your role as a Primary Mentor for the ECTP benefit you personally?
First and foremost, being a Mentor is something that I greatly enjoy.
To be able to support an Early Career Teacher (ECT) to begin their journey into education is a privilege. Building relationships and providing a safe place for the ECT to share their experiences, is at the heart of it all.
 
I enjoy dedicated time to read relevant research material, and, in all honesty, this could be lost were I not a Mentor. My thinking is focused on how pedagogy and teaching materials can be best utilised. Better informed, I can help the ECT to find those active ingredients needed to facilitate effective teaching with vison and clarity.
 
2. How has the role and training supported your work in school?
As Head of Teaching and Learning, planning for and leading professional development is key.
The reading and the training I receive as a Mentor helps me to reflect on the ways I can support staff to build knowledge, develop teaching techniques, motivate and embed practice. The material presented by the National Institute of Teaching’s platform, PRISM allows us to develop that evidence-based approach and aligns with the explore, plan, deliver sustain cycle of development.
 
3. What do you consider to be the advantages of the new Early Career Teacher Programme?
There is a clear structure and expectation that enables Mentors and ECTs to focus on improving skills to improve outcomes for pupils – and that is what it is all about!
 
It is great that units of learning can be adapted to align with the school’s own development, which means that the ECT‘s areas for development are rooted in the context of a “real life” school. The impact of the ECT’s development will be tangible, observable and practicable.
 
4. How do you tailor your mentoring to support Early Career Teachers in your school/Trust to apply the ECTP framework within the primary classroom?
Once we had both attended our induction seminars, we met to discuss the logistics of meeting space and times and the use of use of PRISM and when would be best to carry out weekly observations.
 
Also, we had an honest conversation about the way information should be relayed. Every Mentor is different. Some like to muse over observation notes, whilst some can happily digest there and then and the way they like to share ideas, even as small a point as the way we sit – opposite each other, or side by side.
 
This is all with the aim of allowing the ECT to feel most comfortable. This transparency has always been so effective and allows the ECT to take ownership of the pace and delivery of the meeting. Then we looked carefully at the Self Study units and how electives would be selected following diagnostic tools.
 
Following this, the ECT and I discussed our observations. I stress the “our” because once notes are taken, it becomes a collaborative process where granular elements for practice can be discussed. We talked about the need for each precise practice to be small enough so that it can be easily implemented and have the highest leverage very quickly.
 
This is a truly great way to approach development and very different from way back in 1993!

5. What are your hopes for this academic year?
To continue to sustain high expectations in my own practice and behaviours to show how much I care about the education of the children in the Carey Federation School and to continue to develop as a Mentor to ensure that I am best placed to support all staff including those very first steps of the ECT at the beginning of their exciting journey.

“I think it is important for Schools and Trusts to have teachers who wish to stay in the profession because they are happy and feel they are making a difference and are enjoying what they are doing, giving something to those children and being able to recognise and reward their teachers from a School and Trust level.”

This September marks a significant new juncture for SWIFT and the National Institute of Teaching (NIoT). SWIFT is working with the NIoT as the Lead Provider in delivering the newly launched Early Career Teacher Programme (ECTP). This relationship is founded on strong foundations as SWIFT is two of the NIoT’s Associate Colleges (Education South West and Colyton Grammar School).

The two-year Early Career Teacher Entitlement programme supports Early Career Teachers (ECTs) at the start of their teaching career and replaces the previous iteration as the ‘Early Career Framework-based training and induction.’
 
Positive partnerships are key, and our Teaching School Hub Team are glad to be working with the NIoT Team to ensure a smooth delivery for our schools in supporting their ECTs and Mentors so that they can focus on putting their induction learning into practice in the classrooms.
 
Head of the Early Careers Programme Faculty overseeing the ECTP programme at The National Institute of Teaching is Katy Micklewright.  Originally from Bristol, Katy has been a Teacher of Science and School Leader since 2009 and spent the latter years of her school career leading teaching and learning and induction in a secondary academy in Southampton, whilst working on pedagogy across a national academy trust; in particular, on the delivery of ECF and teacher development.
 
Katy is passionate about research and development, which is led by the needs of schools and teachers; and most recently she co-authored the NIoT’s project on rural, coastal and small school delivery of the ECF (read here). 

1. What experience and skills do you bring to your position as Head of the Early Careers Programme Faculty at the NIoT?
Having worked in secondary schools in some very disadvantaged areas for around 15 years across the South Coast, one of the things I am most proud and lean on most is my experience of what it is really like to be in schools.

I never want to forget that having been an Induction Tutor, looking after Early Career Teachers (ECTs) as part of that role across my school and other schools, I understand that you can never underestimate how difficult the job is for teachers and school leaders. Understanding the importance of being school-led and the governance process in schools and being able to visit schools regularly, all supports my role now with the NIoT.
 
For all that we do in the Faculty, we always ask, what will that be like if you are in a school and how will that work for you and for the teachers?
 
I always look back and remember very clearly all that I have been through during my years in schools including the difficult rollout of the Early Career Framework as an Induction Tutor with 15 ECTs at that time.
 
In terms of my skills, I think that being honest, and true to what teachers are telling us and listening and responding without being knee-jerk are probably some of the most important skills that I bring to my current role.
 
2. What do you consider to be the most noteworthy updates to the new Early Career Teacher Programme starting this September?
Firstly, I think the most obvious updates are the Mentor programme becoming shorter to be truly mindful of the workload and well-being of Mentors, as some of the most valuable colleagues. Early Career Teachers do not succeed as easily without an expert Mentor. Their relationships with them are absolutely vital, ECTs need that support and advice throughout this important time in their career. That is why they are so important.

The updated programme has seen us completely redesign the Mentor programme based on responses and feedback from Mentors to ensure that it gives them what they feel they need to be great teacher educators. Not only Mentors of ECTs, but to help with their own career development more broadly too.

Secondly, I think for us as Lead Providers and Associate Colleges, having more freedom to give flexibility to schools. Having worked with schools in the South West, particularly those in rural areas, coastal areas or very small schools, I understand that one size fits all is not appropriate and that teachers need to have agency and ownership over the direction of their learning and development. We have taken this opportunity to make our programme more flexible and applicable to different contexts than previous iterations, and we are very proud of the programme.

Thirdly, I think that any opportunity to look at adaptive teaching is valuable - whether it is for children with SEND, for children who come from disadvantaged backgrounds, or children who are struggling with learning, for whatever reason at that time. Teachers need to be given the knowledge and tools to adapt their teaching at every point, no matter what they are teaching, in what phase and so it is important that this adaptive teaching is explicitly interwoven into the whole programme. It is not only a stand-alone module. It is part of everything that ECTs will learn on the programme, and I know that I would have liked this to have been part of my training and induction, and I think this update is essential.
 
Plus, I value the agency to start talking about technology more, particularly AI and how that effects teaching and young people in today’s modern world.

3. As our sole Lead Provider for the ECTP, what are your hopes for your working relationship with SWIFT?
Where to begin - !
From working with SWIFT over the last couple of years has been absolutely integral to the development of this programme.
 
Working with Jen Knowles, Fiona McNeile and the rest of the SWIFT Team has given us many of the insights that we use to develop what the schools see and whenever we are designing and coming to content that we are going to make responses to, or whatever it might be in this process, we are always considering the schools in Cornwall and Devon and the surrounding areas where SWIFT works, because I think this context is unique.
 
For me spending time in those schools and in the area last summer working on some research projects with colleagues at SWIFT, and the schools and their teachers, has allowed us to make sure that we never forget those different contexts, whatever they may be and whatever the unique challenges are.
 
I also value the input from teachers and I look forward to attending and meeting some of those in new Trusts who have come on board and some of our colleagues will be doing the same to see the delivery and meet the teachers to find out even more about their context, because that is what our programmes are all about.
 
I would like to include a massive thank you to the SWIFT Team to date. They are invaluable and truly integral to this programme that is outstanding in part because of their contributions.
 
4. What would be your greatest wish for Schools and Trusts for this academic year.
I obviously have lots of wishes!

I think the job being a happy one that teachers enjoy is my number wish - no matter what it is that drives that happiness and enjoyment. I think that teaching is an amazing career and, personally, I miss school-life and the students desperately and I want teachers to feel like that about their job.
 
I think it is important for Schools and Trusts to have teachers who wish to stay in the profession because they are happy and feel they are making a difference and are enjoying what they are doing, giving something to those children and being able to recognise and reward their teachers from a School and Trust level.

It is vital that Early Career Teachers get to meet other teachers and to talk about the good things about their job to and celebrate and be rewarded. This is obviously essential so that teachers want to stay, but also so that they feel like the children are benefiting from the teaching, even though sometimes, it is hard.
 
For me, I think that is the most important wish, as if teachers stay in the job because they are happy, then we are going to have a much better education for our children at the end of the day.
 
5. If you and the NIoT were future-gazing, how would you think the ECTP might evolve over the next five years?
I think this one comes back to the second question around flexibility and context led programme.
 
As we learn more and as Associate Colleges, like SWIFT, learn more about the schools they are working with, I hope that this will allow us to ensure that the programme is as bespoke and content driven for teachers.
 
I also hope to see the increased recognition of Mentors as we continue to consider their workload and well-being all the time, and recognition of the important job that they do is front and centre of the ECTP.
I believe there are good moves towards this progress, but there is always more work to do and I believe this is going to evolve and I hope that it evolves in order to respond to the fast-moving environment in teaching at the moment, especially where technology is concerned.

I would like all schools to feel like their ECTs are coming in, feeling well informed, and they are truly building on what they have learned when they trained so that they can cope with our ever-changing environment. We are not quite there yet from a policy or a design perspective because nor do we know what is going to happen next. However, I think that is something that will evolve over the next few years and I hope it continues to do so and I am glad to be part of this evolution.
​ 
Interview by Jude Baylis, SWIFT Executive Assistant

This September, the SWIFT Teaching School Hub Team is thrilled to unveil its brand-new Early Career Teacher Programme (ECTP), marking a transformative moment in teacher induction and professional development across the South West. 

In partnership with the National Institute of Teaching (NIoT), this innovative programme launches after months of dedicated research, planning, and collaboration and reflects a bold step forward in supporting Early Career Teachers (ECTs) and their Mentors with a curriculum that is rigorous, relevant, and responsive to the evolving needs of schools.

A New Era for Early Career Teacher Development
Only five years ago, Newly Qualified Teachers (NQTs) completed a one-year induction with limited structured training. That changed in 2020 with the introduction of pilot ECF programmes and SWIFT was proud to be among the first delivery partners. Since then, SWIFT has played a role in shaping national policy, offering feedback to lead providers and the Department for Education (DfE) to ensure programmes truly meet the needs of schools and educators.
 
Now, the new Early Career Teacher Programme (ECTP) aligns with the updated Initial Teacher Training and Early Career Framework (ITTECF), offering a carefully sequenced curriculum that supports ECTs in mastering:

• High expectations and pupil progress
• Subject and curriculum expertise
• Effective lesson planning and delivery
• Inclusive teaching strategies
• Assessment and behaviour management
• Wider professional responsibilities

What Sets the SWIFT-NIoT ECTP Apart?
This is not only a refresh, but it is also a reimagining of how we support new teachers and key enhancements include:

• Reduced Mentor Workload
  Recognising the demands on Mentors, the Programme now streamlines their involvement to one year, allowing for more focused and sustainable support.
• Enhanced SEND Support
  With deeper exemplification for SEND and alternative provision settings, SWIFT has also commissioned a local SEND expert to lead a dedicated Year 1 cohort, bringing regional insight directly into the training.
• Contextualised, Subject-Specific Content
  Real classroom examples from diverse schools and subjects make the learning tangible. ECTs and Mentors benefit from video, audio, and written materials that are accessible and tailored to their needs.
• National Expert Webinars
  Termly webinars offer direct access to sector leaders, giving ECTs the chance to explore key teaching practices and ask questions in real time.
• Evidence-Based and Locally Informed
  With NIoT’s in-house research team and SWIFT’s close involvement in research studies, the programme is built on the latest evidence and shaped by the realities of local schools.

Voices from the SWIFT Teaching School Hub

Fiona McNeile, Teaching School Hub Manager
"We move into the new academic year with a richer and more rigorous programme offer for ECTs and Mentors. We’re extremely proud to provide this opportunity to our local schools." 

Jen Knowles, Teaching School Hub Director 
“The significance of the change is huge. The removal of repetition and the inclusion of real teaching exemplification from EYFS to KS5 is incredibly exciting. We’re especially proud to see Devon and South West schools featured in the materials.”
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Report by Fiona McNeile, SWIFT Teaching School Hub Manager