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Mentor Support Portal

Phase One: Preparing Trainees for ITT Success

Phase One is the foundation of the Grad2Teach journey — designed to prepare trainees for Initial Teacher Training (ITT) success while they contribute to your school in a salaried support or unqualified teaching role.

All trainees complete an NCFE-accredited Level 4 Award, giving formal recognition of their progress and impact. These qualifications are reflective, practical, and portfolio-based, ensuring that every trainee builds both confidence and evidence from the outset.

Structured across three flexible terms — beginning with the Fundamentals Term — Phase One introduces key professional values, classroom practice, and reflective habits. Each qualification stands alone, offering multiple entry points throughout the year and allowing schools to trigger progression into ITT when it best suits staffing needs and the trainee’s readiness.

Trainees typically engage in:

  • Online and in-person training days are delivered outside teaching hours.
  • School-based tasks, reflections, and portfolio development.
  • Observations, feedback, and tripartite progress meetings.
  • Optional wellbeing coaching to support resilience and growth.

Depending on their role and readiness, trainees complete one of three NCFE Level 4 Awards:

  • Award in the Fundamentals of ITT – an accessible introduction to classroom practice, safeguarding, and professional conduct.
  • Award in Applied Teaching Practices – focused on planning, assessment, behaviour, and inclusive teaching for those with growing classroom responsibility.
  • Award in Advanced Teaching Practices – for trainees preparing directly for PGCE, Apprenticeship, or Assessment-Only routes, with emphasis on independent practice and readiness for QTS-level assessment.

From Phase One, trainees progress into one of three recognised ITT pathways:

  • PGCE with QTS (via Coventry University’s National Institute of Teaching and Education).
  • Postgraduate Teaching Apprenticeship with QTS (funded via the Apprenticeship Levy).
  • Assessment-Only Route (Not Only Assessment model), where Phase One provides the evidence base for QTS.

Your role as mentor is pivotal. Weekly feedback, observation, and support help trainees link theory to practice, grow in confidence, and contribute meaningfully in the classroom from day one. With your guidance, they leave Phase One not only ITT-ready, but already making a tangible impact on pupils’ learning.

Level 4 Fundamentals: Term 1 — Laying the Foundations

In Term 1, trainees immerse themselves in the core values and expectations of the teaching profession. Through onboarding tasks and early training, they explore classroom organisation, professional values, and strategies for managing behaviour. Weekly Guided Reflection (TG) meetings and training sessions build knowledge in safeguarding, lesson planning, and classroom management.

Trainees observe experienced colleagues, develop their own classroom setup concepts, and complete their first formal lesson observations. By the end of the term, they produce self-audits and action plans that help define their development priorities for the rest of the programme.

Mentor Focus:

  • Support onboarding activities and induction into school life.

  • Facilitate classroom visits and peer observations.

  • Schedule and observe initial lessons.

  • Guide meaningful reflections on feedback, helping trainees identify clear next steps.

Mentor Support Resources:

  1. Mentor Guide: Weekly Tasks 
  2. Mentor Guide: Assessment & Task Alignment 

Mentor Benchmarks this term

While trainees complete detailed weekly tasks and reflections, your role as a mentor is centred on coaching and professional growth. We’ve streamlined requirements so you can focus on feedback and classroom improvement, rather than paperwork.

Key points in Term 1 (Level 4 Fundamentals) include:

  • Week 3: Support trainee’s safeguarding reflection (meeting with DSL).

  • Weeks 4–5: Facilitate the first peer/colleague observation (Behaviour for Learning, then Planning).

  • Week 6: Half-term tripartite meeting (mentor, trainee, Grad2Teach coordinator).

  • Week 9: Review trainee’s first planned and delivered lesson (mentor feedback recorded).

  • Week 11: Second formal tripartite meeting and observation focused on formative assessment.

  • Week 12: Trainee completes a self-audit and action plan — mentors provide feedback to guide Term 2 priorities.

  • A full breakdown can be found here

Our Commitment to Mentors

  • Minimal admin: Trainees upload reflections, journals, and assignments directly to their portfolio — mentors simply review and give feedback where appropriate.

  • Focus on coaching: Phase One emphasises professional conversations and improving teaching practice over paperwork.

  • Tripartite meetings: Just three per term, bringing together you, the trainee, and Grad2Teach to keep everyone aligned and reduce duplicated reporting.

  • Flexible observation role: Observations can be short and focused; the goal is developmental, not graded.

Term 2: Developing Classroom Practice

Term 2 builds on the foundations of the Fundamentals award, moving trainees into more active classroom practice. The focus is on strengthening lesson planning, developing behaviour for learning, and using formative assessment to promote pupil progress. Independent Learning Journals (ILJs), study groups, and weekly reflections encourage trainees to link theory directly to practice. Key benchmarks include two formal lesson observations with feedback, mid-term tripartite meetings, and a written assignment to consolidate professional learning.

Mentor Focus:

  • Conduct lesson observations and provide developmental feedback.

  • Guide reflections in ILJs, helping trainees connect planning, delivery, and outcomes.

  • Reinforce consistency in behaviour management and pupil progress.

Term 3: Advanced Teaching Practice

In the final term of Phase One, trainees take greater ownership of their teaching and evidence portfolio. The emphasis is on independent practice, refining subject pedagogy, and demonstrating readiness for ITT or QTS assessment. Trainees lead sequences of lessons, evaluate pupil progress over time, and reflect critically on their impact as developing teachers. End-of-term assessments, including a self-audit and tripartite meeting, help shape the next steps into Phase Two.

Mentor Focus:

  • Support trainees to plan and deliver sustained sequences of learning.

  • Observe teaching with a focus on subject pedagogy and pupil progress.

  • Provide feedback that encourages independence, professional judgement, and readiness for ITT/QTS.

  • Contribute to the final tripartite meeting, helping to define the trainee’s progression pathway.

Some trainees are working towards QTS via the Assessment Only Route (AOR). These trainees still complete one of the Grad2Teach Phase One qualifications, but they also build a formal portfolio of evidence for submission to the university.

This pathway comes with extra support from our Course Manager, including additional study sessions and portfolio guidance. For mentors, the expectations are simple: continue focusing on feedback, coaching, and professional growth.

Mentor Benchmarks (AOR Trainees)

  • Weekly: Encourage reflections and link classroom evidence to the Teachers’ Standards.

  • Fortnightly: AOR trainees attend dedicated portfolio study groups — no extra mentor input required.

  • Observations: Mentor observations are encouraged but not mandatory; even short feedback helps trainees build strong portfolios.

  • Tripartite Meetings: Same structure as other trainees — three per term, to check progress and reduce duplicated admin.

  • End of Phase One: Trainees should have a well-organised portfolio with lesson plans, reflections, and pupil progress evidence ready for university submission.

Reassurance for Mentors

  • No extra paperwork: Portfolio support is led by Grad2Teach staff.

  • Flexible involvement: Your professional feedback is valuable but not bound by formal requirements.

  • Same journey, extra preparation: These trainees are on the same qualification track as others, with additional readiness for QTS assessment built in.

 

Supporting Documents for Mentors

Below you’ll find quick-access downloads designed to make your role as a mentor straightforward. These guides highlight trainee expectations, key assessment points, and weekly tasks — so you can focus on coaching and classroom practice, without unnecessary admin.

Duties and Responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities

As an In-school Mentor, your guidance can make all the difference in a trainee’s journey. To support you in this role, we've put together an outline of your key duties and responsibilities - so that you know exactly what's expected and how we’ll support you along the way.

Download
oBSERVATION pOLICY

Observation Policy

This document sets out the expectations, responsibilities, and collaborative processes involved in observing and supporting Grad2Teach trainees. It aims to foster a cohesive, transparent, and professional approach to lesson observations, helping trainees grow into confident and capable teachers.

Download
ISM and PA Obs form-1

ISM and PA Lesson Observation Form

As part of your role, observing your trainee’s teaching and providing constructive feedback is essential to their development. This ISM Observation Template is designed to help you to capture their key strengths, areas for development, and offer clear, supportive guidance following each observation.

Download
Trainee Post-observation Reflection and Action Plan

Trainee Post-Observation Reflection and Action Plan

After a lesson observation of their teaching, trainees are asked to complete this document to support deep reflection on the experience. Structured around Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle, it guides them through six key stages - Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion, and Action Plan - to promote meaningful professional growth through thoughtful, evidence-informed reflection.

Download