Dear Parents and Carers,

Mentoring is recognised as the “jewel in the crown” of JPC and is valued by students, staff and parents. This year we have trialled the introduction of a Mentoring lesson that is held each week before ILT starts.

The aim of this lesson is to strengthen the relationship between Mentor and student so that it truly reflects our philosophy of the child at the centre of what we do. Weekly contact ensures that this relationship develops quickly and we as the Mentor get to know our students and how they are learning and progressing.

Another important component of the Mentor lesson is for teachers to be able to spend more time working with their mentor students around planning for ILT, managing workloads and helping with issues that may arise with a particular year group – such as Year 7 planning for ILT or Senior students managing the increasing expectation of workload or preparing for exams.

The feedback from staff is that they feel the Mentor lesson is valuable as they are able to have a regular touch base with their students instead of every 4 – 5 weeks and even though many teachers see their students in PC time that there is not really time to check-in and see how things are going. 

Because there is less time for formal one-on-one conversations teachers will be sending home one formal mentor report per term. We, of course, welcome and encourage parent’s feedback and information regarding their child. This does not have to wait for a formal mentor report. We know that working in partnership with our families ensures the best outcome for our students.

Stephanie O’Meara
Assistant Principal