Our PCMs provide integral support to the mentors working with our trainees.
Your role as a Professional Coordinating Mentor (PCM) is vital to the development of our trainees on school experience. We have compiled key information for PCMs on this page.
Hosting a trainee
Thank you for hosting a St Mary's trainee in your school. Your role in overseeing initial teacher training in your setting is essential to the development of emerging professionals. While your mentor will work most closely with our trainee on a daily basis, your role involves the monitoring of their progress and development while they are in your school. As such, you will be required to engage with aspects of the training plan; this will include at least one formal observation of the trainee, oversight of a professional development programme, completion of reflective comments in the progress or assessment record, and an evaluation of the school experience.
Safeguarding
As a PCM, your role in safeguarding children and vulnerable individuals is vital. More details about the ITT safeguarding policy and safeguarding practices for school experience can be found on the portal. Our Partnership team welcomes contact from PCMs with any safeguarding queries.
Trainee wellbeing and mental health
In line with our partnership agreement, part of your role as a PCM is to monitor the wellbeing and mental health of trainees in your school. This includes overseeing their workload and informing your link tutor of any concerns. Wellbeing remains a priority for St Mary's University and, as such, we always want to hear from PCMs who would like to discuss a trainee in their school.
Our Wellbeing on Placement handbook has been designed in collaboration with colleagues across the University to provide our trainees with guidance and support while out in school.
School-based professional development programmes
PCMs in our schools are responsible for overseeing the design and delivery of a school-based professional development programme. The purpose of which is to allow trainees the opportunity to see how aspects of their centre-based training is applied in specific contexts. We will ask you to confirm how you deliver this professional development in your school and have resources available to support PCMs who are refining the design of their programme in their context. Please refer to our newsletters for updates and further information can be found on our school-based professional development page.
Strategic Partnership Board (SPB)
The St Mary's Partnership Team meets with the SPB on a regular basis to seek feedback and inform the strategic planning of our initial teacher training programmes. The purpose of this network is to engage in regular dialogue with expert colleagues to shape our provision in line with current context. We welcome those interested in joining the SPB to contact Mary Nkune, Head of Education Partnerships (mary.nkune@stmarys.ac.uk).
Partnership newsletters
Our weekly newsletters are sent to schools currently hosting a St Mary's trainee. These contain updates and key information for the forthcoming week, which will support those working with trainees. We will include details of placement tasks, aspects of the training plan and university-based deadlines that are upcoming to allow for full understanding of the trainees' developmental journey while they are in your school. The repository of our newsletters is stored with other resources useful during school experience and please contact the partnership team if you are not receiving your updates.
Training for PCMs and your mentors
We offer regular training for PCMs and mentors, details of which can be found in the Mentor Training Zone. The training offer includes curriculum coverage, mentoring skills and other CPD opportunities for those working with us. Please refer to newsletters for the most up to date information relating to upcoming sessions and how to access them.
Training requirements for mentors can be found on our curriculum training page and it is requested that they record this on their Abyasa account. PCM training is also offered on a regular basis and recordings are made available on the portal.