Partnership in Practice: Building Strong Support for Trainees and Mentors

Introduction

The Aspirations Academies Trust is a trust of 16 primary and secondary age academies in southern England. Here Trust Training Lead, Mark Cavill, shares his experience of working NITE on our teacher training programmes.

Working together for success

Communication and support from the team at Coventry University’s National Institute of Teaching and Education has been excellent. We have an account manager who is readily available to answer any questions and provide important updates, and the NITE team supply very useful documentation regarding key dates and DBS and safeguarding checklists—which are incredibly helpful for managing the process smoothly.

Training that makes a difference

Training for our mentors has been timely, well organised, and well received by our staff. They found it accessible, easy to understand, and clear in terms of exactly what was expected of them when mentoring an Initial Teacher Training (ITT) trainee.

We also received a detailed School Partnership Guide and handbook, which aligned effectively with the live online training sessions our mentors attended. The handbook is particularly valuable as it allows mentors to access information in their own time, offering guidance on everything from course overviews and trainee induction to Intensive Training and Practice (ITAP) details, timetabling, and arranging second placements.

Practical and accessible online platforms

The online platforms provided by NITE are another major strength. Trainees use an online workbook that helps them organise evidence and demonstrate progress across the course. There are also templates for action plans and weekly meetings, which mentors find especially useful.

We particularly like the academic learning platform because it gives trainees the flexibility to work online rather than attend fixed lectures. They can study at a time and place that suits them, revisiting content as needed—allowing them to stay in school and gain as much hands-on experience as possible throughout the course.

Lauren and Lorraine from NITE visit Mark at Aspirations HQ, September 2025

The value of university lead mentors

The University Lead Mentors (ULMs) are a vital addition to the programme. They were proactive in introducing themselves to our mentors and outlining their key roles:

• Supporting both trainees and school-based mentors across placements
• Offering academic and pastoral guidance
• Delivering weekly or fortnightly tutorials and ITAP facilitation
• Leading progress reviews
• Monitoring and supporting trainee progress
• Providing feedback and overseeing mentor development

The ULMs play an integral role in the success of both trainees and mentors across our partnership.

A partnership that feels personal

It has been great working with NITE so far. It was especially reassuring that the team were keen to visit us in person at our HQ, introduce themselves, offer additional professional development opportunities for our staff—and even bring cake to the meeting!

This personal touch captures the spirit of partnership that makes our collaboration with Coventry University so rewarding.

If you would like to discuss how your organisation could work with NITE for ITT or staff development, please contact us nite@coventry.ac.uk