My name is Paul Jones and I occupy the role of Professional Mentor at King’s Leadership Academy Hawthornes. I took on this important role when the school opened in 2012 having previously served as subject mentor for Spanish in my previous school. Here at King’s Hawthornes we believe it is vital that we play our part in training the teachers of the future whilst at the same time recognising how beneficial it is for our school and its pupils to provide opportunities for young entrants to the profession. They are able to contribute much to the life of the school community.

There are many aspects to my role but chief among them is to quality assure the work of the subject mentors and to ensure that trainee teachers have the very best of training experiences. This includes a structured programme of professional development which can be tailored to meet the specific needs of individual trainees who may of course be on different training pathways. Our aim is for all trainees to not just pass their particular course but for them to develop into highly competent classroom practitioners who meet and go beyond the required national standards.

As a member of the Great Schools Trust it should be noted that one of the defining characteristics of the Trust is its firm commitment to the professional development of all of its teachers, not just its trainees. To this end there is significant expertise across the member schools and multiple opportunities to learn and develop beyond the trainee years. Indeed, some of our trainees have moved on only to return when the opportunity arose because they recognise the excellence of our Aspire based teaching environment.