ITT Mentor Conference – From Challenges to Growth: Promoting Wellbeing and Resilience in Mentoring Trainees
On 6 February 2025, the Eastern Region Teaching School Hubs delivered our annual Initial Teacher Training Mentor Conference to mentors and ITT providers across the East of England.
In response to the narrative playing out across schools and training providers up and down the country, we wanted to ensure that the focus of our conference resonated with the audience. We understand the significant challenges that trainees face when coming into this profession, and the important role mentors have to play in supporting them to navigate these challenges.
Promoting wellbeing and work-life balance is an important element of this support, as is helping trainees to build their physical and emotional resilience.
We placed the 2024 Gen Z and Millennial Survey: Living and working with purpose in a transforming world by Deloitte at the centre of our conference. This report is essential reading for employers and leaders working with young people – exploring how these generations feel about work and the world around them, and probing the range of factors which influence employee mental health and well-being at work.
Critically, the study also highlights the impact of workplace culture – with Trust and Belonging being critical to well-being.
In response to the report, mentors expressed what resonated with them – which included feeling surprised and concerned about the levels of stress faced by young people in the working world:
The conference included a keynote from Melanie Davies from Mind Solutions.
Melanie is a former teacher and school leader, who now specialises in teacher efficacy and wellbeing in the workplace.
Melanie delivered a focused workshop on the importance of sleep – highlighting the significant benefits of sleep, and the detriments which impact professional performance when sleep is not prioritised.
Feedback
Participants were overwhelmingly positive about the conference – and the impact it had on their understanding. In particular, the exploration of the Gen Z and Millennial Study was rated as excellent by mentors, as was the knowledge and expertise of our presenters.
Conference resources
All the resources shared over the course of the session are available here:
- 2024 Gen Z and Millennial Survey
- Tomorrow’s Teachers - A Teach First Report on getting Gen Z into the classroom
Education Support:
- Education Support, supporting teachers and education staff
- 11-circle-of-control-influence-and-concern.pdf
- 2-psychological-safety-in-schools.pdf
- *15-creating-a-wheel-of-life.pdf
Mental Health First Aid:
Conference slides and recording: