Mentoring Schools An ECNM initiative

Build mentoring into school life.

Every school has pupils who need someone to notice when things get difficult. Your staff may already be doing this quietly, with little time to step back and see what’s working. The Mentoring Schools Quality Mark helps you build on that care and give mentoring a clear place in school life.

Request an exploratory call See how three schools did it

Pupils taking part in a classroom discussion — From a targeted programme to a lasting school practice.

The Quality Mark

A clear standard.
Built on school practice.

Mentoring Schools grew out of ECNM’s work helping schools build mentoring around their pupils, staff and priorities. The Quality Mark brings that experience into a framework for looking at how mentoring is led, delivered and evaluated.

Schools can review their provision, gather evidence and work towards assessment. ECNM training and mentoring support are available separately; buying either is not required for assessment.

Bronze, Silver and Gold are assessment levels. Lead School Status is shown separately.

Where the model began

Three schools.
Three starting points.

These case studies show how schools built mentoring around different needs. Explore what each school put in place and what it reported.

01 A whole year group

Blakesley Hall
Primary School

Every Year 6 pupil was offered a mentor. Staff trained across the school, and parents were involved alongside group and one-to-one mentoring.

What to take from it A school can bring a whole cohort, staff and families into one shared programme. A later account records an earlier Silver award and Lead School Status.

Read the account Read the excerpt

02 Whole-school capacity

Thornton
Primary School

Thornton moved beyond relying on one part-time learning mentor. ECNM helped train leaders, teachers and support staff as the school worked towards a named mentor for every pupil.

What to take from it Building staff capacity can spread mentoring across the school and free up specialist support for pupils who need it most.

Read the account Download PDF

03 A targeted starting point

St Michael’s
Community Academy

The academy started with Year 4, combining staff training with group and one-to-one mentoring to support aspirations, relationships and engagement with learning.

What to take from it One year group can be a practical place to begin. The original account records an earlier ECNM Bronze award for that work.

Read the account Download PDF

These accounts document earlier school programmes. Any awards mentioned belong to those programmes and do not indicate a current Quality Mark under this framework.

For school and trust leaders

Take it to your team.

Share this two-page invitation with your leadership team to explore what it means to become an ECNM Founding School and how to start the conversation.

Download the two-page invitation (PDF)

What building mentoring in schools can look like

“Mentoring built my son’s confidence. He works harder and has more knowledge”

Parent feedbackSchool mentoring programmeBlakesley Hall Primary

Case study

Thornton Primary School

How the school gave every child a named mentor.

Partner evidenceExplore the evidence

Case study

St Michael’s Community Academy

Year 4 resilience, learning and relationships.

Partner evidenceExplore the evidence

The next cohort

Where could your school start?

Share your school or trust details and ECNM will get in touch to arrange an exploratory conversation. We’ll discuss what you already have in place, what you want pupils to gain and what taking part as a Founding School could involve for your team.

You can use the call to decide whether to explore it with your leadership team.

Prefer a separate page? Open the Mentoring Schools form in Dubsado.

For school leadership teams

Take the next step as a school.

Share the invitation with your leadership team or register interest in exploring how mentoring could work across your school.