This event is now full. We will hold another VIT Mentoring Program in August 2024. Enrol here.

Date and time 

Day 1: Tuesday 21 May 2024, 9.30 am to 3.30 pm 

Day 2: Thursday 6 June 2024, 9.30 am to 3.30 pm 

Delivery mode 

In person at ISV, 40 Rosslyn St, West Melbourne 

Audience   

Experienced Teachers

Description  

Over 70% of beginning teachers have reported that having a supportive mentor in the first few years of teaching has influenced their decision to remain in the profession. 

Mentors assist new teachers to adapt to the new school climate and help establish their professional identity. They can influence the beginning teacher’s professional behaviour, help to shape their beliefs and professional values and, most importantly, set them on a path of continual reflection and improvement to produce highly effective practitioners. 

Independent Schools Victoria (ISV) has partnered with the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) to develop a mentor training course that will support mentors to undertake their duties, develop their human leadership capabilities and provide guidance on how to support their mentee through the VIT’s inquiry process. 

The program is open to experienced, fully registered teachers working in registered schools and early childhood services. Participants must attend both course days to be considered by VIT as a trained mentor for the purposes of sitting on a workplace panel. 

Feedback has indicated that teachers find significant professional benefit in working with people from a broad range of contexts. All programs are combined to allow school and early childhood mentors to work together. 

Key takeaways  

• understanding of the role of the mentor in the induction process
• exploration of the requirements for applications by provisionally registered teachers for full registration
• understanding the requirements of the inquiry process
• awareness of links to your role in the application process
• exploration of the practice of mentoring and how mentoring can support beginning teachers to improve their teaching practice. 

Presenter information  

Linda Blakis  

Linda Blakis is a Principal Practitioner with VIT. After a highly competitive recruitment selection process, Linda joined VIT in February 2019 to take on the newly created Principal Practitioner role. This role works across many branches to build a strong connection between VIT and the teaching profession.  

A trained secondary teacher, Linda has worked predominantly in the northern growth corridor of Melbourne, and was Assistant Principal of a large P-12 school before taking up the VIT appointment.  Linda is passionate about teaching and the importance of investing in teachers, who she sees as our state’s most important professional group. 

Lucy Buncle 

Lucy Buncle is the acting Professional Practice Manager at the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT). She studied a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Melbourne and then completed a Diploma of Education (Primary) at La Trobe University Bundoora. After half a decade teaching, Lucy decided to continue her education, embarking on a Masters of Education (Expert Teaching – Gifted and Talented education) at Monash University. Lucy taught for more than a decade in primary schools in the inner-city and the outer-western suburbs of Melbourne. 

Lucy joined VIT in 2022 as a Senior Professional Practice Officer. In this role she has worked closely with teachers at every stage of the teaching continuum, from pre-service teachers through to Principals. Her role is to support them to meet and maintain the professional standards. To ensure the safety and well-being of children and young people, Lucy also delivers workshops on the Victorian Teachers Code of Conduct and produces resources to support teachers to apply the Code to their context. Lucy is currently working as the acting professional practice manager for the remainder of the 2023 school year. 

Link(s) to relevant VRQA Standards

• Curriculum and Student Learning – Student learning outcomes
• Staff Employment – Teachers’ requirements