Academic Mentoring Programme: Summer extension

Information for schools on the summer extension of the Academic Mentoring Programme.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the costs associated with extending my academic mentor’s contract until 31 August 2021?

The previous agreement will remain the same. The DfE will reimburse the salary for £19,000 (pro-rata) and your school will be responsible for the on-costs. The DfE will use the information you previously submitted to Teach First about your academic mentor’s FTE information to manage reimbursements.

We will share an updated reimbursement schedule as soon as possible.

My academic mentor would like to extend their contract until 31 August 2021, but is unable to commit to working at least 0.8 FTE. Would it still be possible for them to continue in my school?

All conditions of the programme will remain the same and therefore it is not possible for an academic mentor to work less than 0.8 FTE on the Academic Mentoring Programme.

My academic mentor is employed by my Trust. Another school within the Trust would like to access this support over the summer holidays but my school does not. Is this possible?

This is an opportunity for a contract extension from 31 July- 31 August 2021 with the same employer. Therefore, if your academic mentor will continue to have the same employer (your Trust) it is possible for them to work in another school within your MAT.

However, we will need to check the school is eligible to benefit from this programme so please contact academicmentoring@teachfirst.org.uk to confirm this.

You will also need to speak to your academic mentor to check that they are happy to work in alternative school in your Trust, taking into consideration location and other factors.

My school is a Local Authority maintained school. We do not wish to access support from our academic mentor over the summer holidays, but we would like them to support another local school instead. Would this be possible?

As this opportunity is for a contract extension from 31 July - 31 August 2021, the employer would need to remain the same. Therefore, it would not be possible for them to work in alternative school if this is a different employer.

My school will be open over the summer holidays; however, we will not be offering any mentoring support for pupils. It also wouldn’t be possible for the academic mentor to have a line manager over this time because my staff will be on holiday. Can they work in my school to provide other types of support?

The academic mentoring role would need to continue to focus on some of the following responsibilities:

Subject specific support with school groups.
1-1 subject specific work.
Revision lessons.
Additional support for those shielding or not in school.

While our academic mentors can have some flexibility to support school needs, the vast majority of their time should be spent on the responsibilities above. The academic mentor would also need to continue to have a line manager to support them over this time and the line manager responsibilities as set out in the School Partnership Agreement would need to remain the same.

Unfortunately, if it is not possible for them to carry out the responsibilities above and/or they will not have a line manager during this time, it would not be possible for you to extend their contract to 31 August 2021.

I do not wish to extend my academic mentor’s contract until 31 August 2021; however, I would like to extend their contract into the next academic year. Is this possible?

Details for the future of the Academic Mentoring Programme are to be confirmed and is separate to this agreement for 31 August 2021 contract extensions. As soon as we have more information about the future of the programme, we will let schools know.

If your school has a different opportunity to offer your academic mentor for the next academic year (which would not fall within the Academic Mentoring Programme), you are of course more than welcome to discuss this with your academic mentor directly.

I would like to extend my academic mentor’s contract from 31 July to a different date in August (e.g.10 August 2021). Am I able to do this?

This opportunity is for schools to extend contracts until 31 August, so schools wishing to proceed would need to commit to extending the contract for the full duration.

I would like to extend my academic mentor’s contract to 31 August 2021, but they already had a pre-arranged holiday in August. Can they still take this holiday?

Your school should follow your same procedures for annual leave entitlement & approval as with other members of staff.

I would like to have continued support from an academic mentor over August; however, my academic mentor is unavailable to support. Can Teach First provide an alternative?

This opportunity is based on an agreement between your school and your academic mentor directly. Unfortunately, if your academic mentor is unable to accept a contract extension, Teach First cannot provide an alternative.

I would like to nominate a new academic mentor to join my school until 31 August 2021. Would this be possible?

This opportunity is for current academic mentors to extend their contracts from 31 July to 31 August.

Unfortunately, Teach First will be unable to provide an alternative academic mentor for your school, including through the headteacher nomination route.

I have a maths academic mentor and they would like to extend their contract until 31 August 2021. However, my school need is for English mentoring over the summer. Would it be possible for them to switch subject?

All aspects of the School Partnership Agreement for the Academic Mentoring Programme will remain the same. As your academic mentor has received training to provide maths subject-specific support, the vast majority of their time should be focused in this area.

However, if you would like your academic mentor to provide some support in another curriculum area, you would need to negotiate this with your mentor directly, taking into consideration their subject knowledge and confidence to deliver in that subject area.

Please also ensure that you inform your Curriculum and Training Lead so that they can support your academic mentor with this.

My Academic Mentor wishes to work for us until 31 August, and we wish to keep them, but they are joining the Teach First Training Programme, so their contract ends on 18 June. Can we hire them from the end of Summer Institute until 31 August?

Yes, your school will be able to do this. You will need to end your Academic Mentor’s contract on 18 June, as previously communicated. You will then need to issue your Academic Mentor with a new, identical contract for the dates 1 August 2021 to 31 August 2021.

Academic Mentors are not permitted to work in school during the Teach First Training Programme, so your mentor will still be unable to work for you from 21 June –31 July 2021.

I have submitted my expression of interest form, what happens next?

Teach First will be in touch within 48 hours to send a share an electronic agreement for your school to sign to confirm this. This will be sent via Docusign, in the same way as your original School Partnership Agreement was shared.

It is critical that your school completes this as we will use the information to confirm this data with the DfE for reimbursements.

If you have any questions about this, please contact academicmentoring@teachfirst.org.uk.

What is the deadline for confirming if we would like to proceed with extending our academic mentor’s contract from 31 July to 31 August 2021?

The deadline for submitting your expression of interest form is Monday 17 May.

I think I would like to extend my academic mentor’s contract from 31 July to 31 August 2021, but I need more time to consider this. Is this possible?

Please get in touch with academicmentoring@teachfirst.org.uk to discuss this.

Who do I contact if I have any questions about this?

Please feel free to contact academicmentoring@teachfirst.org.uk and we will endeavour to respond within 48 hours.

For more information on the Academic Mentoring Programme, return to the directory.

If you can’t find the information you’re looking for, please contact academicmentoring@teachfirst.org.uk.