Principal Mentoring

The Principal Mentoring Program (PMP) supports the Department of Education’s Principal Health and Wellbeing Strategy. The program is managed by the Academy in partnership with Growth Coaching International (GCI).  

PMP participants are matched with a trained mentor, who is an experienced and highly skilled former principal. Mentors share their expertise as an advisor and a colleague.  

The program offers principals timely support from an experienced peer who has a unique understanding of the challenges and rewards that come with this remarkable role. 

Participants consistently report a range of professional and personal benefits from being involved in the Principal Mentoring Program. Feedback highlights that the program provides a trusted space for principals to reflect on their leadership practice and discuss the complexities of the role with an experienced mentor.

Many participants value the opportunity to debrief about challenging situations, explore different perspectives, and strengthen their decision-making and leadership skills. Mentoring also helps to reduce feelings of professional isolation by creating supportive and confidential mentoring relationships.

More importantly, participants often report positive impacts on their personal health and wellbeing. Through mentoring conversations, principals develop a deeper understanding of the importance of maintaining their own wellbeing and how this directly supports their effectiveness and resilience as school leaders. 

Mentoring and coaching are both developmental approaches, but they differ in focus and method.

Mentoring is a collaborative learning relationship where a more experienced professional shares knowledge, skills and insights to support another’s growth. It often involves guidance, experience sharing and role modelling, and is typically a two-way partnership that values mutual learning and diverse perspectives (European Mentoring and Coaching Council, n.d.).

Coaching, by contrast, is a structured, one-to-one conversation focused on enhancing learning and development through increased self-awareness and personal responsibility. Rather than providing advice, the coach supports the individual to generate their own insights and solutions through questioning, active listening and constructive challenge in a supportive environment (van Nieuwerburgh, 2012). 

All Victorian government school principals at all career stages and levels of expertise will have access to this service. This includes both substantive principals and acting principals who are in the role for more than one school term in any government primary, secondary, P-12 or specialist school. 

The mentors are experienced and highly skilled, former principals who have undertaken specific mentor training in line with the international accreditation body, the European Mentoring & Coaching Council (EMCC Global). This approach recognises mentoring as a 2-way partnership for mutual learning involving the sharing of skills, knowledge, and expertise that always keeps the mentee at the centre of these developmental conversations.

Mentors also complete additional training specific to mentoring school principals, that equips them to recognise emerging health and wellbeing issues and respond appropriately. 

Whenever possible, mentoring will commence with a face-to-face session at a mutually agreed location, preferably at the school. Remaining sessions will be held via phone or video, or in a combination of these modes.  

Mentees have control of scheduling their sessions to suit their needs throughout the 8-month period and can use their allocated hours flexibly as 30-minute, 1-hour or longer sessions, depending on their individual needs.  

Principals can access the mentoring program by clicking the application button, view dates and apply, on this webpage.
Your application will help us match you with a suitable mentor. 

Once registered, principal mentees will be offered a shortlist of 3 mentors to choose from. The shortlist is selected to match the mentee’s context and their identified areas of development or leadership focus. 

The Principal Mentoring program provides up to 8 hours of mentoring over 8 months. The 8 hours are available for you and your mentor to use in the way that you find most appropriate as 30-minute, 1-hour or longer sessions, depending on their individual needs.  

Yes, the mentoring program will enhance your role as a principal across the full breadth of your leadership career.  

Yes. Mentoring sessions are confidential and conversations between the mentor and mentee are treated with care and discretion.  

Confidentiality in the Principal Mentoring Program is guided by The Global Code of Ethics developed by EMCC Global and other mentoring and coaching professional bodies. You can find these ethical guidelines via this link: https://www.emccglobal.org/leadershipdevelopment/ethics/

However, confidentiality may need to be limited in certain circumstances to meet ethical and duty-of-care obligations. This may occur if the mentor believes that:

• the mentee has shared information about concerning or unsafe working conditions or their work environment
• the mentee may be at serious risk of, or is currently experiencing, psychological or physical harm related to their work.

In this situation, the mentor must inform the Academy who will take appropriate steps to meet its duty-of-care responsibilities. 

No. Involvement in the program is not mandatory.  However, it is highly recommended for all principals to consider mentoring as a support throughout their leadership career.

Mentoring is particularly valuable for new principals and complements the Evolve: New Principals program, designed for newly appointed, first-time principals. 

Mentors are provided with training to help them identify any health and wellbeing risks and to understand how to respond appropriately. In some cases, this may be a simple conversation or a recommended approach. In other cases, the mentor may refer the mentee to resources available through the Department or other agencies.

See the section on confidentiality for more information. 

Information such as contact details may be provided to the Department as outlined in the Academy’s collection notice. See - https://www.academy.vic.gov.au/collection-notice  

Yes. If you are a past participants of any mentoring program delivered by the Academy, you are welcome to reapply, provided you currently meet the Principal Mentoring Program’s eligibility requirements.  

If you are a past participant reapplying to the Principal Mentoring Program, you may request to be matched with your previous mentor, particularly where an established and effective mentoring relationship already exists. Such requests will be considered whenever possible. 

As a participant in the Academy’s Principal Mentoring Program, you will be matched with one of the program’s trained mentors. 

Highly skilled and former principals can register their interest to become a mentor by contacting the Academy. For more information, please visit: Become a Mentor for Principals | Academy 

Principal Programs Unit

Victorian Academy of Teaching and Leadership  

Phone: (03) 7022 1826  

Email: academy.support@education.vic.gov.au