[candidate-sr2015] Jon Bartlett for Schools and Mentoring

[Jon Bartlett]

Hi blueshirts,

I'm applying for the SC role for School Interaction, Mentoring and Support.

For those that haven't met me (which is most of you), I've been
involved with SR as a team leader since 2011 and been involved with
the mailing list and other events for about the same amount of time.
Last summer I volunteered for the Smallpeice event in Southampton.
I've been a physics and electronics teacher for 10 years and have
experience of running STEM clubs in comprehensive, private and grammar
schools and mentoring with a local youth group (team HYP last year).
I'm currently Head of Physics at a grammar school in Southend.

The School Interaction role essentially falls into three sections:
School communication and support, mentor management, and recruitment.

As an experienced teacher and team leader I have a good understanding
of the communication and documentation needs for schools. I have
frequently assisted in mailing list discussions about the team leader
agreements and in editing emails to be sent to schools, with a focus
on keeping communications concise and precise - teachers don't have
time or inclination to read several pages of legalese. I'm also well
aware of school requirements in terms of notice for trips and criminal
records checks for mentors, and have been attempting to write these
safety policies for some time now. Support is needed for this at SC
level.

In my view, mentor management falls into two categories. Branch heads
at universities should coordinate local mentoring, with no more than
an overview from SC. As SR spreads beyond Southampton and Bristol,
remote mentoring will become increasingly important. This will
require organisation and coordination from SC, so I propose
development of a remote mentor scheme as soon as possible.

For recruitment, I was the instigator of the (ultimately failed)
Norfolk expansion last year. While the results were eventually
disappointing, I feel I have demonstrated commitment and tenacity in
promoting SR in schools. If expansion continues, the 'word of mouth'
approach will start to reach a limit and more coordinated action will
be needed. I have contacts in many secondary schools throughout the
country and the ability to target invitations to the right people. I
also have the experience to know what information teachers want. My
biggest concern is that a large proportion of SR entrants are private
schools, so my priority in expansion would be to recruit and retain
state schools wherever possible.

TLDR; I have lots of experience in schools because I'm a teacher. I'm
quite good at writing stuff concisely. I have lots of contacts for
recruitment.

Cheers,
Jon