New teachers need support (Bubb, 2007). They do not yet have the knowledge and wisdom to take effective action in situations which result as difficult, ranging from the pedagogical to the practical and mundane. Education systems develop induction programmes with the aims of diagnosing the strengths and needs of NQTs, giving advice and facilitating these teachers’ learning and growth. This paper focuses on the induction programme in Malta, a system which has been in place since 2010 and principally based on the support these NQTs receive from their mentor, a member of the School Management Team and their College Principal. The institutional programme and what it aims to achieve is assessed against the reflections of a number of Teacher Mentors who were given the role of supporting an NQT in their school for one scholastic year. Based on these reflections, the author evaluates whether the aims which the programme claims to achieve are being reached and whether the approach which Teacher Mentors take, based on a reflective practitioner model, is serving as an opportunity to have strengths and success recognized, problems accurately diagnosed and areas for development identified.

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