Principals and schools

Mentor an aspiring or beginning principal

Find out how to apply to become a mentor

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Last updated 18 September 2025

Experienced principals have always played a vital role in supporting and guiding others in their school communities. As part of the Aspiring and Beginning Principal Programmes (launching in 2026), we’re inviting current principals to become mentors - guiding, supporting, and inspiring the next generation of school leaders.

The application period to become a mentor for an aspiring or beginning principal is open ended. While we encourage you to apply now, we want to ensure all eligible principals have the opportunity to consider becoming a mentor.

Mentoring allows you to reflect on your own leadership journey, share your experience and help build a pipeline of prepared, confident, and culturally responsive leaders for our schools and kura.

Applications for the aspiring principal programme are now open.

Aspiring Principal Programme - information for applicants

Aspiring Principal Programme - information for principals

Becoming a mentor

Becoming a mentor of an aspiring or beginning principal is a unique opportunity to contribute to system-wide improvement while deepening your own professional practice.

The programmes are professional learning and development initiatives designed to grow well-prepared principals who can lead with vision, cultural capability, and educational excellence from day one in the role.

Key to the success of the programmes is the one-to-one matching of an experienced principal with programme participants. Success for the emerging principals in the programmes relies on having a significant and diverse pool of skilled principal mentors to draw from.

You can apply to mentor:

An aspiring principal | tumuaki (1-year engagement)
A beginning principal | tumuaki (up to 2-year engagement)
Or both

Matching with an aspiring or beginning principal

When your application has been processed, including endorsement by a referee, your details will be shared with the aspiring principal and beginning principal programme providers. You will then be added to their mentor register.

Once registered, you will be matched with an aspiring or beginning principal as opportunities arise. Acceptance as a mentor does not guarantee a match.

Using information provided in your application and your preferences, mentor matches will be made for each aspiring and beginning principal. Matching depends on multiple factors. Examples include school setting, location, cultural needs (e.g., wāhine Māori leadership), to ensure relevance and appropriate support for the aspiring or beginning principal.

If your school or kura has someone accepted into the aspiring principal programme, you will not be matched with them.

Eligibility criteria apply to becoming a mentor, and include:

Leading a state or state-integrated school as a Principal/Tumuaki
Holding a Full Practising Certificate (Category One)
Having at least six years’ recent principalship experience in New Zealand
Confirming your school is not under any statutory intervention
Being available to mentor for the next 1–2 years (i.e., you have no planned sabbatical, study award, or secondment)

Choosing a referee

You will need to choose a referee to endorse your mentor application. They must be a current or recent principal who can attest to your suitability as a mentor and will need to complete an online mentor endorsement form.

The referee will be required to assess your mentoring and leadership competency across the key capability areas based on the Teaching Council’s Educational Leadership Capability Framework.

We recommend encouraging your referees to read the referee guidance (which includes the Teaching Council's Educational Leadership Capability Framework) before completing the endorsement form.

Getting school Board support

You will also need to secure formal Board support for your application and upload one of the following as part of your application:

an excerpt of the board motion confirming support (not full minutes)
a signed letter from the presiding member or their delegate
an email from the presiding member.

An example Board template is available in the popular resources section of this webpage.

Preparing and completing your mentor application

We strongly recommend reading the mentor application guidance before starting your application. The information you provide will be used for matching purposes. The format of the application requires long form examples and statements about your:

principal and leadership career
areas of expertise
mentoring and coaching experience and development.

We also recommend drafting your responses to the long form questions and copying them into the online application. You do not need to complete your application in one sitting as long as you return to your application by clicking on the application link below using the same internet browser (e.g., chrome, bing, safari etc).

See the mentor application guidance linked below and in the popular resources section of the webpage.

Application guidance for mentors

Make a mentor application

Apply now launch

Instructions for referees

Referees must be a current or recent principal who can attest to the mentor applicant's suitability as a mentor. As a referee, you will be asked to assess the mentor applicant's mentoring and leadership competency across the key capability areas based on the Teaching Council’s Educational Leadership Capability Framework.

Referees should read the referee guidance linked below and included in the popular resources section of the webpage before completing the online endorsement form. You will also need to know the mentor applicant's MOE number so your endorsement can be matched with the mentor application.

Guidance for mentor referees