Helping Learners Take the Next Step: The Transition Mentor’s Toolkit

Kit 1 – Individual Plans for Transition from School to Work

The first toolkit focuses on the learner and provides educators with a clear structure to assess, plan, and track each individual’s journey toward independence and employment.

The Online Assessment Tool helps both teachers and learners identify strengths and challenges in areas such as employability, life skills, and interpersonal relationships. The results appear in visual profiles that make it easy to see where additional support is needed.

Next, the Individual Plan turns this assessment into action by setting specific goals in key areas like self-perception, independence, and work skills. A Sample Individual Plan offers a model to guide both educators and learners in completing their own.

The toolkit also includes a Mentor’s Form to Track Progress and a Learner’s Self-Assessment of Progress, which together ensure that growth is continuously monitored from both perspectives.

➡️ Example in practice: A mentor might use the tracking form to notice that a learner’s time management skills are improving but communication still needs work — prompting targeted exercises and reflection in the next mentoring session.

Kit 2 – School Management Strategies for Lasting Transition Support

While Kit 1 supports individual learners, Kit 2 helps schools embed transition support into their policies and everyday practices. It gives senior leaders and coordinators the tools to build a sustainable, whole-school approach to preparing students for life after education.

The toolkit follows four clear steps:

1. Adopt the School Transition Policy. – a ready-to-use policy template that formalises the school’s commitment to preparing all learners, especially those with additional needs, for adulthood and employment
2. Build the Inclusive Employer Register – a living list of local employers willing to offer work placements, internships, or jobs to young people with learning difficulties and disabilities.
3. Compile the Support Organisation Register – a directory of agencies that can provide wrap-around assistance, from benefits advice to travel training.
4. Deliver the Transition Preparation Workshops – a 30-hour workshop series for final-year pupils covering job search, interviews, time management, and independent living.

➡️ Example in practice: When schools use the two registers alongside the workshops, learners not only gain confidence but also establish real links with potential employers and support networks — a bridge from classroom learning to paid employment.

Kit 3 – Workplace Strategies for Inclusion of Graduates

The third toolkit carries the support structure into the workplace, ensuring that inclusion doesn’t end when the job begins. It provides employers and mentors with simple tools to align expectations, track progress, and maintain communication with the school and learner.

The process begins with the Collaboration Agreement, a clear, plain-language document that defines each party’s responsibilities, meeting frequency, and any workplace adjustments needed.

The Employer Mentoring Form then allows workplace mentors to record performance, wellbeing, and communication using a five-point scale. This ensures that small challenges are identified early before they grow into larger issues.

Finally, the Monthly Tri-Partite Meeting Form brings the learner, employer, and Transition Mentor together to reflect, celebrate progress, and set new goals. A worked example in the toolkit shows how a real communication issue was turned into an improvement plan — a practical illustration of inclusion in action.

➡️ Example in practice: Regular, structured meetings build trust and accountability among all three partners, keeping the transition on track and the learner supported in their new environment.

Why Explore the Transition Mentor’s Toolkit?

Together, these three toolkits provide a complete pathway for supporting young people with learning difficulties and disabilities — from the first self-assessment to long-term employment success. They help:

• Adopt the School Transition Policy. – a ready-to-use policy template that formalises the school’s commitment to preparing all learners, especially those with additional needs, for adulthood and employment
• Build the Inclusive Employer Register – a living list of local employers willing to offer work placements, internships, or jobs to young people with learning difficulties and disabilities.
• Compile the Support Organisation Register – a directory of agencies that can provide wrap-around assistance, from benefits advice to travel training.
• Deliver the Transition Preparation Workshops – a 30-hour workshop series for final-year pupils covering job search, interviews, time management, and independent living.

The Good Job! project demonstrates that with the right tools and collaboration, transition from school to work can be a confident step forward — not a leap into the unknown.

👉 Discover and download all three toolkits here: https://goodjob-project.eu/en/transition-mentor