mentro logo
FeaturesFor TrainersFor LearnersPricingContactFAQHosting & securityAbout
DEENFRIT
Log inTry the demo
For trainers

Less digging. More mentoring.

Most vocational trainers support their learners alongside their actual job. mentro makes sure that time goes into the conversation: evidence builds up over the semester by itself, and you see early on who needs attention right now.

Try the demoView features
What good mentoring needs

Four things that make the difference

They apply in every company, with or without software. mentro is built so you can actually do them in everyday work.

Reflection needs a structure

Faced with a blank page, most stop at "it was fine". Real reflection follows a sequence: first describe what happened, then understand why, and finally work out what to do differently next time. And it has to match where someone is: the first year is different from the weeks before the final exams.

In mentroA reflection model with stages that build on each other guides every journal. The questions are written by hand and put together to fit occupation, specialisation and training year.

Feedback works when it is close

A pointer two days after the entry sticks. The same pointer half a year later in the appraisal meeting hardly does.

In mentroYou approve journals or request changes with feedback right on the entry.

Everyone needs attention, the quiet ones too

Whoever asks or makes mistakes gets noticed. Quiet learners need support just as much, you just notice it later.

In mentroThe dashboard shows who records regularly and who has been quiet for a while.

Assessment needs evidence

A fair education report rests on the whole semester, not just the last few weeks you still remember.

In mentroActivities, journals and observations build up over the semester and sit right next to the report.

3 years
From Swiss vocational training

Reflecting early often means better grades

A study followed 132 baker and pastry chef apprentices from across Switzerland through their entire apprenticeship. Those who started their learning journal early and used it to plan, check and correct their work tended to finish with better grades.

Source: Schwendimann, Kappeler, Mauroux & Gurtner 2018, Empirical Research in Vocational Education and Training

Why reflection matters

Thinking it over turns work into skill

Learners gain experience every day. Whether it turns into skill often depends on whether they pause for a moment: what worked, why, and what will I do differently next time? That is exactly what the learning journal is for. And in the answers you see how someone thinks, not just what they did.

  • A reflection model with building stages instead of a blank page
  • You approve the journal or request changes with feedback
  • Learners see your feedback right on the entry
Learning journal with guided reflection questions and the feedback status
A journal entry on a phone, answered question by question
Why the overview matters

Each learner on one page

Before a meeting, or just in between, you want to know where someone stands without going through five lists. The overview of a learner shows it all in one place: how much of the curriculum is covered, how that has developed since the start of the apprenticeship and where something is due right now.

  • Curriculum status, with depth and breadth
  • Progress since the start of the apprenticeship, year by year
  • What needs attention at the top, open goals for example
  • All of the person’s entries in one place
Dashboard of one learner with learning progress, evidence mix, open goals and key figures
The dashboard on a phone, with learning progress and the next tasks
The education report

A conversation about evidence, not memories

Once a semester, the education report is the chance to take a look together. That works better when both of you have the same things in front of you. The learner first assesses themselves, you fill in the official SDBB form step by step, and mentro puts the evidence from the semester next to it. You write the assessment.

Education reports per semester, next to the official SDBB form
Reviewing and signing the education report on a phone
  • The real SDBB form as a PDF, not a lookalike
  • The learner’s self-assessment next to yours
  • Evidence from activities, journals, practical assignments and observations
  • Signed electronically by company and learner

* SDBB is the Swiss Services Centre for Vocational Education and Training. It publishes the official education report form used across Swiss vocational education.

Questions from everyday supervision

Yes, with the greatest weight. mentro grades every piece of evidence by source: your observations and graded practical assignments count far more than learners' self-reports. A competency only counts as achieved once several independent sources agree, including at least one observation or review from you as the trainer.

At the end of each semester, so twice a year. The training company records how the learner has developed professionally and personally, and agrees on the goals for the coming semester. In practice the official SDBB form is used for this, and mentro uses exactly that form. It is signed by the trainer and the learner. In mentro the evidence from the whole semester is already there, so you do not have to reconstruct six months at the end.

An appraisal meeting is the conversation between trainer and learner in which you go through the education report together: what went well, where the learner stands, what comes next. It usually takes place once per semester, together with the education report. To prepare, look at the activities and journals of the past months in mentro, plus the competency picture with the documented and the still open areas. Both sides then enter the conversation with the same facts instead of memories of the last few weeks. At the end, record the agreed goals directly in the report.

Read more: The digital education report

Primarily for trainers in training companies who support their learners. Learners document their activities and reflections, and organisations gain standardised processes and better data quality.

All questions and answers

See mentro with your own eyes

Request your own test environment and see for yourself what everyday work with mentro looks like. The links arrive by email within a few minutes. Everything in it is made up and gone after 30 days.

Try the demoView pricing