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Training Policy for Mentors

Purpose

To achieve a standard method and approach on training within VATSIM Scandinavia. TheThis SOPpolicy generally focuses on the responsibilities of the mentor but also general guidelines and tips. Moreover, it is important this document is kept alive, continually evaluated and amended as the training situation is in motion.

The core of the Training Department‘s attitude is to provide the organisation with skilled members, ready and trained, to provide ATC throughout our network. To deliver this, we need to work efficiently and help each other reach this goal.

Training Progression

Student progression towards ATC ratings in VATSIM Scandinavia is described in the SOPpolicy for students. All mentors are to be fully aware of the steps the student has to undergo to achieve their ratings and do as much as they can to ensure their journey is as smooth as possible.

Responsibilities and Expectations

VATSIM Scandinavia expects the following from ATC Mentors.

  1. Mentors refrain from sharing user information or training details with unauthorized individuals, under any circumstances. Violations will be reported to the Data Protection Officer and the board for disciplinary actions and handled according to our Data Protection Policy.
  2. Mentors are prepared to work with different types of individuals and provide the same training quality to everyone.
  3. Mentors are dedicated to teaching and will deliver the training in a professional manner.
  4. Mentors propose at least one date per two-week period to all their students when they can train them. If availability permits, at least one session per week is a recommended average.
  5. Mentors show up prepared for all sessions, with clear goals and objectives for the session to present to the student.
  6. Mentors provide appropriate feedback in a respectful manner and debrief the session in a way that allows the student to reflect upon their own performance and not only direct feedback from the mentors.
  7. Mentors stay current with local and general procedures.
  8. Mentors shall provide their students with detailed, accurate and correct information with reference to official documents, such as AIP, GOP, LOP and LoA.
  9. Mentors understand that they represent the VATSIM Scandinavia Training Department and present themselves in an appropriate manner whilst connected to the VATSIM Network and its affiliated services (forums, Discord etc.).

Standard process of training

In order to provide high quality and effective training, the training process has been standardised and training should follow these standards in all FIRs of VATSIM Scandinavia. However, these standards should be considered more as guidelines rather than strict rules and FIR specific variations can be approved by the Training Director, when deemed necessary. Every mentor should be familiar with the training process and should consult this document before contacting the training staff with questions regarding the next step in the process.

  1. Students apply for training via Control Center (CC) and the system places the student in the queue. The Training Assistant assigns relevant Moodle courses.
  2. Every mentor is responsible for informing the Training Assistant when they are able to take on a new student.
  3. The Training Assistant contacts the next student in turn when there is an opening and requests an S1 test token from the Training Director. The S1 test may be delayed in individual cases, e.g. if the student is unlikely to be successful without prior theoretical training. The S1 test may be combined with local theory tests where applicable.
  4. When the students have passed the S1 test, they are handed over to their assigned mentor.
  5. The mentor is responsible for filing training reports after every session, according to The Training Report section of this document.
  6. During the training, the student must comply with the requirements stated in the Student SOP.Training Policy. If the student violates the SOP,policy, it is the initial mentor’s decision whether it may be excused. If any further violations occur, the Training Assistant and/or Training Director must be consulted before the training is discontinued.
  7. When the students are ready for their first online session, the mentor ​or​ Training Assistant^1 requests the S1 rating upgrade from the Training Director. The S1 upgrade must not be requested before the student is ready for the first online session to avoid unnecessary rating upgrades^2.
  8. The GRP theory test may be requested from the Training Director at any time during the training, but should in general be sought in relation to the CPT.
  9. When the students have passed the GRP test, the students shall contact the Training Assistant to inform that the test is passed and suggest at least three dates within the next three-week period when they are available for CPT. Solo Endorsement may be approved for the relevant position once the GRP test has been passed.
  10. The Training Assistant contacts the Examiners to schedule the CPT During all online training sessions, the mentor must include the following in the ATIS text field: Mentoring ICAO_POS. I.e.​ “Mentoring ESSA_TWR”.

(^1) According to local agreements between mentors and their respective Training Assistant. (^2) Applies to the S2 course only

The Training Report

Training Reports are recorded in CC and must be filed within three days of every session unless the mentor and TA have agreed otherwise. Below are tips and guidelines for how the training reports are to be written, the headings correspond to the titles of the text boxes in the CC Training Report.

Date

The date the session took place.

Position

The position that was worked during the session.

Comments on Session

“This happened” (is to be written objectively)
Example ​: Most of the traffic was handled per LOP/LOA. BAW779 was given FL200 after departure by Stockholm which led to a conflict for Sweden later on. Traffic misunderstood the met-report as the term RVR was not used.

Areas to Improve

What needs to be done to get closer to the curricula? What can the student and mentor do? This should reflect what is being said in the descriptive part but also what the plan is for the following session.

Example​: The trainee will study the METAR decoding sheets to give the traffic proper information regarding different weather situations at the airport. The trainee should study the agreed levels between Stockholm and Sweden carefully. Mentor will give an oral progress check next time.

Remember, we build confidence on what the student is doing correctly and we put that into focus. We should however not put any judgment into the reports. Rather than writing: You separated the 4 traffic well or perfectly, we should write that the traffic was separated per the regulations or similar. It is important to keep in mind that during the training, we train and during the examination we assess.

RefreshOther Trainingtypes of training

AnyIn mentorother withtypes of training than standard, such as refresh there's a rating higher than the Refresh student's or equal to C1 can conduct Refresh training. The mentor should evaluate the Refresh student’s capabilities and train them in the areas where skills or knowledge are lacking. When the mentors deem the students ready to return to Active status, they should file a Training report with a summary of the training. If the mentor or TA findsrequirement that the Refreshtraining studentreports doesare notstill needwritten anyfor refreshthese kind of sessions. The local training andassistant iswill ready to return to Active status immediately,have the reasoningsaying andon arguments forhow this considering the durationtypes of inactivity,trainings are defined as completed.

Refresh trainings should be presentedtrained inup to today's level and expectation of a Training report.

The TA or mentor will then contact the ​TD and DIR​ who will review the Training report and approve the return to Active status.

In cases where the duration of inactivity has been extensive enough to require the member’s introduction to new ATC software and procedures, an evaluation session should be arranged with one of the examiners.controller.

Acknowledgements

  • Daniel Lange c/o Training Director - Version 33.
  • Adrian Bjerke - Version 2.
  • Håvard Halvorsen – Version 2.
  • Håvard Halvorsen, Arvid Hansson & Kristian Kling – Version 2.0 and 2.
  • Håkan Schulz – Version 1
  • Daniel Edvardsson & Claus Hemberg Jørgensen – Versions 1.1 and 1.
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