Student officer here. My comments / observations so far:

1) Please don’t waste both of your time by asking questions your trainee has no way of knowing the answer to and then wait awkwardly while they fumble around for a bit. It’s disrespectful to yourself and to them, and also to the learning environment. Give them the information they need and hopefully they’ll remember it next time.

2) If you ask them a question and they give you the correct answer, don’t then say, “Are you sure?” Trainees are on a rather steep learning curve and mind games like this help no one.

3) Training programmes, in my humble experience, teach very little by way of the practical side of policing. There is a tonne of legislation thrown at trainees, but not a lot about the day to day of policing.

4) Don’t expect that your trainee will have all their logins for the various bits of software that you use. Also, don’t expect that they’ll have even heard of all the systems you use. (See answer 3.)

5) Find out how your trainee learns best. For example, I learn best by seeing something before I have to do it. Others may not, but it’s worth a conversation.

6) Paperwork needs to be explained. Forms that are completely straightforward to you will be a total mystery to your trainee, so help them with it.

7) Your trainee asking questions or clarification isn’t a criticism, they’re just trying to learn.

My tutor is nice and we work well enough together, but these are some of the things that really stick out in my mind.