Insight participant Review

I enjoyed the opportunity to meet a wide range of new people. I also enjoyed the chance to travel and work in new areas.

I felt like the company cared about personal development, particularly towards making me a viable candidate for their full length programme; the leadership development programme.

I received some guidance on classroom teaching techniques, however I feel like there could have been even more of a focus on this as this insight involved a week in the classroom, both observing and teaching.

I believe my leadership skills have benefited from this programme, along with my ability to work with in a team with people very different from myself. These skills will be useful both in future jobs and within my degree, although they do not relate directly to my degree programme.

The programme was well structured, with clear timetables every day. The week in the classroom could have been better structured; more thought put into which classes we would observe.

Social. All participants got along very well. I very much enjoyed the social side of it and therefore the two weeks had a good atmosphere. The sessions could be boring at some points but the social side made up for this.

The company were very keen to invest in our development towards gaining skills suitable for their graduate programme. They directed a lot of the sessions towards developing these core qualities, which is useful, but more practical training could have played more of a role. There was a big emphasis of self evaluation of skills.

As there was a big emphasis on preparing us for their graduate programme, I feel like I have a good idea of what a full time role would be like. Many previous graduate programme participants came to talk to us about their experiences, which helped to deepen the insight, however very few stayed with the company for longer than the required time of the graduate programme. Also the company was probably biased in selecting these speakers; they would've send someone to speak to us who had hated the whole programme

I feel like I have a good understanding of the company culture. The people at Teach First are incredibly welcoming and friendly. They have a real passion for what they do which is great. However this can mean they are very focused on the company and don't hold other careers/future plans as highly which can be difficult during an insight programme when you're trying to decide what you might like to do after university.

I found it really quite valuable as it helped me to realise that to be a good teacher you have to really want to be a teacher. I found myself lacking this passion, despite having a love of learning and children's work. Therefore the programme helped me to realise that teaching probably isn't the best career path for me, as if I was going to become a teacher, I would want to be a good inspiring one and I'm not sure I'm capable of that.

I was paid and accommodation was provided. However the expenses cut quite deeply into the amount I was paid, which I had not considered before taking this placement. I had to spend more on food than I had imagined, as for my second week, my accommodation had no cooking or food storage facilities. However I still came out of the programme with a net gain financially so I can really not complain at all.

Yes. There was quite a big emphasis on networking, both with other programme participants and with current and ex employees of the company, particularly those who had undertaken the graduate programme. This created a good social atmosphere and also gave the opportunity to really find out more about the company and what working for them would be like.

They were enjoyable. They were not forced which was good. If you had questions, you were very welcome to ask questions and encouraged to network with the people there. However the networking also overlapped with breaks, so if for any reason you did not want to network, you were free to go find some space. Everyone was very friendly which created a good atmosphere at these events.

I discovered that the company ran optional internships in the summer in between the two years of their graduate programme. This gives the opportunity to learn more about other career options and to network with many other different companies. They also provided the opportunity to undertake charitable work, such as volunteer work in Africa. This was very appealing to me.

If a friend was thinking of doing the Teach First graduate programme; the Leadership Development programme, then I would definitely recommend this insight as it provides a lot of information of what working with Teach First is like, the training and support you will receive. It is also a good opportunity to network and meet people who might be on the Leadership Development programme with you.