TeachFirst Insight Participant Review

The insight programme run by TeachFirst gives you a good idea about what it would be like to apply and be a part of the graduate into teaching scheme that they run. They provide workshops on a range of subjects and you meet other students all debating the same choice as you - whether you want to teach or not and whether you want to follow this path into teaching. The insight programme was fun and challenging at times and definitely a place to be if you're not sure whether teaching is right for you or whether you want to apply for the TeachFirst programme as it helped many of us decide.

You feel very valued during the insight programme but they also help you to look at the programme with from a realistic point of view as to whether that's what you actually want to do with your life. They also provide lots of opportunities for self-development as they feel that investing in people and helping to develop you as a person, helps you to teach better and invest in others more.

They provided lots of guidance and support throughout the programme and one of the main highlights was the network of TeachFirst teachers, etc. that are already out there so you feel supported the whole time. They also try to guide and support you in your decision as to whether this is actually the course for you or whether something else would be better.

The insight course helped us to decide whether or not we wanted to teach and some of the workshops assisted me in some of the work that i'm currently doing at university. I will definitely take the experience with me and reflect on the experiences that I've had taking learning experiences forward.

The insight programme was very structured with timetables produced so that we knew where we had to be and what we needed to do at all times. However, beyond their control the school experience days were very different depending on where you went and how organised the schools were, as we ended up at the schools at Y11 exam time.

The general atmosphere during the insight programme was fun and packed full of learning, workshops or teaching and experiencing what it would actually be like to be a teacher. It definitely gives you a realistic insight into what the graduate programme and teaching itself would be like.

TeachFirst put training and development at the forefront of the insight programme and ensured that we all developed as we went through the programme. This was achieved through workshops, seminars, activities and reflection sessions. The emphasis on training and development showed the importance that TeachFirst put on development not just for now but for the future and as an integral part of their graduate programme as well.

The TeachFirst Insight programme is very helpful in understanding whether you want to do the TeachFirst graduate programme. It also helps you to understand better whether teaching is for you or not and whether this method for getting into teaching is the best thing for you. If you're debating teaching this is a good method to try it out.

The TeachFirst insight programme definitely helps you to understand the company culture because it's made very obvious throughout the seminars, workshops, activities and Q&A sessions that are packed into the two weeks. The programme is designed to help you to understand and to find out whether you're passionate about the same thing as TeachFirst.

The content of the TeachFirst insight programme was very helpful in deciding my future career path as it helps you to understand whether teaching is for you or not and it does this very well because they tell you about the pitfalls of the programme as well as the highlights. The school visit and teaching your own lesson as part of the programme as help you to understand if it's something that you'd like to do or not.

They pay you £500 for the two weeks and they provide accommodation both for the workshops in London and near the schools for the schools visit in the second week. However they require you to cover any transport costs and food, so it depends on where your school is based as to how much the costs are. Some of us also had some tax problems which were difficult to sort out.

There were plenty of opportunities to meet other students in our situation who we will potentially be on the graduate programme with networking with them. We also had talks from previous and current students and a student at one of the TeachFirst schools and how much that has made a difference to his education. You also get the opportunity to meet a current or previous TeachFirst teacher in the school that you're placed in in the second week.

In the first week you're all together and there are organised events that you can socialise and get to know each other through. The shared accommodation also helps you to form bonds with other people that you stay with and in the second week you become much closer with the people also placed at the school with you.

There wasn't much mentioned about activities that employees can get involved in outside of work because on the TeachFirst graduate programme you're placed all around the country and there are different opportunities available around the country. They also advise you to do activities outside of work without your work colleagues so that you don't form a moaning club together.

I would recommend the TeachFirst insight programme to anybody debating teaching and wanting to look further into it to decide whether it's what you want to do. It's also a good opportunity to experience what the graduate programme would be like and if the TeachFirst graduate programme is the right route into teaching for you, if that's what you decide you want to do.