Intern Review

I enjoyed it immensely. The opportunity to put the training we had received in the first week into practice during the second week was a very useful experience. It was also very useful to hear different opinions about teaching and what route to follow when training to become a teacher.

I felt extremely valued during the school placement, every member of staff I spoke to was very friendly and welcoming. In particular, the staff assigned to support me were extremely useful in giving advice, and provided excellent feedback on my performance during the placement. Help was always provided if it was required.

I received a large amount of support during both weeks of the placement. A large number of useful presentations were given, which gave me valuable tips and advice about teaching. I was also given the chance to practice using this advice, and given feedback on my performance. The advice was very helpful.

The placement gave me valuable teaching experience which I will be able to use if I pursue teaching as a career. I was given the opportunity to teach my own lesson, which gave me useful experience in timing, planning, and helped to improve my presentation skills. These will all be useful in future life.

There was a full timetable provided for each day of the placement, and this was well structured with breaks provided at suitable moments. The school timetable was very well structured, with varied activities throughout the day. I was also free to ask to change the timetable to include extra activites if I wished.

The atmosphere was very friendly and exciting. The presenters were very confident and friendly, and often included interactive tasks to prevent the presentation becoming too dull. The atmosphere at the school was also very friendly, the staff was always very talkative and interesting. The atmosphere on the final day was relaxed even though we had an assessment.

We were given lots of presentations and workshops during the first week, to help us develop our teaching skills. I found all of these useful. In particular, the workshops on lesson planning were very helpful. We were also given help in improving our personal reflection skills, and practiced using these with examples.

The school week gave an accurate insight into the day to day life as a teacher, I had the opportunity to discuss this with the staff at the school. I was also able to discuss different teaching routes with the staff at teach first, they were very helpful in helping me to decide what route to choose.

This wasn't really discussed during the placement. The school week did provide some insight into this, but the culture will likely differ between different schools. Nevertheless it was useful and interesting to see how a particular school operated. The culture was not really discussed during the first week of the placement.

Extremely valuable, I was given lots of advice on different teaching routes, opportunities for careers outside teaching. The placement also gave me useful insight into the day to day life of a teacher, which was very useful in helping me decide if teaching was for me. We were also able to ask questions about training routes.

We were provided with paid accommodation for both weeks, and the first week included breakfast. Travel was not provided,I had to pay for this myself for both weeks. Payment is provided at the end of the placement, which is intended to cover these expenses, but is still generous. Lunch and dinner were not paid for.

Yes, we were given the opportunity to network with several volunteering organisations, in order to ask them questions and find out about volunteering opportunities. We could also network with the staff in the school placement, and some of the teach first staff on the final day of the placement. This was very useful.

I did not attend these due to time constraints, but there were two social opportunities provided during the placement. They were both located in a place not far from where the placement was based, and I am told they were a lot of fun. There were no organised socials during the school week.

There were some after school clubs run at the school, which staff could take part in. There was also volunteering opportunities available within and outside teach first, which we had the chance to learn about on the final day. This was very useful and showed the extra opportunities available with teach first.

Yes, it was extremely enjoyable and provides valuable teaching experience. It is definitely useful if you are unsure of which teaching route to pursue, and gives you the chance to secure a teaching position with teach first, provided you pass the final assessment. I would recommend this to anyone considering teaching as a career.