Participant Review

The Insight programme was really enjoyable! It was 11/12 days long and consisted of 5 days in London working on teaching and leadership skills and 4 days in a school anywhere across England (with travel time for the other days) - so it was really nice to have it broken up. It was a really social programme, with 58 of us, so it was nice to make some new friends and explore London and the local area with people.

In London, we were constantly reminded of how important we were in the challenge to educational inequality and the STEM challenge, in regards to making a difference, so i felt really valued and needed. In the school, I also felt needed as I was given specific tasks to do and felt an impact on particular children i was working with.

For a baseline, there was a phone number we had access to at all times if we needed support from Teach First at any time within the programme, but on top of that, we had lots of sessions preparing us for the school section with an abundance of opportunities for questions. In the school we also had an amazing mentor who made sure we were comfortable with everything we were doing.

As I hope to go into teaching, the Insight Programme crammed me full of information I can take into the future! From particular hints and tips on classroom management, to advice on public speaking and the opportunity to practice and experience lessons for myself, there was so much useful information. Basing my dissertation on educational inequality, I also received lots of pieces of information and people i can reference for this.

The structure of the Insight Programme was really refreshing, breaking the programme down into two sections, which was really effective as it kept me interested and excited for the next phase. There was also a good amount of travel time in-between, ensuring we could still have part of the weekend to recover from our busy week!

The atmosphere was really positive, from the participants, to the Teach First Staff and the staff at the school. Everyone was really eager to help and excited for the upcoming days. There was a variety of speakers and session leaders who came in and each person shared their enthusiasm and attachment to the vision.

We were given Personal Development sessions which directly related to us. These were really useful in getting us to reflect on our competencies and figure out which areas we may need to work on. We were also given opportunities to practice teaching lessons, so when we did it in the following week, we had experience of planning and delivering.

It was really useful as we got to speak to absolutely loads of people who had done the Leadership Development Programme and they were able to share with us first hand what it was like. We were also able to get a sense of the company itself and their aims and goals.

I did know lots about the culture of Teach First before i began the Insight Programme, however it was able to confirm it for me. Everyone was committed to ending educational inequality and put that over and above everything else. Everyone was very united because of this and it was clear that the staff enjoyed their job.

This confirmed for me that I wanted to teach. The 4 days in the school were really useful for me as i was able to see a secondary school setting, whilst the first 4 days were able to provide me with the theory i needed for teaching and helped me to decide a career with children and young people was for me.

We were paid £500 for the 11 days. Accommodation was provided for the full duration (including the night before the programme began) and breakfast was provided every morning for both accommodations (although i think this can vary). We did have to cover costs of transport between London and the local area and for food, but the £500 easily covered this and more.

This was a huge part of the Insight Programme with every day in London including people who had done the very same Leadership Development Programme that we were applying for. We were also given opportunities to ask them questions in a formal setting, as well as mingling and being able to chat more informally.

It was good to have a variety of forms in which to speak to the people involved with Teach First as it meant we could ask questions we may have not wanted to ask in front of the whole room. It was really useful in seeing where I could be in a couple of years.

We were told about the placements that you can do in the summer holidays and the other job opportunities that can lead on from working with Teach First but as you would actually be employed by the school and not Teach First, this obviously was not directly relevant for them.

Yes, i would! If you think there is any possibility you could be interested in teaching, even if it is just for the 2 years of the Leadership Development Programme, then definitely get involved. It provides so many links for the future, whilst working towards a great cause and the Insight programme gives you the ability to be able to get a snapshot of this.