Insight participant Review

Week one in London was very enjoyable being able to interact with fellow participants every day and having the opportunity to speak to different people every day. Week two was also enjoyable but there was more pressure to represent teach first in front of pupils and make sure the lesson was good.

During week 1 i felt very valued because most of the presenters that gave talks were very inspirational and explained why we were so important in the future of education. Week 2 I felt moderately valued because the teachers were very busy and we were only there for 4 days.

There was lots of guidance during week 1 being able to speak to each of the presenters about the topic and having the insight programme leader always in the room for support. Week 2 I had support most of the time being able to contact the programme leader and in school having a teach first lead bu they were busy most of the time.

The skills i developed during week one specifically during the planning and organising tasks made me much more efficient while revising for my exams. During week 2 I developed mostly interaction and confidence skills which has helped me be more confident when doing public speaking and teaching people of a younger age.

The insight programme was very well structured as a whole with enough time given for each activity, travel and exploring our local areas. The only improvement i would make is during a few of the week one days when we were sat down for 4 hours at a time listening to people talk which can make people less interested.

General atmosphere was very positive and enjoyable throughout the programme. The atmosphere around other participants was great because we all shared the same motivation and purpose and background being at university. The atmosphere at school was much more focused on the students but also very chilled out of school time.

Teach first invested a lot in us during the programme with the first week being focused on personal development. Many of the activities like the debates and poster creation aimed to work on our personal training. During week two we were given the chance to develop our interaction as well.

Week one didn't really help us to understand what it would be like to be a teacher because it was a very different environment to being in a classroom. Week 2 gave a great understanding to what it would be like to be a teacher being able to teach an hour and speak to other teach first teachers.

Week one helped a lot to understand the company culture as it was focused on the teach first competencies. Especially being able to reflect on the competencies helped to understand the culture. Week 2 helped us to put these competencies into practice and understand exactly what the culture means and is.

The programme was very valuable in helping me decide my career especially during week two I was able to step in to the teachers shoes seeing exactly what it takes to be a teacher. The programme definitely helps you decide whether you want to be a teacher or not and whether the teach first route is right.

£550

yes

limited to just a few minutes after their presentation

no

yes