Insight Participant 2019 Review

Really enjoyed the content and the planned activities! Most of the sessions were really interesting and the first week of training was very intense but fun! The second week felt a lot slower as I was just observing lessons and making notes, but actually teaching a lesson and getting some hands on experience was really great!

All the people on the programme were polite, friendly and all humorous! We had a laugh and shared our fears about teaching as well as our hopes and aspirations. The teachers were very friendly and treated us like equals. I have definitely made some good friends during my time on the programme

Lots. There were groups chats, a facebook page, email addresses for all the people in charge of the programmes. We were encouraged regularly to talk to certain people if we were stressed, nervous or worried about what was expected. Even in the school placement there were several points of contact if you didn't feel well or were very nervous about your lesson.

The programme really inspired me to want to do teaching after university. I loved giving the lesson and working with the children in a one-on -one session for more tailored learning. Also there were several golden nuggets of tips and hints for future job interviews or general education. They also had several sessions on planning and organisation - definitely useful in my degree.

Overall the two weeks were well structured. The organisation beforehand was a bit scatty. I had to confirm several details with the people beforehand as I wasn't present in any accommodation lists, there was no mention if lunches or teas and coffees were provided. The booking forms for accommodation and travel were too simplified and if you deviated away from the normal transportation then the forms you had to fill out to claim expenses became very confusing.

The atmosphere was all positive and cheerful. Everyone there had purpose and was all very excited about what the programme entailed. There really was a sense of community and sense of pride about what the charity does and wants to achieve. All members of staff were lovely - honestly I don't remember seeing a miserable face once!

Quite a bit. We had to fill out an online form about our qualities and then later used this to guide some talks and future personal development goals. There was a lot of talk about further development - for all people, not just the ones that were committed to the programme.

Significantly. I definitely believe in there vision and mission, but have realised that I do not want to do their LDP. But I have signed up to stay in touch with them and become a Brand Ambassador for them at my university.

Company culture - we didn't really get into the company culture and there wasn't much emphasis on: This is what its like here when you are employed by us. There was more of a focus on ourselves and our development to be able to do the programme. The people they have employed are all nice and friendly. If you had a problem everyone was super helpful and would work together to solve it.

Very valuable. It definitely inspired me to teach and gave me a better understanding of what I would like to do and what I would not like to do for a job.

The pay is good, but you have to remember that they do not provide food - so a lot of my pay is already gone due to these expenses. Also they only reimburse travel expenses up to a certain threshold limit. So if you are travelling from Scotland (this was me) you will have less pay than your London colleagues.

Lots of opportunities. They had people that had completed the programme and stayed on and those that left to go elsewhere come in and give talks. We had lots of teachers at different schools, an employee who worked at Accenture after completing his LDP and people who set up there own charities afterwards.

I didn't attend any of the social events. But there were plenty - drinks on the last day, meet-ups in your school placement and they have already organised a meet up for the insight participants in December for a Christmas party.

Yep. Loads of stuff to get involved with. Can work part time with there partner schools, become a brand ambassador, work in there offices, help with organising events, opportunities to attend teacher conferences....

Yes, but it depends on the person. This was very challenging and you really couldn't recommend it to everyone. I think you really need a certain mindset to want to work with Teach First.