Teach First Taster Programme Review

The insight was enjoyable. It a lot of time was spent describing and advertising the various schemes that TeachFirst offer. I found this helpful and I hope to complete some of them in the future. The most valuable and enjoyable part was when we had the opportunity to teach a mini-lesson in groups on our subject area to a few students.

I felt like Teach First valued us. We were provided with food and accommodation for the two days so I felt like the company was invested in us. The organisers seemed keen to keep us with the company and promoted opportunities that we could apply for after the taster programme.

We received a lot of guidance and support. The majority of the programme was interactive workshops which were lead by various TeachFirst staff. Other times we worked in groups and taught the lessons but there was always somebody there to ask any questions if you got stuck or had a problem.

The information received will not particularly help me in my studies but it will be very useful when I come to pick a career and apply to graduate schemes nearer to the end of my university undergraduate degree. I think that the skills that I developed will be useful as we spent a lot of time on self-reflection and planning.

The programme was structured quite well. We were all given a timetable so we knew what was going to happen at what time each day and they managed to keep to that schedule quite well. I feel like the opportunities fair was a bit rushed though so they could do with assigning more time to that activity.

The people I met on the programme were all very nice and the majority of them were at the same level of career planning as myself. Some of the activities did get a bit repetitive but overall the atmosphere was good. The atmosphere wasn't formal but we had to dress in office attire.

The company invested a lot of our time on the programme into developing skills and personal development. We used a technique called a Jahari Window. This helped to improve the attendees self awareness which I found particularly helpful. The company Teach First invested in us quite a bit and took their time.

As it was only a 2 day programme it didn't give so much insight into what a full time role on their graduate programme would be like. Although they did explain their graduate and insight programmes in detail many times and brought in people that had been on the programmes themselves to talk to us.

I learnt a lot about the companies values and culture. They explained their purpose in a presentation before one of the workshops and so I learnt a lot more about the company than I had by just reading their website. I learnt about their mission to help underprivileged children get a good education.

It was quite valuable as it helped me to see that Teach First is a viable option for a career or graduate programme however, I am still unsure about what I shall do in my future career. So I would rate it as a good and worthwhile experience but it's only 2 days so didn't cement any plans for me.

They reimbursed pretty much all expenses. They paid for the accommodation at a travel lodge which could have been closer to the site but the accommodation was good regardless. They also reimbursed travel costs up to a certain limit and provided breakfast lunch and dinner over the 2 days. So you can go on this programme regardless of your financial situation.

There were many chances to network. You have the chance to network with both other attendees of the programme and some employees of the firm over lunch and at other times. There was also a fair of some type where partner companies set up stalls so that we could chat to them.

The social event opportunities were vast. There was a networking fair and there was plenty of opportunities to chat with other participants. We got to know each other quickly and it was easy to make friends. I found it very interesting to hear about the other universities that people attended.

No, I didn't really find out about activities that employees get up to outside of work but I don't see how that's relevant. The programme gave a small insight into what it would be like on their graduate programme not about the employees' personal lives. I think it served its purpose well.

Yes, I would definitely recommend this experience to a friend. Overall I found the programme very helpful and I really did enjoy the teaching of the mini-lesson. It gives you a good idea of their other programmes and gets you thinking about what you could be doing as a career in the future.