Student Review

This virtual experience was the first of its kind offered by Teach First, yet it was so well organised, informative and opportunistic. There were so many aspects of the internship, from interacting with new friendly people, delivering lessons to conducting a final assessment using the skills that the course has equipped you with. Feedback is tied with Teach First, we received a lot of it, which really benefited us on the final assessment day. The days were well scheduled and delivered by fantastic Teach First employees, who were very helpful and motivating.

There was a good relationship between facilitators and students. This made the content delivery much more of a good experience. We were constantly reminded that of our importance in STEM teaching. I would say that Teach First value orientates around creating a positive happy and optimistic culture, and that is exactly what I experienced during the course. The facilitators were friendly and helpful, they went out of their way to sort out technical issues and were very kind and encouraging.

This course was completely feedback orientated. Nearly every exercise, whether in front of assessors or your peers in breakout rooms on Zoom, involved providing or receiving feedback. Feedback was tailored, specific and achievable, all given by qualified professionals. This was beneficial in improving teaching performance for the final assessment on Day 3. We even had the chance to improve our feedback giving skills on our peers’ performance. Feedback is an important part of teaching, and this element of the course was delivered very well.

Learning effective skills for teaching in the pre-work and during the online training has definitely boosted my prospects in teaching. Teach First is a leading teaching facilitator, and using their techniques to deliver a successful lesson to students will definitely aid my teaching even if I don’t make it onto their graduate programme. They effectively embedded important teaching techniques, which at first seemed intense, but as the days went on, we were familiar with these techniques. I’ve improved my communication skills from meeting lots of new people and delivering 3 lessons.

Very well structured course. I think each minute was planned. It was quite amazing how detailed the timetable was. Especially on the last day, the structure of my day was perfect with no clashes. It was clear that a lot of time went into planning the days, and this was evident in the successful delivery of the course. The breaks were short, but the information was presented in small amounts so that we can benefit from learning and implementing teaching techniques.

The atmosphere was good. Cameras were on at all times. I felt this created a better relationship between other candidates and the facilitators. The staff were always encouraging and helpful. This created a great atmosphere where we were comfortable in asking questions and interacting. All the other candidates were equally friendly. We would complete activities in small breakout rooms to get to know lots of people, this helped with socialising and finding like minded people.

Teach First completely invested in students attending the course. They clearly planned months ahead for this, it was so well organised and this was clear in its delivery. Every hour there would be activities or talks or teachings to attend that would enrich our experience. They did their best to replicate the course online, the only difference was that there were no reach pupils to teach, however there were assessors acting like students during the assessment.

There were often sessions involving ambassadors of Teach First. These are people who have completed the Training Programme and are not successfully tackling education inequality in the classroom or outside the classroom. Perhaps everyday, there was a session of teach first’s mission. This sets it apart from any other teaching facilitator. Furthermore on the second day, there is a panel of Teach First ambassadors who share their experience with Teach First and their careers. This was so beneficial and inspiring.

I learned that there is a huge network in Teach First, where everybody is open to help you develop and to support you. All of the facilitators had a teaching background, which was beneficial, and they understood and could firmly stand by the teaching techniques that they delivered to us. It made their advice, tips and techniques more genuine. The company culture includes facilitating development and progression and supporting one another immensely even after the teaching programme.

The course was very valuable in helping me decide my future career. It showed me that I wanted to commitedly do teaching as a career. I was exposed to different teaching techniques and different experiences from teachers. The delivery of 3 lessons showed me the reality of teaching in a classroom, which further propelled me into achieving this as a career. They also gave a session on volunteering at like minded charities to boost career prospects.

This course was not paid. It ran over 3 days and each day we had to be available 9-5. Although it was not paid, we learned a great deal of information that would be beneficial for everyone completing the course. Usually teach first events are reimbursed, but as the course was online, this did not occur. The opportunity to fast track onto a graduate scheme is far greater than being paid for a couple days. Its amazing how this internship could secure a career.

There was a panel of Teach First panels and a talk on boosting teaching prospects with tuition. Meeting the ambassadors provided a networking opportunity, they provided information on their career journey, their successes from teach first’s graduate programme and even their emails. The brand ambassadors were from a diverse background, one was an assistant head teacher, one worked for PWC. It was a good opportunity to understand where the programme can take you if you decide to apply.

Great Opportunity to meet candidates.

Yes, there was a session based on volunteer tuition, to advocate for education inequality.

Definitely, even if you’re unsure about teaching. This is a great experience to receive high quality feedback on your skills and meet new people.