STEM Internship Review

I took part in the virtual replacement of the STEM internship that Teach First offers. It was moved online due to COVID-19. I found it really good considering the circumstances, I knew that it would not be as good as the actual planned internship but was very impressed with the work that they put into the online replacement as they could have just cancelled it instead like many others have. I really enjoyed the experience, it was very sociable and helped me to learn more about teaching and training with Teach First.

The internship was quite a large group for an online course, there was 40 of us and there were two other weeks that the course ran on also. Despite this I felt very valued, those running the course made it clear that we could email or private message them at any time if we had a problem and they were on the zoom call 9-5 for all 3 days of the internship even in lunch breaks if we needed them. So I felt very valued and supported the whole time.

Before the internship there were two online modules to complete with prepared you for it, these offered enough guidance to prepare me so I found that I did not need too much. That being said, there was plenty available if needed, the leaders were so easy to contact if you wanted to. There was also whole sessions dedicated to giving you feedback for certain activities and opportunities to use this feedback to try again and improve, I found this so useful and very supportive.

Many of the skills that I developed were quite specific to teaching, if this is something that I go into after my degree then these will be extremely useful but I am not sure the teaching methods skills are very transferable. However, there was also amazing opportunities to develop teamwork and networking/ communication skills which are super transferable and useful within your degree. It also really helped with my presentation skills and confidence which I had really struggled with before the internship.

I was on the first virtual internship so there was obviously a bit of room for improvement in terms of logistics, particularly with so many people taking part. That being said, I was so impressed with the organisation, we were regularly split into breakout rooms to talk about what we had just done or to practice a certain skill which we had just learned about. The final day was really well organised and we were each given personal links to take us to the correct interviews when we clicked on them.

The atmosphere throughout the course was great, everyone was sociable and wanted to get involved with the course even through awkward activities like role play! We also had a Facebook group which was useful for making friends with people I had met on the course. The instructors were really approachable throughout the course so the whole thing didn't feel too serious or scary and was very fun. Even on the final day assessment the assessors were very approachable and put me at ease.

They put quite a lot of work into training me and allowing for my personal development. This course is aimed at getting people to join their teacher training programme so they do invest into you in this sense as they hope that it prepares your for their training. In terms of money the whole course was free so in this sense they invested in me but the original course was going to be paid so maybe this indicates less investment.

The experience did help me to understand what it would be like to be a teacher and we got that chance to talk to people who had done the Teach First training course before so that gave me a good idea what it would be like. They were every open about the training process throughout the course. Obviously the main thing lacking from the course was time in the classroom, but a a replacement without being able to go into a school I think it was the best it could be.

The company culture was very clear throughout the process, we even learnt about their 9 key competencies before taking part in the course so that we could understand what was expected of us by Teach First. Everyone, even the interviewers on the final day, was so friendly and I think this revealed the company culture a little. They were also very keen on positive feedback and allowing us to have a second chance following this which I think speaks to the values of the company.

Before taking part in the internship I was unsure whether I could or wanted to go into teaching as a career. Following the internship I am not any more sure whether I want to go into teaching but I am sure that I could and that I have the skills for it. I think this is only because I wanted time in a classroom to see if it was for me and obviously this was not possible during the COVID-19 crisis.

I had to go to an interview in London in order to secure a place on the STEM internship and my expenses for the train journey down from Sheffield were paid up to a certain amount. I cannot remember the exact amount but it did not quite cover the whole train ticket as it was quite expensive. That being said they are a charity so I did not feel too bad about this. I was not paid for the online internship but would have been for the in person one if it had taken place.

Yes there was a session on either the first or second day where some speakers who had done the training course talked about their careers. They were very open to questions and gave us their emails if we wanted to contact them. We were also put in contact with some of Teach Firsts partner charities which do tutoring for disadvantaged students and could talk to them about how to get involved with them and work with them.

The networking with those who had trained with Teach First in the past was very good, they were very open to questions and were keen for us to contact them. One of the teachers even said that if we were near her school in the future she would happily organise for us to get some teaching experience there. The charities were not so good for me as they were mostly based in London and all tutored English and Maths which are not my subjects.

No I did not find out too much about this. Because of the nature of the training, people are assigned to different schools so there is not really just one place of work where activities can take place. I did find out about summer placements which are available between school years when training with Teach First which sounded interesting. I know that they try to assign a few trainees to one school so that they can be sociable aslo.

Yes I would recommend this virtual experience to a friend, it was very useful and Teach First was very hands on with the training. It is also a fast track to the assessment centre for the actual teacher training so that it very useful and an added benefit. I don't know what the application process for this internship is like now as I travelled to London for the interview so that would be the only thing I cannot speak for.