Student on the Taster Day Review

I thoroughly enjoyed this 2 day insight because it gave me the chance to plan and deliver my own mini lesson in a supportive environment and I got useful feedback. It was really interesting to learn more about educational inequality in the UK, engage in topical debates, group tasks. I loved hearing from Teach First ambassadors and staff as they gave useful tips and unexpected insights. There was a social quiz too, which was fun!

I felt really welcome. People used my name, thanked me for contributions, respected my opinions and gave feedback constructively. I never felt left out, embarrassed or upset. I felt like I was treated a someone who was competent despite not having taught before, as I was given freedom to plan my lesson as I liked. Other students in group work liked my ideas and nominated me to present, which boosted my confidence. Met some lovely students!

I was given preparatory reading prior to Taster. This was very useful and was adequate overall. The only thing I would like changed would be to be reassured about the mini lesson. I felt unnecessarily worried for this as I wasn't given much detail about what was expected. I was asked to think of 3 potential lesson ideas but I only needed 1. Would have been good to know this. During Taster staff were always there to help, and also very good at replying via email before Taster.

It was fantastic! I was able to demonstrate and develop several of Teach First's 'competencies' which will be invaluable for the Development Centre interview day for the Teach First training programme. The skills are also transferable and great for my CV. Received great personal stories and advice from previous trainees and Teach First selection staff so I feel much more prepared for the interview, more relaxed about it. I feel I know the positives and negatives of the training programme.

I felt like there was a good mix of activity types, so group discussion, debate, group presentation, group catchups, social, individual time off camera to reflect, time to plan the lesson. Also presentations where we could take a back seat more, and time for questions throughout. There were regular loo breaks scheduled in and lunch breaks. My only suggestion would be to change the timing so that the first day is 9-4.30 and the second 10-6 because I would have found the extra time on the first night and second morning useful in planning my lesson.

Really positive. People were engaged and excited and passionate about the tasks. Everyone cooperated and respected each other. The staff were approachable, friendly and always available. Met people from lots of different backgrounds, races, nationalities, studying at various universities and different subject. The mix was something I really valued, was fascinating to work with such a diverse group of people and hear so many different views and personal experiences of different types of schools and universities.

A lot because they let me develop the key competencies they look for at the selection day. By letting me deliver a mini lesson and plan it all myself and choose the topic I wanted, they gave m e the chance to lead, which I really valued. They provided a supportive environment for learning and growing. All the insights given were so useful too. Hearing from tutoring companies was great, I can work with them in future.

They didn't talk about this too much, but I feel they talked on it enough. We heard personal stories from ambassadors who had done the programme and they said what the challenges and rewards were, how they coped, whether they would recommend it, what you should consider before applying, what makes a great application and tips and hints for the development centre assessment day. was all really useful and i thought it was enough information.

Definitely felt clear on this because they are so focused on the competencies and we got a lot of time to explore what they meant and how we could demonstrate them. We understood why they were important to the charity and what they mean for the young people they work with. They are really supportive about helping you to grow, and to ensure you understand the application process, every step. very honest and fair values.

Getting to deliver a mini lesson was really important for this. It went far better than what I thought, I was more efficient in lesson planning than I thought I would be and more creative. I was really excited by the other tasks too, like debating, and was so excited to hear about all the opportunities Teach First trainees get both on the programme and for life. I definitely want to join and feel it is right.

There were no expenses. The experience was conducted over Zoom, so it was all online. This meant there were absolutely no travel expenses. I think this was really good because it made the experience accessible to everyone and made it possible for people in other countries to participate. There were no costs related to the activities or the social quiz on Zoom either. This was a good reason to pick the Teach First Taster Insight.

Yes we got to meet lots of other speakers that we got to meet who all had different roles. I met current trainee teahers, Teach First ambassadors, insights staff, staff who worked on selecting candidates at the development centre. I got to appreciate the charity from a diverse range of perspectives and learn that some people had undertaken different roles with Teach First at different points in their career, which I didn't know about before.

The networking opportunities were great because we got to speak to people in small break out rooms of 6 students and 1 staff member. Was helpful to have this small set up to let everyone ask questions. It could have been improved by having 5 minutes longer with each person as an awful lot of conversations got cut off mid stream when the staff had to change rooms. Learnt lots of new and suprising things.

Yes they said they can get involved in clubs in their school, run trips for their school. They said they had a strong network of friends who were also Teach First trainees, so they shared advice and met up and during the summer institute the whole cohort gets to meet. They didn't say what they did in their personal lives, though, and they didn't mention if there were arranged socials later on in the training programme.

Most definitely! The experience was super fun, I learnt so much both about myself and my abilities as well as learning from people of different cultures and backgrounds. I have a real insight into what life is like as a Teach First trainee, how to apply, what makes a successful application, and the sorts of activities I may be asked to do at the development centre. I learnt so many new and suprising things-brilliant experience!