Teach First mission wins backing of the Government |
Teach First – the independent charity which works with business to recruit the brightest UK graduates to teach in some of the UK’s most challenging schools - has today welcomed the Government’s commitment to invest in the development of its programmes over the next five years.
The funding, to be announced by the Prime Minister in a keynote speech this evening, will contribute to the expansion of Teach First from a current level of 380 recruits to 850 by 2013, making it one the UK’s largest graduate recruiters.
Teach First will also invest money into the development of its Ambassador programme, which supports its teachers to continue to address educational disadvantage on completion of their initial 2 year placement. Teach First already has over 200 ambassadors in middle leadership roles and over a dozen senior leaders in schools – by investing in the ‘Teach On’ programme, Teach First aims to have over 100 Ambassadors in headteacher roles in challenging urban schools by 2018.
For those who do not continue teaching, Teach First will be able to offer more training, support and advice on driving social change through entrepreneurialism, as well as develop opportunities for Ambassadors to support the Teach First mission through coaching and mentoring, school governorship and policy development.
Brett Wigdortz, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Teach First, comments:
“TeachFirst welcomes the Government’s support for its mission and will continue to work closely with business and the higher education sector to engage the UK’s brightest graduates to teach in the UK’s most challenging schools.
"The addition of government funding to the long term financial support and advice of our sponsors in the business community will enable Teach First to upscale and develop its teaching training and leadership programmes – working with more businesses, recruiting from more universities, in more regions and most importantly reaching more of the UK’s most disadvantaged children.”
Dame Julia Cleverdon, DCVO, CBE, Chair of Teach First also comments:
“The Board of Teach First are delighted with the strong partnership the government are proposing, and we believe this will enable us to achieve our ambitious growth targets with the continued support of businesses and school leadership teams.”
Teach First’s business supporters have also endorsed the move. Simon Martin, Head of Group Corporate Sustainability at HSBC, said:
'Teach First is a truly excellent programme that HSBC has been proud to support from the very beginning. We are committed to working closely with Teach First in the years ahead as the programme continues to expand and uses innovation to develop the leaders of tomorrow."
Bella Berns, Head of Philanthropy, EMEA FOR Credit Suisse said:
"Credit Suisse is delighted that the Government has chosen to give its backing to this important initiative, which allows recruits to develop the skills of business alongside a passion for social mobility. We look forward to continuing to work with Teach First to bring the lessons of the business community to teacher training, and equip our future business leaders with a strong sense of social justice and the importance of community investment."
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