Teach First visits over 50 universities across the UK throughout the year to find the right graduates to meet schools' needs and ensure that every member of our movement is committed to raising the achievement, access to opportunities, and aspirations of all pupils. Teach First Participants and Ambassadors are making a difference every day to the lives of the children they work with. As the charity expands, so does our opportunity to form partnerships with more schools across the country.
What can your school expect from Teach First Participants?
To be eligible for a place on the Leadership Development Programme graduates need to satisfy a series of minimum requirements. The selection process is rigorous to ensure we hire the right people for the programme. In addition to academic requirements, selection is based on their ability to demonstrate relevant subject knowledge and the following competencies:
- Humility, Respect, and Empathy
- Interaction
- Knowledge
- Leadership
- Planning and Organising
- Problem solving
- Resilience
- Self evaluation
Once these requirements have been met, Teach First places participants in primary and secondary schools to provide excellent teaching for their pupils. They commit to a minimum of two years at their school where they focus on leading learning to raise the achievement, access to opportunity, and aspirations of their students.
Participant development
Before beginning teaching, all participants are required to complete a six-week Summer Institute which provides participants with core skills and knowledge that will support their teaching from September. The content delivered is specifically tailored to the context in which they will be teaching. Throughout the first year, participants in secondary schools work towards a PGCE whilst undertaking around 90% of a Newly Qualified Teacher (NQT) timetable. In their second year, as NQTs, they further their impact in the classroom by setting visions and goals. Participants in primary schools work towards a PGCE in their first year whilst undertaking full responsibility for a class and teaching an 80% timetable (as for a Newly Qualified Teacher.) The first half term in schools is flexible, with a personalised partnership of support, ensuring that all participants are set up to succeed and ready to take full responsibility for a class from the start of the second half term, if not before.
Participant support
Tutors
Participants are supported throughout their first year by tutors from one of our university Initial Teacher Training (ITT) providers as they work towards a PGCE and QTS. Tutors run subject days to develop participants' subject knowledge, and also regularly visit participants in schools to observe their lessons and support their development. To find out more about our National Initial Teacher Training Partnership (NITTP), please click here.
Mentors
Participants are assigned mentors - members of teaching staff at their school - to support their development. Teach First supports the development of school mentors to ensure invaluable support to participants. This includes a pilot mentor development framework facilitated by our university partner to support mentors in their professional development.
Leadership Development Officers
All participants are assigned a Teach First Leadership Development Officer (LDO) to support them. The LDO supports participants during their school placement in setting ambitious yet feasible visions for pupil success, as well as goals for pupil outcomes. LDOs are qualified teachers, and often Teach First Ambassadors.
Recruit ambassadors to your school
Teach First ambassadors are graduates of the two year Leadership Development Programme who share a life-long commitment to raising the achievement, aspiration and access to opportunity of children from low socio-economic backgrounds.
Teach First now has a growing community of over 1,200 ambassadors who have taught for between two to eight years in a school in challenging circumstances. The majority of these ambassadors remain committed to teaching for the long term with many already in middle and senior leadership roles. This group remains connected to Teach First through our Teach On initiative, which provides tailored support and development opportunities. Our ultimate goal is to develop a strong community of leaders, working in effective partnership with others, to measurably improve standards in education.
Teach First works with schools to establish where teaching and leadership vacancies exist which ambassadors could apply to fill. We encourage our schools to share current vacancies with us which can be advertised to ambassadors through our secure microsite, the AmbassadorNet. Ambassadors can then apply for these positions and use their experience to make a real impact in school.
If you represent a Teach First Primary or Secondary school you can advertise vacancies for classroom teachers and/or leadership roles to ambassadors for free. Click here to download an opportunities pro-forma which should then be emailed to us at teachon@teachfirst.org.uk.
