From teacher to tech innovator
When Rob joined the Teach First Training Programme, he wanted to make a difference for his students. But he didn’t realise he would also spark a global innovation helping over 150,000 teachers.
Both of my parents were teachers in Blackburn, where I grew up. I originally trained as an electrical engineer and worked at Arup in London, but I kept feeling like something was missing.
Engineering wasn’t really exciting. So, after four years I thought, ‘I’ll do something totally different. I’ll retrain as a teacher.'
Turning a classroom challenge into a tech solution
As I progressed in my teaching career and became Head of Physics at Preston Manor School in Wembley, I started thinking beyond my own classroom. I realised teachers everywhere were facing the same issues - especially when it came to creating seating plans.
We need seating plans to help learn names, manage behaviour and provide support for students with additional needs. But making them was often a frustrating, manual task - and none of the tools I found were user-friendly.
So, during the October 2015 half-term, I sat down with some basic coding knowledge and built the first version of Mega Seating Plan. I shared it at a local Teach First ambassador event and on my YouTube channel.
Early on, I also posted in the Ambassador Facebook group to get feedback and see if it was a useful idea. I’m really grateful to those who responded - their insights helped me shape the tool into something more effective.
Teachers are often open to trying new tech to help their students - and Teach First teachers especially. They’re driven by the mission to give every child a fair chance at a great education, and that energy helped shape the direction of Mega Seating Plan.
Expanding the reach
In 2016, I moved to California to teach for two years, and then returned to teach in a large sixth form college in Manchester. Throughout that time, I kept developing the tool - testing, refining, and listening to other teachers’ feedback.
Benefits to the classroom
As a teacher, I understand the parts of the job that quietly eat into our time - things that distract from what really matters: planning and delivering great lessons. That’s the problem I’ve always wanted to solve.
I want to help make the boring, laborious jobs easier and more efficient.
Teachers have told me that Mega Seating Plan has helped with behaviour management. It also highlights students with SEND or English as an additional language, which helps teachers and support staff offer more targeted support.
The system allows a previously manual task that took hours to be done in minutes.
From a leadership perspective, it’s also helped schools create consistency in seating plans and better monitor behaviour across classrooms.
Looking ahead
Over time, Mega Seating Plan has evolved. Teachers can now track behaviour and achievements, check homework, and even use AI tools to generate personalised student reports in seconds. I’m also launching a full homework management feature later this year - so setting, tracking and reviewing homework will be much simpler.
In 2023, I also launched Brain Glue - a GCSE and A Level revision app that uses AI to create quizzes linked to exam specifications, helping students lock in knowledge more effectively.
Encouraging innovation
Now based in Sweden, I run Mega Seating Plan full-time. I still stay connected with Teach First trainees and ambassadors, and I’m always keen to support people who have ideas for tackling disadvantage in new ways.
If you have an idea to help students or teachers, I urge you to give it a go.
What started as a ‘shower thought’ in 2015 has taken my career in new and exciting directions - and I’m proud that it’s helped thousands of teachers and students around the world.