By Kate Weaver, University Recruiter at Teach First
Who are Teach First?
Society is failing too many children from disadvantaged backgrounds. They don’t start with the same chances and the inequality continues throughout childhood. It’s not their fault and it isn’t fair. Schools and teachers can make the biggest difference. But they need champions. We back the schools facing the toughest challenges with teaching and leadership at all levels. Our Training Programme – consistently ranked in the top ten of the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers list – offers a salary from day one in the classroom, an internationally-recognised leadership qualification and access to our 15,000-strong network of teachers, leaders and schools. Those that join our Training Programme will be training to be a leader and teacher in a school where they have the biggest impact.
What support is available when applying for the Teach First Training Programme?
From the moment you complete our expression of interest form, you have a dedicated recruitment contact at Teach First who's there to guide you through the process and answer any questions you have. You'll be asked if you need any disability adjustments to complete your application or to attend our selection day. This information is used to support you to throughout the process, but it's kept confidential from our screening team. It's also confidential from your assessor unless you specifically want them to be told. We use blind screening to prevent any bias, something we take seriously at Teach First.
The support we offer is tailored to you and we try to avoid putting barriers in your way. For example, nothing in our application form is timed, although we will tell you how long we think it will take you to complete. Where we do have time limits for some selection day activities, these can easily be adjusted for, as long as we are aware of your needs.
What support do we give to trainees before they start in school with regards to messaging their disability to their pupils?
If you're made an offer, you have a few different opportunities to discuss and plan the support you would like on the programme. Anything you say to us is confidential and we will not share with your school unless you give us permission. We'll be led by you. Not everyone wants to share the same level of detail with their school employer or their pupils, but we can offer guidance and examples to help you make the decision on what’s best for you.
Support is tailored to each person - Teach First, your school and your university all support different elements of your programme experience. We also provide information about our disability or neurodiversity networks (among many others) - because we know feeling connected, understood and part of a community is so important. The ambassadors and programme members who run the networks have first-hand insight into teaching with a disability and you'll make lasting professional friendships by getting involved.
How do we support trainees if pupils at their school have negative perceptions of their disability?
As an openly disabled teacher you could be an incredibly powerful role model for disabled pupils, showing them a new way to fulfil their own potential that they may not have seen before. A very small percentage of teachers are open about disability and you could help change that. All pupils are still learning about different identities and ways of existing in the world - part of this can include unlearning stereotypes and you might be a person who helps them do that. Your school will have its own policies to protect staff from harassment and discrimination which they will follow, alongside their behaviour policy, and teaching about cultural values like inclusion and respect for others.
A huge part of our support is embedded in our curriculum and programme structure. You'll learn about tackling diversity and inclusion matters through your own teaching, and you'll use your peers and support roles to support your reflective practice. In addition, every trainee has a school mentor (a more experienced teacher) and a Teach First Development Lead. These people are there to support your progress as a teacher, including developing strategies to look after your professional wellbeing. We also have a team focused on the diversity and inclusion aspects of our programmes who can provide resources and advice for situations that feel more difficult to resolve. If your own wellbeing is affected, we also offer an EAP (Employee Assistance Programme) which can provide short-term confidential support.
What adjustments are feasible for schools to make?
The adjustments schools are able to make differ for each one depending on a variety of factors, schools are as unique as the people in them. When you join our Training Programme we’ll work with you to understand what adjustments you may need to thrive as a leader and teacher, and place you in a school that can support the adjustments you need.