Getting a YES from Teach First

I'm in :)

Teach First is always on a mission to attract talented graduates into teaching. They have generous recruitment windows throughout the year, and they're always keen for people to register their interest. For me, their rigorous recruitment process started with an online application, which then led to various stages.  

My application form was thorough and lengthy, but Teach First was on hand to support me every step of the way. The online portal allowed me to save my application and return to it another time, which was really helpful. I got a real sense that Teach First was willing me to complete my application, and I was sent reminder emails. I was assigned a recruiter to answer any questions I had, and he scheduled a call with me. As well as all the usual personal details, the application form required me to explain why I was applying for the programme. This allowed me to write about Teach First's vision and how I would make an impact on the programme.

The application also included several competency-based questions. I think I had three to answer, and they did require a bit of thought. When answering competency questions, applicants need to draw on their own experiences. Recruiters want to know about an applicant's skills and abilities, and the use of the word 'I', as opposed to 'we', is really important.  In my answers, I clearly outlined the situations I was in, the actions I took and the impact they had. My explanations clearly evidenced my experiences and what I did. This ensured that my responses were thorough and detailed enough for recruiters.

As part of the process, I had to select whether I wanted to teach early years, primary or secondary, and I also had to rank my preferred regions to teach in. The need for secondary school teachers is particularly great in core subjects, computing and languages. If you're eligible to teach one of those subjects (have a degree or further education qualification in the subject), it's unlikely that you'll be matched with a primary school place. Towards the end of June 2019, I was finally ready to submit my application. I pressed send and breathed a sigh of relief. All that was left to do was to wait...

Around six days after submitting my application, I received an email from Teach First inviting me to a selection day. I remember it being a Friday morning (the last Friday in June, to be specific), and I'd done an early shift at work. I was quite bleary-eyed after a 4 am start, and I was checking emails on my mobile. I wasn't expecting such a quick response, and I wasn't even sure if I'd be successful.

The selection day was scheduled for the first week of August, at Teach First's North Grenwich office. I was told to arrive at 9am and to allow up to seven hours for the day. Being shortlisted felt like a huge achievement, and I was super thrilled. I knew that candidates were rarely unsuccessful following the selection day.

My Selection Day
Teach First emailed me an information pack about the day, and I was able to prepare for some aspects of it. I knew that there would be several group exercises and tasks, and I would be assessed throughout them. The day would also involve a competency-based interview, and I would need to deliver a seven-minute lesson. Instead of teaching children, I'd be delivering the lesson to two adults (recruiters) who'd be acting like children (more on that later). I was given a choice of lessons to prepare, and I chose to do a phonics lesson on homophones. My sister had been a temporary teaching assistant in her 20s and helped me with my lesson plan and script. I made my own resources and worksheets (for my pretend pupils) and relentlessly practised and timed my script.

So, let's talk about the selection day. In all honesty, I hate assessment centres. Just hearing those words fills me with dread. Being involved in 'Apprentice-style' tasks with multiple extreme extroverts, forcefully grabbing pens and unashamedly promoting themselves and their ideas, is not an arena that I thrive in or enjoy being in. Such environments repel and repulse me, and I find them incredibly difficult to stomach and navigate. It's cognitive overload for me, and I find myself desperate for a get-out-of-jail-free card or an equivalent to shouting 'I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'  I am an ideas person, and I can provide solutions to problems, but such contrived contexts don't allow me to showcase my full potential. To morph into a resource-grabbing foghorn just isn't me.

Two assessors sat in each group task and took notes on the potential trainees. At the end of the tasks, they provided us all with one-to-one feedback. I told my assessor just how challenging I find such situations, and she was really understanding. Teach First understand that teachers come in all different shapes and sizes, and they welcome and value diversity. Teachers are not cookie-cutter clones, and we all bring something unique to the profession.

The competency-based interview was where I excelled. I spent time revising Teach First's competencies and planned the answers that I'd give to all of them. I had clear examples for each competency and felt confident in my responses. My interviewer was warm, smiley and welcoming, and he instantly put me at ease. I felt that he wanted me to feel relaxed and do well. He was probably in his late 20s, and he'd previously worked as a teacher.

The Competencies I prepared answers for -  Leadership, interaction, problem-solving, resilience, planning and organising, understanding and motivation, humanity, respect and empathy and self-evaluation.

My Provisional Offer

Just five days after the assessment centre, I was emailed my provisional offer to teach primary in the London region. Woop woop. I was thrilled with the offer and the fact that I'd been matched with my first-choice region. The email came with several mandatory tasks that I had to complete within 10 days. This was before Teach First could formally confirm my offer. As well as confirming my provisional offer, I also had to provide referee details, further personal details and my right-to-work documentation (my passport). Hard copies of my qualifications (GCSEs and degree) would be required later in the process.

My Curriculum Knowledge Assessment (CKA)

The chunkiest mandatory task was the Curriculum Knowledge Assessment (CKA). This was an important part of the selection process, which involved me watching some short teaching videos and answering questions about them. I was also given an Ofsted report on reading, which I had to use to evaluate the teaching of phonics. I knew that my CKA was assessing my suitability to teach Key Stage 1, and it would be assessed by a university tutor. Around 11 days after submitting my CKA, I received an email to say that it had been accepted and met the criteria of the programme. It had been a thorough 8-week process, from submitting my online application to getting my formal offer, but it had all been soooo worth it. 

New Contact & the Preparation Course

Following my offer, I was assigned a new recruiter who looked after career changers in my region. He invited me to a 'Get Ready' event and a social, where I could learn more about the programme and meet other trainees. I had to complete a preparation course before the summer training, which I accessed through Teach First's online learning platform. The course covered leadership and other key aspects of teaching. I was advised to spend some time in a primary school, before starting the programme, so I emailed a local school to arrange an observation day. A salaried teacher training route was the only option for me, and I was thrilled to be starting my teacher training journey.