Teach First

I had the privilege of hosting the opening ceremony for Teach First's National Gathering. As I stood at the front of the room looking out at the next generation of teachers, I found myself reflecting on my own journey. More than a decade has passed since I attended my own Summer Institute and, if I'm honest, I don't think twenty-one-year-old me could ever have imagined where this profession would take me.

Teach First has been woven into my story from the very beginning of my teaching career. In many ways, I would not be in education if it weren't for the organisation.

It's quite a funny story how I first came across Teach First. I was in my first year at university and had gone to the gym when I noticed a Teach First stand stationed outside, handing out bottles of water. The next thing I knew, I was having a conversation about the graduate programme. At the time, I had no idea that a chance encounter would go on to shape my career for the next decade.

I grew up in a working-class family and was the first person in my family to attend university. Like many first-generation university students, there wasn't a blueprint for what came next, nor did I have a clear understanding of what my next steps would look like. I knew I wanted to make a difference, but I didn't quite know what that would look like. What I did know was that education had the power to transform lives because it had transformed my own.

During university, I became a Teach First Brand Manager and later completed an internship with the organisation. The more I learned about Teach First's mission to tackle educational disadvantage, the more I knew it was something I wanted to be part of. After graduating from university, I went on to complete what was known at the time as the ‘Teach First Leadership Development programme’. At just twenty-one years old, I found myself standing in front of my own classroom with my own classes.

I can still remember my very first day at my school in inner-city Birmingham. I remember the excitement, the nerves and the overwhelming sense of responsibility that comes with knowing that the young people sitting in front of you are trusting you to help shape their future. It was one of the most special moments of my career, and, more than a decade later, I have never left education or the classroom. During my two years on the programme, I spent my summers continuing to learn through internships with both Teach First and PwC. One of the things that Teach First gave me was an understanding that great teaching is never static. There is always more to learn, more to improve and more ways to better serve the communities we work within.

Educational disadvantage remains one of the greatest challenges facing our profession. Whilst the landscape of education continues to change, and whilst there will always be factors beyond our control, there is something that remains firmly within it: ensuring that every child has access to an excellent teacher. For me, that has always been the most important part of this work. School improvement is a constant within every school, regardless of where it is on its journey. It is ever-changing and rightly demands that we continually reflect, adapt and improve. There are challenging moments in this profession. There are difficult conversations, long days and problems that can feel impossible to solve. But there are also moments of extraordinary privilege. There is nothing quite like watching a young person succeed, knowing that education has opened a door that wasn't open before.

Hosting the opening ceremony was one of those moments that causes you to pause and reflect. Looking out at the hundreds of trainees about to begin their own journeys, I couldn't help but think back to my own Summer Institute. I wondered which of them would go on to become middle leaders, senior leaders, headteachers or system leaders. I wondered how many of them would still be here in ten years' time speaking about the profession they love.

I hope many of them will.

Teach First is, of course, much more than a graduate programme. It is a community of people who fundamentally believe that where a child is born should never determine the quality of education they receive. It is a community that believes educational disadvantage is not inevitable and that our young people deserve excellence. More than a decade later, I remain incredibly proud to have been part of that community. And if you had told me all those years ago, standing outside the university gym with a bottle of water in my hand, that I would still be here writing these words, I don't think I would have believed you.

Choosing education remains one of the best decisions I have ever made.

The young people we serve deserve the very best of us.