As the school year draws to a close, we school leaders reflect not just on what’s behind us but what lies ahead on our school improvement mission. Amid the challenges facing us on that mission, the government’s plans to “revamp” the Teach First programme loom large.
Increasingly, our families and communities face socio-economic pressures that often put opportunities out of reach for pupils. Meanwhile, we’re balancing budgets and responding to shifting policies. In short, every day demands new ideas and decisive action.
Amid all these challenges, one thing remains clear: it’s not spreadsheets that change lives but teachers, working together to create a culture of love, structure and high expectations.
The government seem to understand this. Their long-held commitment to recruiting more of them is testament to that. However, it’s hard to see how changing the name and remit of Teach First will help – and it may in fact hinder their progress.
The proposed removal of the Teach First name and identity would undermine the programme’s prestige, crucial for attracting ambitious young people to challenging schools, especially those who might not otherwise have considered teaching.
Widely respected across leading university campuses, this change risks weakening its distinctiveness and appeal among the very candidates we need to attract.
I’ve worked with incredible teachers from every training route. No single model holds all the answers, and a thriving education system depends on a diverse, complementary ecosystem of routes into teaching. What matters most is quality, purpose and a deep commitment to pupils.
That commitment is under threat across the system because of the deepening recruitment crisis. We simply aren’t bringing enough people into the profession, and particularly not in poorer communities where the attainment gap is widest.
A big part of the issue is that fewer graduates are choosing to teach because they perceive their talent and ambition will be better rewarded in other sectors. And it is this which Teach First has been successfully countering for two decades, by shifting the narrative around teaching.
Teach First connected me to a mission
I came into the profession through Teach First nearly 20 years ago. At university, teaching wasn’t on my radar until Teach First put it there, positioning it as ambitious and providing an opportunity to be ‘disruptive’.
I expected to stay for just two years, yet like many Teach First ambassadors I ended up staying at my placement school for the next nine. Why? Because it connected me to a mission and provided me with a support network that enabled me to enact it.
That support network has been a constant thread throughout my career. When I was appointed founding principal of a new stand-alone free school in Edmonton (one of the poorest wards in London), it was Teach First ambassadors I turned for help.
Opening the primary element of an all-through school, one of my first calls was to a Teach First ambassador I didn’t know, but who had a mountain of relevant experience. And when we didn’t have a workspace before our new school building opened, it was another ambassador who stepped up without hesitation.
Their generosity (and that of many others) was born out of our shared commitment to the mission we signed up to years before.
At every turn, Teach First has been crucial for providing bright and talented teachers with fresh perspectives and new ideas, who have made a real difference to my schools. The context changes, but the mission doesn’t.
Of course, many brilliant teachers I’ve worked with in these same contexts trained through different pathways. But at a time when the profession is under pressure, we should be cautious about losing what made routes like this effective: their ability to inspire a sense of purpose, prestige and possibility in those unsure about their future — as I once was.
Labour remain commendably committed to recruiting 6,500 new teachers. But to succeed on their opportunity mission, they must protect what’s already working as well as innovate.
That means backing, not undermining, the routes that make teaching a first-choice profession, bring brilliant people into our schools and provide the invaluable support networks that keep them there.
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