60 Teach First students at Oasis Academy Coulsdon

60+ Teach First trainees attended Oasis Academy Coulsdon for their learning week as part of the Teach First School Centred Initial Teacher Training programme. This is the third iteration hosted at Oasis Academy Coulsdon, with each event going from strength-to-strength with increasing numbers. The latest, week beginning 23^rd September, involved matching up more than sixty Teach First trainees with experienced mentors. For some of the trainees, this was their first teaching experience in a school.

Timetables were developed where between one and four trainees were matched up with an experienced teacher/mentor. Trainees were expected to observe between four and six lessons and deliver at least four episodes of teaching, with episodes being sections or segments of the lesson.

As trainees became more comfortable with the academy and our students, they were observing more than the minimum and often outside of specialism, really embracing the atmosphere of the academy.

The feedback received from the trainees and the senior Teach First mentors has been invariably positive with many commenting on the “polite” and “welcoming” students.

David Crozier, Development and Delivery Lead, stated that it had been: “…an exceptional operation. The quality of teaching and learning we've seen has been very high across the board.”

Helen Arya, our Chief Education Officer and Deputy CEO, said “This is a great example of our contribution to Initial Teacher Education.”

We look forward to our ongoing partnership with Teach First and to welcoming them back later in the year.