Setting pupils on a path to success

St Anthony’s is very much a traditional school with traditional Catholic values.  

The children here are the children and grandchildren of former pupils, and the school has a history of retaining staff for a long time.

But our ethnicity picture has changed in recent years, and we've got a growing population of Indian Catholic families moving into the area. Now about 50% of our students have English as an additional language (EAL).  

That’s where working with Teach First fits our needs quite well. We can recruit people who bring in a fresh perspective, and who can also grow in the St Anthony’s way.  

St Anthony’s mission statement is: “Let your words teach and your actions speak.”

So, we need to ensure we teach our children to the highest standards. This is a school that sets people on a path to success.

As I see it, Teach First’s vision - to ensure that all children are given the chance to fulfil their potential - chimes perfectly with what we're trying to do as a school and with what I'm trying to do as headteacher.

A long-term relationship with Teach First

I first came across Teach First in one of my previous schools.  

We were looking to recruit and worked with Teach First to meet candidates and fill a role.  

I’ve worked with Teach First to recruit trainees into vacant positions ever since, recruiting every couple of years.

We've raised vacancies directly with Teach First as well as nominating current teaching assistants (TAs) to train on the programme - we have a TA on the programme this year.  

I’ve spent a lot of time mentoring TAs doing the programme. To give them that support, we also pair them up with deputy or assistant head teachers to job share with for that first year of training - it gives us and them a safety net of support.

Doing the Teach First programme is a lot for new trainees to handle at first, but I can see the cause and effect. We've got teachers who can cope really well, because the programme is very intense and sets them up nicely to work in schools.

Teach First trainees contribute to our success

We're part of the Corpus Christi Catholic Academy Trust, working with five other schools in the area to support each other to succeed.  

One of our previous trainees, who’s only been teaching for three years, is currently on secondment at one of those schools to help provide SENCO support.  

We’re a school dedicated to supporting other local schools, so to have someone from Teach First able to go on that journey and help us do that is brilliant!

We’re also seeing great developments in speech and language, early communication, and early reading at St Anthony’s. One of my Teach First teachers, who teaches key stage one, is playing a big part in this.  

Overall, we've got great things happening at St Anthony’s and our trainees really contribute to that.

Trainees take on leadership roles early

Another previous trainee, who is now in the second year of their Early Career Framework, is currently a Year 2 teacher but is also leading geography.  

Although it’s quite soon to be leading our geography curriculum, because she's had that early foundation with Teach First, she's taken that role on earlier in her career and done a fantastic job.  

I'm very confident in her leadership and have had great feedback from those who work with her. Geography is a real strength for the school – that’s in no small part thanks to her involvement.

I’ve got another Teach First member of staff who is currently on secondment with a partner school to support them with early reading and leading their phonics provision. They’re also an early career teacher (ECT) mentor.  

We’ve had great feedback about our trainees, it’s been a very positive experience from both sides.

I feel like we’ve got an ‘ECT plus’

With Teach First, you are going to have candidates who are ambitious.  

Once the trainees have gone through the Training Programme and become ECTs, I feel like we’ve got ourselves an ‘ECT plus’.  

We’ve already kicked off the process to try and recruit another Teach First trainee for next year.

Our rigorous selection process finds people with the skills and spark to make brilliant teachers. Work with us to hire trainees who’ll make the biggest impact on your school and pupils – and a lasting difference in education.

Learn more about hiring trainee teachers.