My journey with the Future Teachers programme has been the smoothest and most transformative journey from the beginning.

Ben from Teaching Personnel scouted my CV and gave me a call about my plans, after I’d applied for a TA role in my local area.

My first interview, he ran through the new programme and it sounded too good to be true; other opportunities tend to be non-paid for Physical Education, some didn’t offer the subject at all.

My second interview was with Lisa at Futures Teaching Alliance where we discussed my degree and experience to make sure I was a good candidate for the programme. The third step was to visit the school and meet students.

The Future Teachers programme itself was a real opportunity to understand how to manage a classroom, build relationships with students and develop a deeper understanding of what I wanted to get out of teaching, before applying for my training year. As well as being paid, I was receiving professional advice and support whenever I needed it, both from Lisa and my own personal mentor at school.

I started as a 15 week cover for my school’s PE department, while helping out other departments when needed. This was perfect as my preferred subject is Physical Education. This threw me right into the deep end as I had no previous teaching experience, however it worked really well for me. After my 15 weeks, the school had the opportunity to keep me as a permanent member of staff (unqualified teacher), which they did.

I am now 4 months on at the same school and believe I am only as confident as I am because I started with 17 hours a week of real teaching. I have already established relationships with the students and gained a real taste of what it’ll be like to be a trainee teacher next year.I will be completing my ITT (Initial Teacher Training) at my current school from September, as my line manager and the Head of School have been able to see my potential and improvement every day.

Throughout my time in the Future Teachers programme, Lisa also offered guidance to the school about the options for different routes I could follow, and what that would look like for them too. There were also sessions with FTA, designed to aid us in our first ‘teaching’ year, along with constant support and advice whenever I needed it.

The students in school see me as one their teachers, I run after school clubs, fixtures and now have my own set of classes which I plan for. This will make next year seamless and much easier for myself, the students and the school.

After guidance from the FTA team, I will actually be completing my ITT in Chemistry through SCITT (School-Centred Initial Teacher Training). Having this extra year of experience I have been able to understand that I enjoy classroom teaching and would like to pursue an avenue which includes Science and PE together. Without the Future Teachers programme, I would not have developed such confidence and knowledge, or know exactly what I want to do for my future career in teaching.