Thank you

We hear a lot about competition and rivalry in education, about heated debate and disagreement.

Beneath all that, education is basically full of outstanding people trying to do the right thing with the limited resources that they have available.

I know Teach First can be a bit marmite. And we often plough our furrow in isolation. But when, at short notice, we had to reduce our training offers by 120 and bitterly disappoint many talented potential teachers, the sector stepped up. We have been deluged with offers of help from SCITTs, MATs, associations, maintained schools, enterprises and individuals. The focus was solely on ‘how can we make the most of this interest in our profession’. That’s a commitment to what they grandly call system leadership in its purest form.

It is the profession at its best – an unshowy generosity and determination which doesn’t always get the attention it deserves. I wanted to say thank you. You have reminded me what I love about teachers, school leaders and everyone who works in the sector.

And to the candidates we haven’d placed yet this year, we are sorry: your spirit and passion for teaching have been clear. You deserve a route to your goal, and the system will be lucky to have you. We will continue to work in the coming days to bring these two amazing groups of people together as much as we can.