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Leeds Beckett welcomes the return of the UK’s largest Teacher Training event
As the biggest teacher training event in the UK, education charity Teach First will accommodate over 3,000 delegates from their 2015 and 2016 cohorts from Saturday 16 to Saturday 30 July. The event brings together Teach First participants, university tutors and education and business leaders across a two-week period. Having been held in Leeds for the past three years, the conference has contributed a total investment of £8m to the city.
The fortnight marks the final stage of the Teach First 2016 cohort’s initial six-week, intensive residential training programme, which aims to equip participants entering the charity’s two-year Leadership Development Programme with the skills and knowledge they need before entering the classroom. Teach First recruit, train and support teachers specifically for schools that serve low-income communities across England and Wales, including in Yorkshire and Humber. Since 2009 more than 800 teachers have been recruited for schools in the region; and in September Teach First will place more than 140 teachers in 66 schools in Leeds, Bradford, Hull, Grimsby, Sheffield, Rotherham, Wakefield and Doncaster.
The Summer Institute culminates with Teach First’s two-day annual Impact Conference on Monday 25 and Tuesday 26 July. The conference, open to all, is the largest dedicated to educational inequality in the UK and includes lectures, seminars, workshops and panel debates to encourage delegates to collaborate and network with some of the best educators, business leaders and innovative thinkers in the UK.
Some of the 60 high profile speakers include Dr Sakena Yacoobi, the CEO of the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL), the Rt Hon Alan Milburn, Chair of the Social Mobility Commission, Professor Phil Scraton, Director of the Hillsborough Project, and Lucy Powell MP, Former Shadow Secretary of State for Education.
Leeds Beckett University’s conference office, Well Met, have worked in conjunction with MEETINLEEDS at the University of Leeds to host the major event since it first came to the city in 2014. Local partners, First Direct Arena and accommodation providers Unite, University of Leeds, Leeds Beckett University and Campus Living Villages, are set to provide additional venue space and bedrooms.
Professor Peter Slee, Vice Chancellor of Leeds Beckett University, commented: “On behalf of all of us at Leeds Beckett University I am delighted to welcome everyone to Leeds and the Teach First Summer Institute. The calling each trainee has chosen has never been more important. In the modern “knowledge economy”, education is the key to national prosperity and individual fulfilment. Education builds confidence, tolerance and offers young people more control over their personal and life choices. The trainees are embarking on a career which is genuinely transformational. I wish them all the greatest of success.”
Reuben Moore, Director – Leadership at Teach First, added: “We’re excited to be back in Leeds for the third year running for the culmination of our Summer Institute, which marks the start of our participants’ two-year leadership journey with Teach First. Sadly it’s still too often the case that if you grow up in a low-income community you are less likely to do well at school, find a decent job and lead a happy, healthy life. For the 13th year we’ll be working in partnerships with schools across England and Wales to inspire the next generation.
“Impact Conference is fast becoming an unmissable date in the education calendar. It’ll bring a host of the biggest names in education, policy and business to Leeds to share their expertise, discuss the hot topics, and build a movement for change.”