The first cohort of students taking part in the Student Associates Scheme have now completed their placements for this academic year.

The Student Associates Scheme is a national project funded by the Training and Development Agency for Schools (TDA) and has been set up to help students who are considering teaching as a career and who would like to make a difference in a school and get the “feel” of teaching while they’re still at university.

For this academic year 2008/09, a total of 69 students were placed in 26 schools across the London region. Students who took part in the scheme were mainly Kingston University students, but we also had students from Thames Valley University, University of London, Cardiff University, Leeds University and Oxford University.

Initial evaluation of the scheme is extremely encouraging, with 100% of all students who have taken part stating that as a result of their participation in the scheme their attitude to teaching as a career has either stayed the same (26%) or become more positive (74%).

Here are some quotes from this year’s Student Associates:

‘I have enjoyed the placement and have used many skills I have and have learnt and developed many more. I now intend to follow either the GTP or PGCE route into teaching.’

‘I think it was a great experience and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in teaching.’

 ‘I feel the scheme is well organised and I would recommend anyone to have this experience.’

 ‘I found this experience to be a real eye opening experience to the possibilities of being a teacher and my capabilities to become one. It was really good to observe different methods of teaching and to interact with the students.’

 ‘Overall, it was a great opportunity for me as I had never worked in a school before and I needed the experience. The school I was allocated to was perfect, so thank you.’

 The schools, who took part in the scheme, also valued the experience and many are very keen to take part in the scheme again next year.

‘I thoroughly applaud the Student Associates Scheme. It is an excellent idea giving HE students the experience of teaching before they commit to a PGCE or GTP course after their degree.’

‘She has been a fantastic asset to the department in just three weeks.’

‘He takes on board all information given, contributes well in class and has good ideas; we have been very impressed with his attitude and enthusiasm from day one!’

An excellent student – showed lots of initiative, enthusiasm and has developed positive and supportive relationships with students of all abilities. Would offer her a placement here if she does decide to pursue teaching as a career’

‘I would like to add that she is an exceptional young lady with outstanding qualities who clearly has a great future ahead of her. She has been a spectacular asset to the kids’

‘We have found having him in the school a very positive experience; he has been an excellent ambassador for the Student Associates Scheme.’

We will be recruiting again for the scheme for 2009/10 in September.

Kelly Barnett
Student Associates Scheme Project Manager