Party Conferences 2009

Teach First's debut foray into the political party annual conference season saw prominent figures from across the political spectrum give resounding support for the organisation's work.

Schools Minister Vernon Coaker speaks at the Labour Party Conference Fringe.

From left: Julie Mercer, Associate Partner, Deloitte; Professor Sonia Blandford, Director of Research and Development, Teach First; Ian Mulheirn, Director, SMF; Michael Gove MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, Professor Geoff Whitty, Director, Institute of Education and Charlotte McCormick, Participant President, Teach First.

Members of the Teach First leadership and external relations teams made the trip down to the Labour party conference in Brighton and up to the Conservative conference in Manchester to host panel debates entitled "Realising every child's potential: addressing educational disadvantage in the UK".

The events were held in partnership with leading Westminster think tank the Social Market Foundation (SMF) and the Institute of Education (IoE), University of London.

In a well-attended session at the Labour conference, participant president Charlotte McCormick and director of research and development Professor Sonia Blandford shared a platform with Professor Geoff Whitty, director of the IoE and specialist advisor to the Children, Schools and Families Select Committee, and schools minister Vernon Coaker.

The event was chaired by Labour peer Lord David Lipsey, who is also chair of the SMF.

Coaker, himself a former deputy head teacher in Nottingham, spoke in favour of Teach First's leadership development programme and its contribution to enhancing the status of teaching.

He was enthusiastic about the impact Teach First teachers and their peers could have in his own constituency. Charlotte McCormick provided an inspiring opening for the session with an anecdote drawn from her time as a participant, while Professor Blandford elaborated on the methodology behind training graduates to be effective teachers and leaders.

Up in Manchester, the panelists were joined by Deloitte's Julie Mercer, Associate Partner Consulting / Operations Excellence, an education specialist.

Michael Gove, shadow schools secretary, was also on the panel.

The lively debate once again focused on the power of excellent teachers and leaders in driving positive educational outcomes, stimulating a broader discussion as to how their influence could be increased.

Professor Whitty argued that institutions such as the IoE and Teach First could be empowered to found their own schools.

"People at the front of the teaching profession ought to be taking control," he said.

Gove echoed this sentiment, saying the Conservatives would work with Teach First Ambassadors to support them in efforts to establish their own schools.

In summing up, Gove said that Teach First was an organisation he found it difficult to improve on - "Well, apart from giving it more money!" - a theme he had touched on earlier in the day in his keynote speech to delegates, in which he pledged that a Conservative government would expand Teach First to more than 1,000 graduates per year.

Apart from the profile gained through the events, the conferences proved a fantastic opportunity for Teach First's senior leadership and external relations teams to network with a range of stakeholders from business, education, media and politics.

In particular, Brett Wigdortz was part of a NESTA panel discussion brought together to consider how education policy could best be formulated to ensure children are equipped to meet the challenges of the 21st century economy.