Brett's Blog

Brett Wigdortz

8 December 2009

As my closing blog of the decade (yes, really, it's been ten years since Y2K!) and at the risk of sounding slightly sappy, I thought I would use this holiday edition to chronicle the ten things

I am most thankful for:

1. All of our sponsors, trustees and training partners who help us on a day to day basis, but especially those who believed in us during our early years when we were still an unlikely idea. We wouldn't be here without them.

2. The over 1960 participants and ambassadors of Teach First who have proven the naysayers wrong and shown that top British graduates are idealistic and do want to lead the change to address educational disadvantage. They renew my optimism every time I meet them. I can’t imagine a better or more important group of leaders in the UK.

3. Our 258 school partners who do incredible things every day and have been incredibly welcoming of our teachers from the start. Every time I visit a school, I think about how important it is to recognise the staff for their dedication and commitment (and ability to only go to the loo at set times of the day.)

4. The 120 full-time staff members of Teach First who have been so dedicated in their hard work to help us achieve our visions and goals this year. Working during full days and often evenings and weekends to help recruit and support our teachers and ambassadors and ensure the success of our charity, all of them richly deserve a relaxing and rewarding Christmas break.

5. The Labour party, for their support

6. The Conservative party, for their support

7. The Liberal Democrat party, for their support

8. This number makes me thankful for being the 8th most prestigious graduate recruiter in the UK according to the Times Top 100 survey. This means that teaching in a challenging urban school in England is now seen as a better career option among top graduates than working as a management consultant or a banker. It's nice to know that going into the new decade British graduates do have the right priorities…

9. The British railway (well someone has to appreciate it.) Having spent the past month travelling across the country to visit our regions and schools, I have to say it’s definitely better than flying.

10. The hundreds of thousand of students we're working with. I've visited about a dozen schools this month and honestly, I have seen so many inspiring things that I could write about far into the new year. Rather than the press caricature of criminal hoodies, the students are bright, creative, energetic, and inquisitive. Some of them have dealt with unimaginable difficulties in their young lives, but they still yearn to learn, to be led, and to succeed in life. I have now seen more than enough examples to make me confident that they will succeed – if they have enough of the right teachers who are supported to give them the opportunity.