Passing It On

Kwamina Korsah is inspiring the next generation through an élite teacher-training scheme targeting the socially disadvantaged.

He is taking part in Teach First, a programme run by a registered charity which aims to place the brightest graduates into some of the toughest and most socially deprived schools in the country.

Kwamina (OE 2000-2007) read History at Magdalene College, Cambridge, and then joined a brand consultancy on graduation, but after 18 months he took some time out to travel and re-evaluate. Needing a new challenge and finding the ethos of Teach First inspiring, he signed up to the programme.

Teach First begins with an intensive six-week course. Almost the whole of the two years of the programme are then spent teaching in placement schools – in Kwamina’s case, Hatch End High School, a mixed comprehensive in Harrow with 1,800 pupils, and the Mossbourne Community Academy in inner-city Hackney. Essays must be written and the theoretical side mastered during the holidays. During his placements, in addition to teaching his subject he is expected to deal with frequent pastoral issues.

Kwamina also spent a week of the programme at QE, gaining valuable experience of working with very able children. He values the transferable skills gained through participation in Teach First, such as organisation, presentation, communication and time-management.