Paid Internships for Teachers with the West Country Teaching School Alliance and the Ted Wragg Trust

In the summer of 2022 we will be offering STEM undergraduates paid experience of working in schools. This is the fourth time we have run this programme and this year we are joining with more partner schools to expand the provision.

Our internships are open to students currently studying at university who are considering a career teaching Computer Science, Mathematics or Physics.

Further details about our internship programme can found lower down this page. Immediately below is a link to our online application form, privacy notice and the role descriptor and personal specification for interns.

We have extended the application deadline to Sunday 24th April . Interviews will take place on Thursday 28th April.

Paid Internships for Teachers application form

Paid Internships for Teachers Role Description

Paid Internships for Teachers Person Specification

Teaching Internship 2022 – Privacy Notice

Internship Overview - 2022

Three weeks between 13th June and 8th July 2022

This summer we are offering internships for STEM undergraduates. Interns will have the opportunity to work alongside teachers in schools, receive training to support you and advice about how to get into teaching. We have the following placements available in the following subjects:

Computer Science

Mathematics

Physics

The application deadline is midnight on Tuesday 29th March. Interviews will take place on Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th April.

Further information about the internships is available below.

Further Details

Aims of Internship

The aims of this programme is to provide interns with the opportunity to:

Gain an insight into teaching as a profession
Develop an understanding of effective classroom practice
Share their passion for their subject with students
Have a positive impact on students learning

Structure of the Internship 2022

Interns will spend the first day of their internship at Exeter Mathematics School (EMS), completing inductions activities and training, including safeguarding. Each intern will be assigned member of the EMS teaching team as a mentor who will meet with them at induction and again at the midpoint and end of their placement.

The majority of the three weeks will be spent in a placement school. During their placement, interns will have the opportunity to observe teaching, support students one-to-one, teach episodes of lessons and become involved in the broader life of the school. A Subject Champion from the placement school will support the interns, ensuring they gain the maximum benefit from the experience.

In the final week of the internship, participants will return to EMS to take part in further training, including learning about the routes into teaching.

Placement Schools will provide:

A Subject Champion who will take responsibility for supervising the intern whilst on placement
A structured induction to the school
A timetable which has between 15 -18 hours of classroom based experience
A range of experiences whilst on placement

EMS / West Country Teaching School Alliance (WCTSA) / Ted Wragg Trust will provide:

Overview training
A mentor
Quality assurance process
Enrichment activities

Payments

Interns must commit to full attendance to be able to take part in the internship.

A payment of £900 will be made at the conclusion of the internship if there has been full attendance. A pro-rata reduction will be made for days missed.

Feedback from Previous Interns

In 2018, 2019 and 2021, we provided STEM internships for students considering teaching.

100% of interns agreed that they would recommend this internship to others who are considering teaching as a career.

79% of interns were more likely to go into teaching as a result of their experience

A few internship highlights

Visiting and working in multiple schools

Teaching the majority of a lesson

Experiencing different teachers and their approaches

Jumping into a whole new environment

The mentor from EMS

Supportive teachers

Routes into teaching was very informative

Working with students 1-2-1

Great insight into the teaching profession

Teaching episodes where it has made a difference

Key learning for interns

Building confidence in public speaking

How difficult and rewarding the job can be

How to get into teaching

Learning the thought processes of teaching children

What it’s like to be a student in 2018

The different cultures of schools

Teachers do more than I realised

The importance of being adaptable

Communicating effectively with young people

Differentiating teaching for different groups of students

Quotes from our interns

“Great experience! Thank you so much.”

“The internship as a whole has really built my confidence. Great team spirit with other interns. Thank you!”

“Thanks so much for this opportunity. Funding also great as I could take time off work.”

“Each part of this internship has been very valuable in thinking through teaching. Thank you!”

“The experience has been amazing and it has been so informative. I cannot thank you guys enough for this opportunity.”

2018 intern now teaching maths and loving it!

I took part in the EMS internship in my penultimate year of university when I was still exploring possible career options. I knew I was passionate about education, but this was my first opportunity to experience school from the perspective of a teacher. Going into it I wasn’t sure whether I’d be any good at teaching, but actually going into schools and doing a few teaching episodes with small groups built my confidence; I found I absolutely loved talking about maths with students all day, and a year later I started my PGCE in secondary mathematics. I’m now thrilled to be back at EMS as a newly qualified maths teacher! I strongly recommend this internship to anybody considering a career as a maths or physics teacher.

Nick Dean, Mathematics Teacher, 2021

Physics intern grasping opportunities to develop as an NQT

I completed an internship with the Ted Wragg Trust in the summer of 2018 after completing my second year of university. I’ve always wanted to become a teacher and this was the perfect route for me to gain some experience before embarking on a PGCE course. The internship consisted of a 4 week block at a school in Exeter and I got observe lessons and learn about the day-to-day experience of teaching. I even got to join the students for an enrichment week! After that, I went on to do my PGCE with South West Teacher Training and it has been a wonderful experience from training to now almost completing my NQT year at Exeter Maths school. I have been given many opportunities to learn, grow and develop as a teacher and I would recommend this internship to anybody who is interested in a career in teaching.

Ekaete Ibiro Offong, Physics Teacher, 2021