Aspiring Teachers programme students St John’s Sixth Form in Bishop Auckland continues to support students’ future aspirations through its Aspiring Teachers programme, a dedicated initiative designed to give Year 12 students a realistic and practical insight into the profession of teaching.

The programme is run by Jo Somers, Assistant Headteacher and PE teacher at St John’s, and has already helped countless students better understand what life as a teacher involves. Offering a unique opportunity to experience teaching first-hand, the programme allows students to explore the skills, responsibilities and challenges that come with working in education today.

This year, Isaac Slater, Anna Thompson and Isabel Waters are completing the programme and gaining valuable experience from observing lessons, working alongside teachers and engaging in focused training sessions.

One of the students on the programme, Anna Thompson, says the experience has been particularly helpful in deciding whether teaching is a potential future career path.
She explained:

“The aspiring teachers programme involves many sessions, focusing on a different topic each week.”

So far, students have explored several key areas of teaching practice. These include communication skills, where participants discussed different ways teachers communicate with classes and observed lower school lessons to see these skills in action. Another focus has been planning recall activities at the start of lessons, with students designing recall tasks linked to topics currently being taught and seeing these used in real lessons.

The programme has also covered behaviour management, giving students the chance to discuss strategies for dealing with behaviour in school, carry out further research and observe experienced teachers managing behaviour in the classroom.

Anna added that the programme has helped her confirm her interest in teaching after sixth form:

“I chose to complete the aspiring teachers programme because after I leave sixth form I'm wanting to go to university to study a certain subject and then do a teaching degree so I thought that this programme would be good for me to see what teaching is about.”

As the programme continues, Anna, Isaac and Isabel will develop their understanding further by looking more closely at safeguarding in school, literacy and numeracy across the curriculum, and how differentiation works across different key stages.

Fellow participant Isaac Slater highlighted the wider benefits of the experience, saying:

“This can be a productive use of our Friday drop down curriculum and give us time to observe school from a different perspective.”

The Aspiring Teachers programme at St John’s Sixth Form plays an important role in helping students make informed decisions about their futures, while strengthening links between post-16 education and the teaching profession. By offering real classroom experience and structured support, St John’s continues to invest in both its students and the next generation of teachers.