National Roadshow, UK
The Department for Education (DfE) launched the ‘Get Into Teaching’ campaign as part of its ongoing efforts to address the shortage of qualified teachers in the UK. The campaign includes various events and initiatives to provide information and support to people interested in becoming teachers. The Get Into Teaching event roadshow is one such initiative.
The roadshow consists of a series of events held in various locations across the country, where prospective teachers are given the opportunity to learn more about the teaching profession,the routes into teaching, and the application process.
Blackberry have been engaged in the delivery of the Get Into Teaching events programme since 2014, and supported the development of the programme over the years to reflect the ever changing landscape.
The Get Into Teaching events are designed to provide relevant information to attendees whether they are at the beginning of their journey initially exploring the possibilities of a career in teaching or those that have done all the research and are in a position to make an application to a teacher training provider.
This is done byway of zoning each event:
Advice Zone: A general advice zone offers attendees the opportunity to speak with expert teacher training advisers who can provide detailed information about the various routes into teaching, financial support available, interview/application tips and career prospects.
Presentations: The events often include presentations on the teaching profession, the application process and how to fund the teacher training course
Meet a Teacher Hub: Attendees can network with current teachers to gain insights into the teaching profession and learn about different career paths within education.
Provider Zone: Some events include a number of teacher training providers who offer teacher training courses in the local area to that event.
Resource Materials: Attendees usually receive informational materials and resources to help them navigate not only the event, but how to become a teacher.
Events run on weekday evenings 5 – 8pm and on Saturdays 10am – 3pm with attendees able to arrive during opening hours at a time to suit them. Pre-registration is encouraged but not essential as walk ups can be managed by the onsite registration team. Depending on the geographic location, events are typically attended by 50 – 600 people with the event infrastructure and staffing scaled accordingly.
Evaluation of each event is carried out via an exit questionnaire. Headline results of the 2022/23 programme are shown below:
· 96%attendees found the event very or extremely useful
· 63%more likely to make application, 33% already planning to apply
· 97%clear on next steps
· 88%- intend to start teacher training in the current year
Each year we strive to support the client team with ideas and suggestions to enhance and improve the following year’s programme – without losing sight of the core objective – to train and recruit new teachers into the teaching profession.
Blackberry have delivered our events programme successfully for over 10 years. They consistently go above and beyond for us as a client and work tirelessly to ensure that our event programmes are a success. They can always be relied on to put the client first in all of their decision making, but more importantly they share our passion and commitment to the work that we deliver and therefore are seen as an integral extension to our team rather than simply an events agency.
Danny O’Donnell
Event Manager, Department for Education
