From the boardroom to the classroom: the launch of Now Teach

Friday 18th November 2016

New initiative, Now Teach launched by FT journalist, to bring high-flyers into the teaching profession

A shortage in STEM and language teachers across the UK has led long-time Financial Times columnist, Lucy Kellaway to leave the world of journalism and launch Now Teach, an initiative tackling the crisis head on.

Supported by Ark, one of the UK’s best performing school groups, and Ark Teacher Training, Now Teach encourages experienced high-flyers from the UK’s top professions to bring their unique skills, knowledge and perspective into the classroom.

As well as her role as Co-Founder, Lucy, who leaves the FT next summer, will also be retraining as a maths teacher at a secondary school in London. To deliver the programme, she has partnered with entrepreneur, Katie Waldegrave, founder of literacy charity, First Story, who has taken up the role of Director. An experienced teacher herself, Katie was part of the very first cohort of Teach First.

“Having spent my working life in the newsroom, I cannot wait to get started in the classroom" says Lucy Kellaway, Co-Founder of Now Teach. "There is a real shortage of teachers in the UK, whilst at the same time, there is a whole group of people who have spent their careers in industry who now want to do something different –who want to challenge themselves and to make a real difference.

As working lives extend and corporate models shift, Now Teach is opening up the profession and offering the very best professionals, the very best training and support to become the very best teachers”

In its first year, Now Teach will recruit a small group to train in Ark schools. Adapted from the successful Ark Teacher Training model to meet the needs of this new stream of teachers, trainees will receive the very best training and support, over four days a week, rather than the traditional five.

Ark is an international education charity with more than ten years of experience transforming schools, building outstanding new schools and improving the life chances of some of the most disadvantaged young people in the country. It has successfully incubated other start-up enterprises including Frontline.

For the pilot Now Teach will work with Ark Teacher Training to train and support recruits. Longer term, it will be an independent charity, and hopes to place trainees with other initial teacher training providers.

For more information, visit www.nowteach.org.uk