Telling the Story - Kiran

This is Kiran's story:

Kiran teaches at Bethnal Green Academy, a school in a low-income community that in 2011 celebrated a fourth successive year of unprecedented improvement. Despite facing numerous challenges, including 98.7% of pupils at the school coming from the 30% poorest homes in the country and 18.1% of residents in the local community claiming benefits, Bethnal Green Academy has seen significant transformation over the last ten years.

An inspirational headteacher combined with effective and committed teachers has ensured that the educational disadvantage experienced within the school has not led to pupil failure. Based on published tables in 2010, in 2011 Bethnal Green Academy would rank as the most improved school in England.

Since establishing partnership with Teach First, 30 Teach First participants have trained at this school and Kiran is one of the 16 that remain there now. Working alongside other teachers and the rest of the school staff, they have been part of transforming this school and the life chances of the pupils who go there.

At Teach First we are working in partnership with others to ensure that no child's educational success is limited by their socio-economic background. We believe that the scale of change needed will only be achieved through the collective effort of leaders in classrooms, in schools and throughout society. Each must challenge and change the status quo child by child, classroom by classroom, school by school, community by community until educational disadvantage becomes a work of fiction, not fact.

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