Teacher Industrial Partners’ Scheme (TIPS) enables teachers of science, design and technology, computing and mathematics to attend a two week work placement with a local employer. This scheme connects companies and teachers together to help expand the knowledge of the potential careers available to pupils, with the main aim of educating and inspiring the next generation.
After this two week placement, individuals who have taken part in this scheme then have the opportunity to network and share their experiences with other TIPS participants over a two day event at the National Science Learning Centre in York.
There are many companies which offer placements as a part of TIPS, such as BP, Babcock, Thames Water and IBM.
A number of teachers have done, or are currently doing, placements with these employers and are continuing to share their experiences throughout their two week placement via daily blogs.
One such individual is Helen Scott, a science teacher at King Solomon Academy in London. For the past week or so, Helen has been doing a placement at BP. As part of this scheme, she has been working in various different departments within the organisation, such as IT, development and trading, all things which are very different to her normal day job. Helen has been overwhelmed by the passion and drive of every single employee who works at BP and is very much looking forward to sharing her ever-increasing knowledge with her pupils on her return.
Keep up to date with Helen and her day to day experiences at BP.
Susan Bayes is another teacher taking part in the TIPS placements, and is currently undertaking two weeks work at Babcock, the UK’s leading engineering support services. In her normal day job, Susan is a computing and business teacher at a University Technical College (UTC). Despite being very nervous about her placement initially, she is very impressed with the professionalism of all the staff at Babcock and is looking forward to the rest of her placement.
Keep up to date with Susan and her day to day experiences at Babcock.
Babcock have taken on another individual, Arran Webb, who normally works as a maths teacher at a University Technical College (UTC), like Susan. So far, Arran has been taken on a tour of a Royal Navy warship, the HMS Argyll, and was fascinated by the amount of knowledge the employees have about the boat. As he has just started this placement, Arran is intrigued about what the rest of his time at Babcock has to offer.
Keep up to date with Arran and his day to day experiences at Babcock.
IBM are another big organisation which take part in TIPS. Dee Thrussell is one teacher currently doing a placement with this company and is nearing the end of his/her time there. The past few days have seen Dee learn a lot about the technology which is readily available to be introduced into the classroom. From this placement, Dee has already collected a large amount of knowledge and resources which could positively benefit the future of pupils at his/her school.
Keep up to date with Dee and her day to day experiences at IBM.
A chemistry teacher at Hartlepool Sixth Form College, is doing a two week placement at Grontmij, a leading consulting and engineering industry. Within this placement, she is shadowing many different employees within the organisation, such as highway and water engineers and a variety of different apprentices. Dr Fei Wan Lee appears to have gained a large amount of information about the roles of employees within the organisation, and is excited to learn more about what the company does.
Keep up to date with Dr Fei Wan Lee and her day to day experiences at Grontmij.
For more information about TIPS, or how to apply for your own work placement, please visit the TIPS page.