A NEW scheme to get more people teaching in Bradford aims to show how good teachers can make a real difference to the district’s youngsters.

Bradford for Teaching is a new push to turn around the district’s recruitment problems and convince people to make the district their first choice to work.

One of the main strands to the project involves ten “inspirational” teachers, including heads, from a variety of local schools who will be documenting their career paths and day to day lives teaching in the district. These stories will be put out on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to try to woo people to Bradford.

The programme started today at an event in Beckfoot School, Bingley, attended by school leaders from across the district.

It will start by focusing on people who are thinking about getting into teacher training, before a move in spring to get newly qualified teachers to work in Bradford’s schools.

Over the summer the teaching ambassadors filmed a series of videos that will be loaded onto social media and on the campaign’s website - bradfordteaching.org.

It is being funded by Bradford Council and co-ordinated by the Northern Lights Teaching School Alliance.

Jenn Plews, from Northern Lights, said: “This is something I believe will make a phenomenal change in teaching in Bradford. To get great schools we need great teachers.”

She pointed out the difficulties most schools in Bradford had in recruiting new teachers, and added: “We want Bradford to be a first choice career destination for teachers.”

David Horn, head of the Beckfoot trust, said: “Teachers can make a good living here. But most important, Bradford is where, as a teacher, you can make a big difference.”

Louise Morgan, a teacher at Beckfoot Upper Heaton, is one of the ambassadors. She said: “The young people I teach are some of the most hard working, inquisitive pupils I’ve ever had the pleasure to teach.

“The best part of being a teacher is when you see young people have that lightbulb moment, where they might have struggled to grasp something but then you see them glowing when they’ve understood it.

“If you work in Bradford, it is a very diverse community, and you learn so much here every single day. It is a city that is growing and changing, and now is the chance to get on board.”

Aamir Hassan, another ambassador, said: “I was a student in Bradford, and was inspired by one of my teachers.

“Students in Bradford are amazing, our job is to make them believe they can aim for the stars. I feel so proud seeing them on results day.

“The community of Bradford is so diverse, and that is what I love about teaching here.”