After feeling weighed down by the demands of school life in Australia, Yalinie Vigneswaran from Ambition Institute tells how self care is a big part of it’s work to support teaching staff Yalinie Vigneswaran says while she may look like an education geek, she can deadlift 130 kilos and hip thrust 200 kilos. The executive director of programme delivery at Ambition Institute describes her love of powerlifting as 鈥渁bsolutely bonkers鈥, considering that until three years ago she鈥檇 never been sporty and was the kid who always made excuses to skip PE. Vigneswaran was prompted by a lack of self-confidence and control in her personal life to take up the sport, which provided her with a newfound sense of community at her local gym in Clapham, south-west London. Now, she鈥檚 using her 鈥渧oice in the sector鈥 to tell struggling teachers to take time out from their work and do something 鈥渆ntirely for themselves鈥, as she learned to do. Vigneswaran, who leads Ambition鈥檚 initial teacher training programme, believes the scheme provides the sort of on-the-job support that she sorely lacked when she was a trainee teacher. There鈥檚 鈥渢oo much self-sacrifice鈥 in teaching she says, which is driving many to quit. She adds: 鈥淭hey burn out if they don’t feel like they’ve got permission to look after themselves.鈥 Yalinie Vigneswaran of Ambition Institute Helping is therapy Vigneswaran came close to burnout herself while teaching and leading schools in Australia. She joined just over a year ago, having led educational programmes for Teach First and the Education Development Trust after returning from Down Under. Her role, ensuring the 500 teacher trainees who started with Ambition in September are properly supported, is 鈥渁lmost a form of therapy鈥, she says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the closest I can get to going back to [my first year in teaching] and telling myself, 鈥榶ou’re doing a good job.It’s OK to make mistakes. There鈥檚 help coming in the future鈥.鈥 Vigneswaran believes teachers still 鈥渞eally struggle鈥 with the idea of getting things wrong. She herself was thrown in at the teaching deep end, having moved to Australia and taken a 鈥渞eally theoretical鈥 Master of Teaching degree at the University of Melbourne. It involved just six weeks of school placements. And the mentoring she received in her first placement 鈥渨as not of the quality, consistency and compassion required鈥. Yalinie Vigneswaran of Ambition Institute in a traditional saree at her cousins wedding in Sri Lanka Good Neighbours Vigneswaran was four when her family moved from Sri Lanka to England and picked up some of her English by watching the iconic Aussie TV show Neighbours. In a strange twist of fate, while living in Melbourne where the show is set, the only break she took during long days as a new teacher at Northcote High School involved watching the soap. She experienced all the job roles during her career that Ambition now serves through its programmes. And she鈥檚 鈥渁lways trying with every decision that I make鈥 to think back to what might have made her life easier during challenging times. 鈥淚 might have stayed in teaching for longer if there was some resemblance of the type of support out there now,鈥 she tells me. Yalinie Wigneswaran of Ambition Institute with her mum writing a letter to her dad when he was away for work in Sri Lanka Supporting teachers That includes Ambition鈥檚 Early Careers Teacher programme, rated 鈥榦utstanding鈥 by Ofsted. A key element is mentoring. Vigneswaran believes that good mentoring is 鈥渒ey to bringing a teacher training curriculum to life鈥, but that 鈥渢he specific number of hours鈥 given to training mentors is 鈥渓ess important than the quality of training鈥. Her own biggest mentor was her mother, who was a maths and physics teacher back in Sri Lanka. She remained a 鈥渢eacher at heart鈥 after they moved to England and took on the role of tutor to Vigneswaran and the children of their Tamil friends. Vigneswaran鈥檚 father 鈥渨orked his socks off鈥 six days a week in petrol stations and corner shops to 鈥渉elp us survive鈥. She experienced a 鈥渃athartic, full-circle moment鈥 while working at Teach First and the Education Development Trust when she led programmes for the National Tutoring Programme (NTP). Reflecting on how her parents couldn鈥檛 afford to pay for private tutoring when she was a child, Vigneswaran 鈥渞eally wanted to make sure that the tuition was getting to those who needed it the most鈥. Yalinie Vigneswaran of Ambition Institute as a baby Teaching and travelling Her mum鈥檚 tutoring set her up well. Vigneswaran studied pharmacology at London鈥檚 King鈥檚 College and had a brief stint as a scientist, before turning to teaching while travelling. She found it 鈥渕assively humbling鈥 to teach classes of 50 at a high school in Ghana. There was no electricity, 鈥渞ationed鈥 chalk and the rooms were enclosed by wooden panels through which you could 鈥渟ee out to the rest of the school鈥. As well as being a teacher and school nurse, Vigneswaran was asked to train other teachers on lesson planning and building pupil relationships. After moving to Melbourne and qualifying as a maths and science teacher, within four years she was made leading teacher (equivalent to assistant headteacher for curriculum) at Coburg High School. But in 2018 her father had a heart attack which prompted the 鈥渞eally hard decision鈥 to come home and 鈥渕ake some memories with my family鈥. In England, she became development lead on national professional qualifications at Teach First, working with around 60 middle and senior leaders developing courses. The role 鈥渃larified鈥 that teachers in Australia were 鈥渟truggling with the same challenges as teachers here鈥. Vigneswaran was also head of academic mentoring, in the first iteration of the NTP, which trained mentors and placed them in schools serving disadvantaged communities. She led the programme between July 2020 and September 2021, during which time Teach First exceeded its 1,000 target by placing 1,124 mentors. She moved to the Education Development Trust to oversee its NTP programme, but in a 鈥渂aptism of fire鈥 her role was broadened a year later to also oversee the Early Career Framework and National Professional Qualifications. These long-running programmes had 鈥渧ery different mindsets鈥 to the 鈥渟tart-up culture鈥 within the NTP, although there was always 鈥減olitical uncertainty鈥 over when the NPT would end. Education Development Trust led on subsidised tuition delivered via school-led tutoring, developing tutors who were already school employees or members of a school鈥檚 community. She said the funding rules 鈥渇elt complicated鈥 for school leaders, who 鈥渉ad enough going on at the time鈥. The programme delivered 20 hours of online training, and 鈥測ou couldn鈥檛 have the perfect tutor in that time鈥. A balance had to be struck between quality and getting tutors to kids 鈥渁s quickly as reasonably possible鈥 to 鈥渢ake pressure off teachers trying to juggle remote learning and their own personal circumstances鈥. Vigneswaran is 鈥渃onfident鈥 the programme 鈥渞eached a lot of the most disadvantaged kids鈥. And she hopes that 鈥渨hat鈥檚 left鈥 of the NTP 鈥 the funding that tuition partners were given to 鈥渟cale up鈥 their work 鈥 will 鈥渃arry on its legacy and make sure that tuition improves鈥. Yalinie Vigneswaran of Ambition Institute Showing Ambition At Ambition, the charity moved into initial teacher training amid the government鈥檚 shake-up of the market in 2022. Some of the 68 providers that lost accreditation were highly experienced, and there were concerns newly-accredited providers 鈥 such as Ambition 鈥 would struggle with a lack of local knowledge and partnerships. But Vigneswaran says Ambition had already recruited 20 partners by the time she started, and she鈥檚 keen to grow the provision further. There鈥檚 a 鈥渞eal sense of excitement鈥 that 鈥渨hatever鈥檚 happened previously鈥, they鈥檙e 鈥渄etermined to make a success of the programme because it鈥檚 really needed鈥. Vigneswaran also leads Ambition鈥檚 suite of commercial programmes which are 鈥渕ore targeted, either geographically or by a particular learning need鈥 than its big government contracts. Some pilot projects involve going 鈥渞eally deep into a problem, trying to push the boundaries of what a programme should look like鈥. She鈥檚 particularly excited about a SEND programme around leading trust improvement and building inclusive practices, which this year involves 25 trust bosses. The programme, which includes sessions by the government鈥檚 lead inclusion adviser Tom Rees and campaigner Elen Jones, is also running next year. Yalinie Vigneswaran of Ambition Institute Another pilot, around adaptive teaching, is new territory for Ambition and is 鈥渟omething we see a gap in the market with鈥. Last year, Ambition supported nearly 55,000 teachers. Labour has pledged to recruit 6,500 new teachers, and Vigneswaran says Ambition wants to help them achieve that 鈥 not just in terms of delivery, but 鈥渢o potentially make some quality changes鈥. The charity is also working closely with the government around 鈥渆levating the profession鈥 of teaching, which she sees as crucially important. 鈥淲hat I want us to do more of now is to show the rest of the world that teaching is a beautiful, joyful, incredibly rewarding thing. I feel privileged in my role that I can do that.鈥