Howard Wilkinson prepares to teach in Dearne Valley classroom

The former Sheffield Wednesday and Leeds United manager will swap the dressing room for the classroom when he teaches pupils at the Dearne Advanced Learning Centre in Goldthorpe next Thursday.

His classroom appearance is part of a project by education charity Teach First which aims to inspire young people from low-income backgrounds.

A spokeswoman for the project said: “Leading local celebrities from the sporting, entertainment and political worlds will swap their day jobs for the classroom when they become teachers for the day.

“With a brief to take on the challenge of inspiring a classroom of pupils, the guest teachers will step out of their professional comfort zones and, for a short time, experience the excitement, trepidation, thrill and also the rewards of teaching.”

Guest teachers are able to choose their own subject and Howard has selected citizenship—which covers topics such as crime and justice, the role of the United Nations and how to be an ‘active citizen’.

He will also share with the year 11 students his experiences of his life as a title-winning manager and will be supported by citizenship teacher Amy Howarth.

Teach First works in partnership with schools and other organisations to break the link between low family income and poor educational attainment by recruiting and training high-calibre graduates to become effective, inspirational teachers.

Liz Holmes, school partnership manager for the Yorkshire and the Humber region, said: “I am delighted that such influential and inspiring local figures are taking part in Teach First Week.

“The whole purpose of this week is to inspire young people to believe that there are no limits to where they can go in their lives.

“Hearing from such successful figures from within sport and politics in Yorkshire will no doubt help us do that.”

Teach First week runs from March 12 to 16 and forms part of the charity’s tenth anniversary celebrations.