SKILLS
How to engage with local schools to enhance your youth attraction strategy
Engaging with local schools can be a great way to build a pipeline of young talent. This is especially useful if you regularly recruit apprentices or if you find that young people aren’t attracted to work within your industry. Emma Arberry (pictured), managing director and editor of Decisionz – a careers advice magazine for year 11 students in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire – shares her advice to help businesses with their school engagement.
FIND THE SCHOOL’S PROVIDER ACCESS POLICY When approaching a school for the first time, search the school’s website for its Provider Access Policy. This document should state clearly the procedure to follow to make a request.
CONSIDER HOW YOU CAN ADD VALUE TO THE SCHOOL’S CAREERS STRATEGY If you want to be taken seriously and start the process of building long- lasting relationships with schools, you need to add value to what they’re already doing or fill a gap that exists in their careers programme. Common examples include: • Delivering industry-specific workshops, talks or assemblies
• Conducting mock interviews • Attending careers fairs • Designing and delivering a bespoke project developed in collaboration with a teacher that enhances a specific aspect of the curriculum where students are currently disengaged or struggling to see how it fits into the real world
• Offering work experience or work placement opportunities
• Mentoring students • Creating videos, presentations and other resources.
Find ways to add value to the school’s careers strategy
DEVELOP YOUR LABOUR MARKET INFORMATION You are well-placed to support careers leaders with their labour market information (LMI). You could invite careers leaders to attend a virtual labour market talk, where you provide them with an overview of the industry, growing trends and skills needed for the future workforce.
CONSIDER BECOMING AN ENTERPRISE ADVISER If you want to build a close link with one specific school, volunteer to become their enterprise adviser.
REVIEW AND UPDATE YOUR CAREERS LITERATURE Do you have careers-related
literature, such as a leaflet or poster about careers with your business? If not, this is a great starting point. Many schools will be happy to display your leaflets and posters.
UNDERSTAND THE GATSBY BENCHMARKS If you can support schools with any of the activities that will help them to achieve the Gatsby Benchmarks, it would be a great starting point to building a relationship. I would suggest you can add the most value to benchmarks 2, 4, 5 and 6. You can download the complete Gatsby Benchmark Toolkit on The Careers & Enterprise Company’s website. Gatsby Benchmark 1: A stable careers programme
Gatsby Benchmark 2: Learning from labour market information
Gatsby Benchmark 3: Addressing the needs of every pupil
Gatsby Benchmark 4: Linking curriculum learning to careers
Gatsby Benchmark 5: Encounters with employers and employees
Gatsby Benchmark 6: Experiences of workplaces
Gatsby Benchmark 7: Encounters with further and higher education
Gatsby Benchmark 8: Personal guidance.
However you decide to engage with schools, it is a long-term commitment that requires nurturing and relationship-building over time. Start with a small number of schools and only build when you’ve got the capacity. It’s more beneficial for all stakeholders if you nurture a small number of schools well, build lasting relationships and see high-impact results.
Decisionz is offering free support for Chamber members to engage with local schools across Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire. To find out more, email
notts@decisionz.co.uk
Engineering students gear up for new course
Motor vehicle engineering students are revved-up and ready to roll out a new business venture at West Nottinghamshire College’s Engineering Innovation Centre in Sutton-in-Ashfield. Students on the Level 2 diploma in vehicle inspection have launched the
WNC Autocentre to college staff, offering them a vehicle maintenance and repair service one day a week at competitive rates. The business is part of a range of college learning companies that have launched this academic year. A number of curriculum areas have developed learning companies for their students, which will help them to nurture entrepreneurial and business skills, offer them a different kind of industry experience before starting their careers and work with real customers. Engineering learning advisor James Duncan said: “Our students are very
well-prepared to deliver this service to staff. They’ve got all the skills needed to undertake a wide range of mechanical work and they’ve worked incredibly well on all aspects of building a business.”
90 business network December 2020/January 2021
West Nottinghamshire College principal Andrew Cropley was delighted with the service and repair to his car at WNC Autocentre from students Benjamin Howcroft and Kimberley Caldicott
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