news www.inspire-ebp.org.uk
Winter 2013
Hackney Real Talk proves a big hit “It’s brilliant. You must do it again next year,” said a teacher who had brought along 90 students. “I’ve learned a lot about different types of law and what it takes to be a good businessman,” commented a student from City Academy. “It’s been a really good day,” said a KPMG employee.
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hey were all speaking about Hackney Real Talk, the major careers fair organised for Year 9 students by Inspire! The event was backed by the Hackney Business Class cluster sponsors UBS, City of London Corporation, Freshfields, Morrison, Linklaters and KPMG, and arranged in conjunction with Business in the Community. More than 350 young people from The City Academy, Clapton Girls’ Academy, Haggerston School and The Bridge Academy attended the event, hosted at the Guildhall by the City of London Corporation. Exhibition stands, manned by more than 30 different business organisations, were spread over two floors of the historic building. Businesses were grouped into different industry zones. Each stand drew in students with ‘hands-on’ games, quizzes and activities that showcased their business sector or invited further investigation. Barts Health NHS Trust monitored heart and blood pressure rates, KPMG had students tied up in knots to test their problem-solving skills, UBS ran a traders’ Scrabble challenge, Grange Hotels offered napkin folding or a pillow case changing race and Circus Space invited the young people to have a go at juggling. Even the occasional teacher was tempted to join in.
There was a serious side too with the students able to meet employees from a wide range of industries at a time when they are about to make their GCSE and subject choices. They certainly relished the opportunity and many found food for thought. Some even found out about jobs they never knew existed. “I like music and drama but I might want to do PE or law instead,” said Jourdan Pieddie-Stewart from City Academy. “I had my personality matched up here to jobs that might suit me and they said law, social worker or musical drama which is good as those are the things I’m interested in.” For Deneitha Drysdale from The City Academy, the visit confirmed that she had already chosen the right path. “I want to be a paediatrician so I really enjoyed talking to the doctor and having my blood pressure done.” Three young men meeting the local police face-to-face had really changed their views about the force. “I thought they were only about arresting people but now I know more I think I might want to be a policeman,” said one. A visiting party of ‘Seeing Is Believing’ senior business people, led by Adrian Ewer, CEO, John Laing, was also impressed with what they saw. Virtually every member of the Inspire! team was on hand during the day to help ensure the smooth running of the event. Lauren Thomas, Inspire!’s Secondary Programme Manager – Work Related Learning, who led on arranging Hackney Real Talk said: “The day was hugely successful thanks to the commitment and energy from all the businesses, volunteers, sponsors and hosts, and of course the students, who gained a lot from the experience. Hopefully they have left the fair feeling excited and more aware about their future opportunities, and more confident about the subjects and pathways they need to take to get there.” Each Hackney Business Class cluster member company is committed to supporting a local school and by working together, hope to accelerate improvements and ensure that the lives of young people in Hackney are transformed through their education. As the local education business partnership, Inspire! is the vehicle through which Business Class support to schools in Hackney is channelled. l
Inspired words David Blagbrough Director, Inspire!
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aving the right governance structure and attracting committed the new Head of Curriculum and Learning with responsibility for the and enthusiastic trustees who are prepared to share their 11 to 19 agenda. Martin brings to the borough a wealth of experience experience, skills and connections are critical for the success of in secondary education and we greatly look forward to working with any organisation. Within that framework the relationship between the him. One consequence of the reintegration process seems to be the Chair and the executive is especially important. greater involvement of Young Hackney in education and this is to be In July, our Chair of Trustees, Peter Brien, a partner in the international welcomed. law firm Slaughter and May, resigned, prior to being transferred to Hong Despite the changes introduced by Secretary of Education Michael Kong. Peter was a wonderful Chair who, for three years, played a central Gove, particularly around the recommendations of the Wolf Report, role in shaping the organisation and assisting us in developing the legal, schools across the borough continue to value the importance of workfinancial and operational framework with which we can move forward related learning and enterprise both in raising levels of aspiration and with confidence. He was a strong advocate for the work of Inspire! and achievement among young people and enabling them to acquire the his wise counsel and friendship will be greatly missed. We wish Peter and softer personal and employability skills so important in later life. his family every happiness in Hong Kong. Numbers for work experience, for example, remain healthy with We are delighted, however, by the an increase in demand at Key Stage 5. I am appointment of Emma West as our new Chair: also very pleased that our work in Camden she is a very worthy successor to Peter. Emma is progressing well: we have recently secured has been a fantastic supporter of Inspire! funding from the Council to provide work Ten years ago, 31% of students for many years, first as Vice President HR experience and work-related learning for a received a good GCSE result. This Global Talent and Organisation Development further year to Parliament Hill School and have at Cadbury and more recently, at Unilever year, for example, 60.5% of students been asked to organise mentoring for 100 where she holds a similar position. We look selected sixth form students drawn from all received five GCSEs including maths forward to working with Emma in the years and English, an increase of 3.5% over the borough’s schools. This is a most exciting to come. development and one that has the strong the previous year. We are also very pleased that Yvonne backing of both local business and Camden Servante, following her retirement from the Council. I am also very pleased to record Learning Trust, has agreed to remain a board that we have recently organised a primary member representing the Hackney community; that Caroline King, head mentoring partnership in Islington: a precursor, I hope, of things to teacher of Colvestone primary school, has joined the board and that come. Padraig Cronin will succeed Peter as the board member from Slaughter It would not be appropriate to conclude these reflections without and May. We have an extraordinarily experienced, talented and acknowledging the tremendous success of Hackney students in the dedicated board and we are grateful to each one of its members for the recent GCSE and A-level results. Ten years ago, 31% of students encouragement, support and direction that they give to Inspire! received a good GCSE result. This year, for example, 60.5% of students We continue to attract outstanding staff. Lisa Atamian joins our received five GCSEs including maths and English, an increase of 3.5% primary team as project officer with responsibility for the Brokerage over the previous year. This tremendous achievement is a tribute to Service; Amber Price-Rees will be supporting work-related learning the hard work put in by Hackney students and high quality, dedicated programmes with our secondary team and Lara Hayes, a paid intern and inspiring teaching. To both teachers and students we offer our funded by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, will be reviewing our congratulations. Their efforts are leading the drive to make Hackney the marketing materials and developing the use of social media within the place to study, live and invest. To students and teachers we all owe a organisation. Finally, Mohammad Aadnan has joined our corporate team profound debt of gratitude. as ICT and Finance Assistant. To all we offer a very warm welcome to On a personal level, I was very saddened to Inspire! learn about the death of Liz Tonge, the inspiration The summer months brought other changes including the and driving force behind New Visions Virtual reintegration of the Learning Trust into Hackney Council and the PRU and then New Regent’s College. She was restructuring of its senior management portfolios. We are delighted an outstanding educator, a wonderful colleague by Tricia Okoruwa’s appointment as Director of Education for Hackney and good friend. Liz always referred to us as a and, though we shall miss her in the 14 to 19 team, we congratulate department within her virtual school. She was the Helen McNulty on her appointment as Head of Special Education head teacher who commanded love, admiration Needs. We would also like to welcome to the borough Martin Buck as and respect. We shall miss her greatly.l
Inspire! adds to awards tally Since the last edition of our newsletter, Inspire! has achieved Award of Education Business Excellence (AEBE) status. This is the national quality standard for education learning services providers and is issued by our industry body, the Institute for Education Business Excellence. To achieve the standard, we had to meet rigorous criteria across the range of services that we provide and we passed with flying colours. As
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part of their feedback, the assessors wrote: ‘It is a well-led organisation, with strong governance, a talented and dynamic team and excellent relationships with all its stakeholders. Notably, its schools appear to want to continue paying for its services; local and City employers see it as central to fulfilling their education-related agenda, and the Local Authority sees it as a natural partner in supportingand extending the work-related learning curriculum’. l
Bridge Academy students pick up career tips at UBS day Eighty students from Hackney’s Bridge Academy spent a day discovering how to go about securing a job and meeting a variety of business professionals. The Getting PAID (Presentation, Application and Interview Development) and Careers Carousel day was organised by Inspire! and hosted by UBS, which sponsors the Bridge Academy. The Year 12 (16/17 year-old) students spent the morning concentrating on job descriptions, identifying the skills and qualities needed for a particular role, constructing a good CV and undertaking a business interview. “The CV writing was really helpful,” said 16 year-old Tobi Rotini who is hoping to work in forensics. “I’m really looking forward to this afternoon as I’m doing the pharmacy workshop.” The afternoon sessions afforded the students a chance to spend some quality time with two different industry professionals – to hear about their jobs and to question them about career paths, promotion prospects and the qualifications needed to secure employment within that sector. The industries represented were: Banking, IT Recruitment, Medicine, Engineering, IT, Housing, Law, Occupational Therapy, Film and Pharmacy. “When you get an application for a job, what do you look for?” one of the students asked Esther Thomas from UBS. “The first thing I look for is an accurate CV,” Esther replied. “Then your qualifications, your interests and whether you have done any work experience. Always get someone to check your CV for you because, if it has spelling mistakes,
Esther Thomas from UBS talks to students about working in finance it goes straight in the bin. If someone is sloppy over their CV, I think how careful will they be in their job?” Hina Anwar (16) and Chet Barrett-Davis (16) were especially keen to meet John Phillips, a consultant ENT surgeon. “I want to be a neurosurgeon so I’ve been looking forward to this session all day,” said Chet. Hina hopes, one day, to become a consultant but was concerned that her background might be a hindrance. John reassured her: “I’m from a state school. My parents aren’t at all wealthy and, a lot of the time, I was up against posh people but I got through on hard work. If you really want to do something, just go for it.” Inspire! runs regular Getting PAID and Career Carousel workshops for secondary schools in Hackney but this was its first such event for the Bridge Academy’s inaugural sixth form. Inspire! will be providing work experience preparation workshops and work experience placements for Bridge students later in this academic year. l
Mansion House hosts regeneration workshop Mansion House was the prestigious venue for a regeneration-themed enterprise workshop for Year 7 and 8 students from The City Academy. Students worked on a ‘live’ issue, putting their ideas and talents towards regenerating the fortunes of the Chatsworth Road area. Assisting them were volunteers from KPMG, (one of the Academy’s co-sponsors), re-generation agency, Renaisi and Chatsworth Road Traders’ and Residents’ Association. Following a competition within the Academy, three teams were selected to present their ideas to a panel of judges at the Mansion House. All of the teams had previously visited Chatsworth Road to assess the area and interview local residents and traders. Judging the presentations were: Ian Dunn (KPMG); Euan Mills (Chair, Chatsworth Road Traders’ and Residents’ Association); Rob Pearce (Renaisi) and Joana Taylor (Guildhall School of Music and Drama).
The winning team, ‘Re:generation’, comprised Dylan Owen, Coby Hippolyte Aldred, Darlington Nwosu and Laurel Mannering Thorne. “We want the Government to help restore Chatsworth Road to its former glory. We had a great market that lasted through two world wars and when we asked people what they wanted, they said they wanted a park,” said Darlington. Euan Mills, told the students: “We’ve been trying to come up with a plan to make things better over the last 15-20 years. I’m really happy that you can come up with ideas that we can take to Chatsworth Road and make happen.” A new Inspire!-managed project at City Academy for 201213 will take a science-based theme. Six student cohorts will each take part in a seven-week programme of workshops, debate and workplace visits. l
Liz Tonge Liz Tonge, whose death has been announced, was the Executive Head of New Visions Pupil Referral Unit, now known as New Regent’s College. The college works with Key Stage 4 students who are out of mainstream education. It was Liz’s vision that led to the unique model of having different departments of the college spread across the borough, each with its own specialisms and curricula. It meant that every student could access a bespoke timetable that met their needs. We were privileged to work with Liz for the past five years, during which she saw Inspire! as one of her departments within the virtual school. She provided creative and passionate leadership and had a profound understanding of the young people in her care. Some of the students presenting their ideas at Mansion House
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Students Excel at Business and Language Task
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odern foreign language students from Our Lady’s Convent High School combined their language skills with practical business research on a project with international publishers, SAGE Publications. Nine high achieving language students spent time assessing the company’s marketing materials, researching international book fairs, including the London Book Fair which they visited, and coming up with their proposals on how SAGE could make itself more accessible and appealing to foreign agents and publishers. They presented their findings at a conference for I was a bit nervous. My around 300 of heart was really beating the company’s fast but I enjoyed working employees. Explaining with the company. They to the conference were really friendly and audience how they made us feel welcome. set about their task, the girls said: “We looked at how languages are used in the world of publishing and we carried out role plays in French and Spanish with two volunteers. We also looked at different book fairs and translated invitations into French and Spanish.” Afterwards, Jessica Inzani added: “It was encouraging for us to see how languages are used in the workplace. Also, we didn’t know much about SAGE before as a company. I’d like to work for an international magazine one day.”
Our Lady’s students deliver their recommendations Stephanie Duah said she found facing an audience of 300 a little intimidating. “I was a bit nervous. My heart was really beating fast but I enjoyed working with the company. They were really friendly and made us feel welcome.” Naomi Warren, an Assistant Editor at SAGE, commented: “We had done a number of one off activities with the school and hosted work experience placements but we wanted to do something a bit more long term. We suggested a practical business exercise and a combined business and language project had a lot of synergy for us. Quite a few of our people got involved in the workshops as a result. I thought the girls were absolutely amazing and made good use of their language skills.” A new project, along similar lines, will take place with Our Lady’s during this academic year. l
Clapton Students Reveal Surgical Talent
Trying out surgical procedures was the highlight of the day for Clapton Girls’ Academy students
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Health & Social Care Students from Clapton Girls’ Academy sampled the latest surgical training techniques during a visit to University College Hospital’s Education Centre. The 18 young women undertook the trip as part of an Inspire! programme called ‘Learn for Real’ which is supported by UBS. The purpose of the day was to provide an overview of careers in the health sector and enable the students to see how what they learn relates to real jobs. A ‘Careers Carousel’ allowed them to spend time with a nurse educator, physiotherapist, clinical psychotherapist and occupational therapist finding out about the broad range of work they do, their career backgrounds, training and progression. For many, the highlight of the day was the Minimal Access Surgery suite where the students replicated two surgical procedures using the robotic simulation equipment that real surgeons learn on. The day concluded with a session about resuscitation and some useful tips about how to treat people who are choking or lose consciousness. ‘I enjoyed the part where we carried out an emergency treatment. I gained more understanding on what to do when a person is unconscious,’ one of the students wrote at the end of the day. ‘Talking to all the different healthcare professionals was the best,’ wrote another. l
Stepping Up Success for Our Lady’s and Gayhurst Our 2012 Stepping Up project saw sixth form Health and Social Care students from Our Lady’s The girls really came up with Convent High School join Year some good work and some 5 and 6 pupils from Gayhurst of them have transformed Community School to help over the week. It has been tackle the problems associated incredibly valuable. with the transition from primary to secondary school. The girls planned and delivered various activities to help the younger pupils air and overcome their anxieties about moving to secondary school. Ideas included letting the children find their alter egos through animal masks, identifying and writing their talents on helium balloons and combining their class concerns on a ‘worry web’. All exercised the Our Lady’s students’ skills in creativity, team work, time management, budgeting, coaching, planning and presenting. The final challenge was to make a presentation to UBS staff to explain what they had done and learned.. Annie Ebron, one of the team members said: “I felt that completing the Stepping Up project has really motivated me to work with children in the future. Interacting and engaging with the pupils allowed me to see how enthusiastic they were and helped play a vital role in confirming my career choice.” Publicising their activities was also part of the project and 19 year-old Aimee Ward did an excellent job writing this article and a press release that featured in the Hackney Gazette. Clare Bennett, who teaches the Our Lady’s students Health and Social Care, said: “The Stepping Up project was brilliant last year and this year, it has been even better. The girls really came up with some good work and some of them have transformed over the week. It has been incredibly valuable.” l
Jobs for the girls A group of girls from Haggerston School dispelled a few stereotypes by choosing to spend their two-week work experience placement at Mears training centre in Leyton.
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The seven Year 10 girls took on painting, tiling, joinery and plumbing skills tasks during their placements. Some of them had deliberately chosen the building services sector to show members of their families that they have what it takes. “I wanted to do something different; learn something new. Also, I have three brothers who said I can’t do it,” said Safwana Rashid (15). Hava Kaya (14) also has a point to prove to a male member of her family. “My Dad’s in Hava Kaya shows off her tiling skills construction and he never lets me do anything so I wanted to show that I can.” Laura Benjamin was much more considered: “I thought that when I’m older and maybe have a place of my own, I could fix it up myself and not have to pay someone to do it.” Mears has been a long-standing partner of Inspire! and has previously hosted around 45 students a year on work experience. Technical Services Manager, Colin Wood said: “This is the first time that I recall we have hosted an all-girl group. We get the occasional one or two girls as part of a mixed group and I have to say the girls are nearly always better than the boys.” l
Our Lady’s student Chishom with Gayhurst pupils
Inspired Directions Students Move On We were sad but also delighted to wave off three of our Engagement team’s Inspired Directions (ID) students at the end of the summer term. The ID programme works with students for whom mainstream school has not worked and who may need additional support to help them progress in their learning. We’re pleased that all three Year 11 students moved onto courses in September – Harley has gone to study Level 2 Music at Haringey 6th Form College; Agnelo is doing Performing Arts at Newham College and Alexandra, Level 1 Childcare at Learnaliving, working towards a Childcare Apprenticeship. During the summer term, as part of the ID programme, Harley took part in our Vocal Jams project working with The Premises Studios. As a result, she was invited back to attend the London Borough of Hackney-funded ‘Voice Jams’, singingbased workshops over the summer holidays. She was so impressive, not only singing her own work, but also performing solo, that she was selected to take part in a song Harley performs one writing course. of her songs at a Vocal Now having made Jams session a successful start to college, Harley is taking part in their next project that will see her perform at the Hackney Empire.
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Our first steps into Camden… and Islington
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nspire! won its first assignment outside Hackney when it was approached by Parliament Hill School in Camden to help source and manage placements for this summer’s work experience programme. Previously, this work was undertaken by Camden Education Business Partnership which closed last year. Inspire! was asked to find 60 placements as well as manage the administration for these and a further 120 placements that students had sourced for themselves. The work included health and safety visits to employers’ premises and a preparation workshop for all students so they knew what to expect from their work experience. David Blagbrough, Inspire!’s Director, said: “We are delighted to have had this opportunity to assist Parliament Hill School. It enhances
Inspire!’s growing reputation as a charity that delivers high quality programmes and underlines our status as a holder of The National Standard for Work Experience Organisers.” The work has led on to Camden Council funding for us to continue work experience at Parliament Hill together with additional work-related learning activities that include preparation for work experience, work place visits, in-school visitors and Careers Carousel. We will also be running a mentoring programme for 100 sixth form students across Camden. Meanwhile, we have made our first professional foray into Islington. Morelands Primary School has started a primary mentoring programme with Trowers and Hamlins law firm. l
Mind the Gap Matthew’s skills net him a city job offer
Mind the Gap students during their summer performance Our Mind the Gap programme has now been running for just over a full academic year. The project targets pupils in their last year of primary school and helps them make the transition to secondary school. The pilot scheme saw 16 young people, identified as those who would benefit from extra support, take part in a series of drama workshops culminating in a theatre performance. This was a major achievement given that the schedule was interrupted by last year’s ‘disturbances’ however, determination triumphed. Students went on to join either The Urswick School or The Petchey Academy but the group was brought together again for a day at Linklaters learning about jobs in the City and taking on an enterprise challenge to design and market a T-shirt. Filling in their evaluation forms after the event, one student wrote: ‘Lots of things surprised me today. Mostly about the building and what happens.’ Another said they had learned that ‘you have to work with people you don’t get along with’. This year’s ‘Mind the Gap, launched in August, involved 20 new students who threw themselves into the two- week programme of acting, dancing, singing, dancing and writing workshops to create the show ‘Chromovalley’. This was a celebration of sport and team work. Working alongside the New London Orchestra, the group performed the piece in the studio space at the Hackney Empire to an audience of family, friends and other supporters. Captured on video, the young people are now looking forward to an imminent viewing. Meanwhile, they are settling in to their new secondary schools and have a series of Inspire! activities lined up to support them and keep Some of our first year’s cohort them engaged. l on a tour of Linklaters
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When Petchey Academy University Gateway (6th form) student Matthew Matthew with eSynergy’s Oyetunji turned up for his Catherine Johnston work experience placement, neither he nor his host company, eSynergy Solutions could have imagined that it would lead to a job offer. The two-week placement at the specialist IT recruitment consultancy in Fenchurch Street was arranged by Inspire! for Matthew and another Petchey student. After his first few days, Matthew began to think that recruitment might not be for him until another member of the firm had a long chat with him and pointed out the career prospects that the industry offers. “That got me thinking and I really wanted to do well and learn. My next task was to talk to candidates about a real job to see if they were interested. After that, the learning curve got much easier.” During his second week, the company offered Matthew the chance to stay with them permanently. Catherine Johnston, Senior Recruitment Consultant, who supervised part of Matthew’s placement said: “We were impressed by Matthew’s general attitude and personality. He worked hard and he clearly wanted to do well. He made sure he engaged with everyone in the office and he didn’t shy away from anything. He even volunteered to give a presentation that we expect from new full time staff and it was one of the best we have seen. He is also the most smartly-dressed person in the whole office.” Surprised and flattered by the offer, Matthew was unsure that the time was right for him to quit his studies and commit to a career. “I’m still undecided but I think I want to finish my A-Levels next year and go to university. I’d like to do something related to psychology or business.” A compromise was reached with eSynergy Solutions offering Matthew a six-week summer placement that he thoroughly enjoyed and made the most of. On his final day in August, Catherine said: “He’s exceeded everyone’s expectations and people will be sorry to see him go. Matthew concluded: “I’ve loved every single minute here and I’ve learned so much.” l
Youth projects off the starting blocks Inspire! is involved in the delivery of three projects funded by the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Skills Funding Agency (SFA). Each is aimed at differing cohorts of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET) or are at risk of becoming so. Inspire! leads a consortium of six London boroughs – Barnet, Enfield, Hackney, Haringey, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest – known as the North London Cluster, focusing on getting young people NEET back into education employment or training. In the other two projects, one to prepare young people for apprenticeships ( Pre – Apprenticeship project) and the other supporting young people at risk of disengaging from education (the pre-NEET project), Inspire! is sub-contracted to deliver the projects in Hackney by the London Education Business Partnership Network (LEBPN) and Waltham Forest Council respectively.
The NEET Project Seeks to engage 425 young people, across the six boroughs, over a three year period, and to support them to stay in education or move through into further training or employment. We are presently on track to meet our target and, in Hackney, we are exceeding it. Locally, we are working with colleagues from YOH!, Newlon Fusion and Path-a-Way, three community-based organisations with whom we have had success on the Keep It Moving Project. The ESF/SFA funding enables us to build on the Keep it Moving project by providing additional non accredited learning, such as CV preparation, presentation skills, numeracy/ literacy as well as general careers advice, mentoring and longer term Tunay is one of our BSix students and wrote this poem at our motivational poetry workshop led by local poet, Sam Berkson.
I used to dream about winning the lottery And I ain’t exactly saying that it’s not for me But that’s just a fantasy like watching pornography Before you start thinking about what could be You need to get to know the world more there’s lots to see. Don’t trap yourself in daydreams like you’ve lost the key Life spins me around but I turn again. I’ll deserve your trust and I’ll earn my friends I find the wisest men and I learn from them On the right path cos it’s worth the end.
Work week visits lead to Raspberry Pi Early last year, we brokered a new relationship with advertising agency, Albion. Two groups of volunteers, including the agency’s managing partners, ran branding workshops during Work A copywriting session at Albion Week at Nightingale and Lauriston primary schools. The agency was keen to extend its involvement by hosting a school group at its offices in Shoreditch. That occasion came in July when Year 4 pupils from St Dominic’s RC Primary School joined Albion for an office tour and a creative project .The challenge was to design a case to house the new Raspberry Pi computer for children and then come up with copy that would sell the product. With the children divided into teams with Albion staff to help them, some creative brainstorming sessions took place however, working out
pastoral support. Half-termly meetings with representatives from the other boroughs enable us to discuss any problems encountered and to share best practice. A number of positive case studies are emerging from the initiative.
The Pre-Apprenticeship Programme Managed by Waltham Forest, this project is designed to support 16-19 year-olds into apprenticeships. Mentoring is provided to encourage and motivate them to complete their 26 week apprenticeships. Inspire! is actively working with eight students, aged 16-18, who have been recruited to business administration apprenticeships at Hackney Community College. Before they started their work-based learning, we ran a preparation programme for them. This gave them an overview of what to expect from the scheme and some practical tips on positive workplace behaviours and what employers might expect from them. Although it is early days, all is progressing well and mentors meet with the young people on a regular basis to discuss any concerns the apprentices might have and to help them set and achieve their goals.
The Pre-NEET Programme Designed for 16-18 year-olds who have been identified by their school or college as being at risk of becoming NEET, this programme aims to work with 50 young people over its duration. Our first cohort of students is from BSix Sixth Form College. They began by taking part in a series of activities to motivate and engage them as well as develop their creative, communication and team working skills. Inspire!’s Dorothy (Dot) Hodgson, who is managing and helping to deliver our ESF projects, organised the initial workshops. “There was quite a strong emphasis on creativity including poetry, lyric writing, acting and art as well as more serious subjects such as goal setting. Fourteen students are now being mentored by Path-a-Way to help them stay on track. In addition, discussions are well underway with a view to bringing students from Clapton Girls’ Academy onto the scheme, supported by Newlon Fusion.” An outward bound day is planned in the near future, with regular activities planned to bring the students together so that they can develop their skills in an enjoyable way. l
the product cost and the profit element proved a bit of a challenge for both staff and pupils, as evidenced by a Tweet posted during the morning on Albion’s page: ‘Kids working on maths activity. Albion staff finding it tricky, the age of the calculator and computer has ruined us.’ Nick Darken, Executive Creative Director at Albion said: “It was amazing to be surrounded by incredibly bright children. Everyone at Albion was totally inspired by their creativity and energy. We believe that harnessing their talents is the key to building a brighter future for everyone. The whole experience blew us away and we’re looking forward to helping out more schools in Hackney over the coming months.” Pupils evidently enjoyed the day too. “Designing our Raspberry Pi cases was fun and exciting,” said Marlene Luyey. Marilyn Ferizaj added: “At Albion we learnt about different jobs and about profit. I thank Christiana from Albion for everything, and the pizza!” We are delighted to continue our relationship with Albion whose creative talents have yielded a further project to engage and challenge primary school pupils. The latest initiative is the Code Club that will involve young people in understanding and writing their own computer programmes, a hot topic on the work-related learning front. l
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Sebright pupils visit Hackney’s newest library
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ackney’s newest library, the Dalston’s CLR James Library was the destination for Year 1 pupils from Sebright Primary School as part of the school’s Work Week. On arrival, the 30 pupils were given a brief talk on the different roles the library performs and were read a story called ‘Lulu Loves the Library’. A more in-depth tour of the Nabila and Raouf at the library building gave them a chance to check-in some books using the automatic scanning machine, explore Hackney’s history in the archive and see inside the adult library. By the end of the morning, some of the children said that they would like to work in a library when they grew up. Hamide and Raouf had other ideas. “I want to stay at home and work with my Daddy,” said Hamide before deciding that she might quite like to be a teacher.” Raouf was very definite. “I want to be a policeman,” he said. Work Week is a week-long programme of workshops, visits and classroom-based lessons designed and delivered by Inspire! It embraces the whole school but with themed activities tailored to each year group. The focus is on exploring different jobs and the skills needed to do them. Other events for Sebright’s Work Week included visits to the National Theatre, Geffrye Museum, Shoreditch fire station, Bank of England and the RE London Shoreditch Hotel. There were also in-school visits from a florist, occupational therapist and police community support officer. Eighteen Hackney primary schools will take part in a Work Week during this academic year.l
Man Group funding extends work-related learning More Hackney students will be able to learn about jobs and develop the skills they will need for the workplace thanks to Man Group plc Charitable Trust. We have received funding, worth £30,000 per year, for the next three years, to extend our Work Week programme for primary Man Group funding will enable more primary school pupils, and workschool pupils to participate in Work Week related/enterprise learning for secondary schools. As a result, five primary schools – more than 2,000 pupils – will take part in a re-vamped Work Week. The new programme offers more practical and engaging lessons, videos and teachers’ resources. Each year’s theme has a greater focus on increasing job awareness, dispelling gender stereotypes and role play. New activities include pupils spending their parents’ money on Mare Street, interviewing each other for a job and setting up a classroom restaurant. At secondary level, there will be enhanced work-related learning and enterprise initiatives programmes for secondary school students. We are putting a greater focus on financial literacy with careers education more firmly embedded in the Inspire! portfolio of activities so that students can see how what they learn relates to what is needed in the workplace. We hope to use the time, expertise and goodwill of employee volunteers from Man Group plc to act as group facilitators and advisers on some of the workshops, allowing students to benefit from direct interaction with an adult from the world of work. l
Olympic debate wins title for Thomas Fairchild speakers The Linklaters’ Primary School Debating Challenge Final for 2012 saw eight teams survive from an original 24. In a knock-out run-off, all of them debated the motion ‘This House believes that the Olympics are good for Hackney’. Thomas Fairchild and Lauriston teams made it through to the grand final and, after a closely-fought contest, it was the team from Thomas Fairchild that took the title This year’s final presented the students with a new challenge as they also had to take part in an ‘unseen debate’ for which they were given 20 minutes to prepare. The topics were ‘Computers are better than books’ and ‘TV is good for you’. The Thomas Fairchild team went on to represent Hackney schools at the London Primary Debating Championships, run by Noisy Classroom and the EnglishSpeaking Union. Jack Gamble, judge and member of the Cambridge University Debate Team, said: “Having judged the event last year I was very impressed with the improvement on an already brilliant performance. The confidence in delivery and sophistication of the argument has been outstanding.” The teams that took part in the final were: Sebright, Thomas Fairchild, St Monica’s, Lauriston, Rushmore, Orchard, Springfield, Our Lady’s and St Joseph’s Primary School. The Debating Challenge has run for the past four years and is part of Linklater’s ‘Learn for Work’ programme, run in conjunction with Inspire!. This is a major initiative that focuses on raising aspirations and achievement in Hackney schools. The debating competition itself is delivered in partnership with Debbie Newman, founder of Noisy Classroom, an organisation that promotes and supports the use of speaking and listening in the classroom. Debbie is also the All England Schools Debating Coach.
Inspire! would like to thank the following funders for their support Bank of America Charitable Foundation Big Lottery Fund Cadbury Foundation City of London Corporation CMS Cameron McKenna East Hackney Schools Consortium EiC Action Zone Freshfields Hackney Council
Linklaters Man Group Nominet Paul Hamlyn Foundation St. Katherine and Shadwell Trust Skills Funding Agency Slaughter and May UBS YOH
The Hackney Learning Trust KPMG
Inspire!, 57 Dalston Lane, E8 2NG 020 7275 6060 • info@inspire-ebp.org.uk Published by Inspire! Registered Charity no.1111037 Inspire! is the working name of the Hackney Education Business Partnership Ltd. Company limited by guarantee No. 5157521. Registered in England.