Secondary Summer – the Term in Review pt. 1

This article is part of a series on the work of our Secondary Work-related Learning team

While the Summer Term is usually the busiest of all for the Inspire! team, it’s also often the most exciting. With the end of the school year in sight, everyone is especially upbeat and receptive to the new experiences our programmes offer.

As we settle into the summer holidays, we decided to take a look back at the hard work of our Secondary Work-related Learning team over the term, reflecting on the range of programmes they’ve delivered over the last few months: from work experience preparation to creative enterprise days, and careers carousels to workplace visits, it’s been a packed and varied time! We’ll be looking at lots of different programmes over the course of this week, so check back for more stories.

June saw the end of our Options Club sessions at Clapton Girls’ Academy (CGA). Working with a group of fifteen Year 13 students who were unsure of what path to take after leaving school, the programme ran throughout the school year, providing intensive support to participants to inform and inspire them about their options.

Through a combination of information and employability sessions, workplace visits and one-to-one support from business volunteers, the project helped students to feel better prepared for the important choices and changes ahead. It also introduced them to role models from similar backgrounds to their own, demonstrating what they might be able to achieve in their own careers.

The feedback from students was brilliant. ‘They have helped me be more prepared for future life’, wrote one. ‘Inspire! have been a fantastic help and very caring of our future’, wrote another. We are delighted that we will be delivering a similar programme next year at CGA, and, due to the success of the Options Club this year, space will be made for its sessions within the school day. We are so proud to have had such a positive impact on the students involved, and we wish them every success as they progress to apprenticeships, school leaver programmes and college places.