James Bounds, Learning Leader for PRE, Geography and Psychology, Director of Emerging Talent Programme and Oxbridge provision, at Newham Collegiate Sixth Form Centre
James Bounds, Learning Leader for PRE, Geography and Psychology, Director of Emerging Talent Programme and Oxbridge provision, at Newham Collegiate Sixth Form Centre. James tell us about the challenges that his students and colleagues face and how the Sixth Form Centre helps students and colleagues overcome these challenges, plus how the support of volunteers can help.
What are the challenges that your students and colleagues face?
We’re an academically selective state sixth form college with a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) focus, based in Newham. The poverty rate in the borough is 44% compared to 22% across the rest of London. For deprivation affecting children, Newham is ranked 3rd nationally with 41% of children living in poverty. 88% of our cohort are from a Minority Ethnic background and over 41% are eligible for the 16-19 bursary and/or Free School Meals. The majority of our students are academically very gifted. However, they lack the soft skills, confidence, polish that their middle-class peers might have. Additionally, many of them lack the family connections or knowledge to help them navigate the challenges of pursuing their professional ambitions. Many are unsure of what career pathways are open to them and feel obliged to pursue careers as doctors, engineers or lawyers because these are career pathways they are aware of.
How does your institution help students and colleagues overcome these challenges?
We work hard to ensure that all students have regular opportunities to find out about the range of careers they can pursue, develop soft skills and commercial awareness, and have the confidence and skills required to become the leaders of tomorrow. ELBA is central to our work in this regard. ELBA has an excellent understanding of the needs and interests of our students and do a superb job at ensuring our students have tailored interactions that provide real benefit. For example, in January/February of 2023, ELBA arranged for all 350 students in Y12 to have a 30 minute 1-2-1 with professionals from AXA XL, Lazard, Standard Chartered, Morgan Stanley or KPMG, in which the students received feedback on both their CVs and answers to their job interview questions. Our students have also benefited from taking part in the Young Influencers Programme with Societe Generale. This is a year-long programme of workshops in which students learn about the range of careers they could pursue in banking, leading to the students working in teams to pitch a project that would help their local area. The winners of this programme were lucky enough to be invited to have lunch with the UK head of Societe Generale, which is a truly incredible opportunity! ELBA has also been invaluable at providing information and application guidance for students applying for degree apprenticeships – they have organised bespoke workshops in which students participate in assessment centre type activities and then received feedback.
Do you have an inspirational story/moment about your work that you would like to share?
There’s no specific moment to share – but one of the highlights of my job is chatting to students at the end of an ELBA-organised opportunity – our students are always buzzing and excited and take so much from their interaction with an employer. Here are some quotes from our students:
“I also wanted to give a special thanks to Aaron, my interviewer, who maintained such a bright smile throughout my interview and asked me many questions about my past achievements, which gave me the confidence that I needed as I answered all of the interview questions. I also wanted to say thank you for being so genuinely interested in the answers that I gave.”
“I genuinely hope that I get a chance to visit KPMG again (hopefully as a degree apprentice) so that I can meet all the lovely volunteers again and enjoy the culture of diversity and respect and the amazing atmosphere at KPMG once again.”
“I was able to take part in a group and one-to-one interview session, which was great practice for me, and which allowed me to receive personalised feedback on my speaking skills. I appreciate all that the team did to help us, and I look forward to putting what I learnt into practice.”
“Everyone was honest and down to earth. It helped me realise the interviewer will also be a person and I should just be myself. Also, they made me realise that maybe I am good enough, which was quite nice.”
“I thought it was useful that every single employee in the room with us was actually an employee which was on the company’s school leaver/graduate programmes i.e. professionals who have actually experienced and currently experiencing what we could potentially want to go into – it made the Q and A session at the end that much more valuable as we would ask a question to one of the volunteers at the front, but then the volunteers from all around the room would input their own ideas from their experiences.”
What kind of support are you in need of right now and how might volunteering fit into that?
We would be particularly keen for students to have more opportunities to network with or have work experience with engineering firms, and so would be keen to develop connections with volunteers in that sector. We are also keen for our students to have the opportunity to meet with journalists and civil servants. Our students would really benefit from taking part in work experience in a range of different industries in the summer holidays.
