A non-stop summer of activity for ELBA’s Education team!
Written by Rachel Bell – ELBA Education Interim Head of Programmes
Summer 2022 has been non stop for the Education Team at ELBA. With face to face volunteering becoming the norm again, east London schools took advantage of the opportunity, sending their students out on multiple Career Insight Visits!
Citi Private Bank
For the 6th Year, Citi Private Bank has supported education specific volunteering opportunities during the summer months for students in east London. This year saw Citi open their doors and invite students into their offices for in person volunteering, which was a welcome breath of fresh air after 2 years of running the workshops online. Over the course of May, June and July, a total of 217 students from 6 east London schools made their way to the Citi offices in Canary Wharf for an employability skills-based workshop. The workshops included: CV and Mock Interview guidance, challenges around the Sustainable Development Goals and Career Insights. Every workshop had an element of teamwork and creativity, as well as public speaking to enhance the student’s communication skills. The students were grateful for the opportunity and appreciated the time given by the volunteers:
“Getting a chance to talk to a variety of different professionals and being able to learn and take advice directly from them. The informality of this was especially effective as it meant there was a much more personal tone when receiving advice.”
The volunteers seemed to enjoy the experience also:
“Seeing the students present was a highlight. It was inspiring to see them overcome their fears of public speaking. I also loved all the questions they asked us.”
Thank you to the 66 Citi volunteers who took the time to volunteer with the students. A special thanks to Samba Nandakumar for spearheading the initiative from the Citi side, and Jayesh Daly Devereux and Sebastian Arango for coordinating all the volunteer logistics- the continued support is greatly appreciated!
Pinsent Masons
After COVID cancellations, we were finally able to host the Pinsent Masons Debating Competition on Friday 8th July. The opportunity involved 8 east London schools taking part in a cross school debating competition. In preparation for the debate, ELBA ran a workshop in each school with the students and coaching team volunteers from Pinsent Masons and some of their clients, preparing their arguments and strategy for their motion. The teams of 7 had time to brainstorm and formulate their points, with advice from the volunteer coaching team. On the competition day, each team was welcomed into Pinsent Masons to debate in the auditorium in front of an audience. After 4 heats and feedback from the judges, the final debate saw Norlington School and Sarah Bonnell School go head to head to debate, ‘Social media influencers should be held accountable if what they promote is found to be faulty or fraudulent’. Each team made an engaging argument, using facts, case studies and humour to get their points across. After deliberation from the judges, Sarah Bonnell took the trophy home and were crowned the 2022 champions- well done Sarah Bonnell! Thank you Pinsent Masons for the ongoing collaboration and hosting such a unique event for the students. The students were very grateful for the bespoke opportunity:
“It was rather amazing to work with the volunteers. Having a lawyer sit next to you giving advice about a secondary school debating competition was an experience I never thought I’d have. It helps give you more confidence- they treated us as equals and it was inspiring to be able to work with them.”
RLC Mock Trial
To turn the focus to university students, our 2021/2022 Mentoring Programme with Red Lion Chambers came to a close in July with a mock trial at the Old Bailey. The heatwave nearly got in the way, but luckily the day was able to be rescheduled and went ahead on 28th July. The trial was in person, with a few students participating virtually. This is a unique experience for students, giving them an opportunity to practise their skills and get a feel for what it is like to argue your case in a courtroom. One student said:
“Thank you so much for organising such a wonderful experience. It was extremely insightful to see how it feels to be a barrister, and best to do so in the company of such committed people.”
Thank you Red Lion Chambers for facilitating the mentoring programme and mock trial- what a great opportunity!
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