From the Classroom to the Workplace
From the Classroom to the Workplace: The Young Minds, Brighter Futures programme
Written by Forida Rahman, Programme Manager, The BIG Alliance
The Young Minds, Brighter Futures programme is a social mobility programme bringing together one of our business partners and City of London Academy, Highgate Hill (COLA HH). The programme launched in 2023 and aims to help COLA HH students improve their academic performance and broaden their cultural horizons. With the facilitation support of the BIG Alliance, our business partner is providing students with a bespoke programme to support a wide range of academic needs.
“Volunteering at the Cola HH Sports Day under the bright sun was a joyful reminder of the power of community. Every moment spent supporting the staff, children and cheering on the young athletes filled my heart with happiness and gratitude. It was a day of teamwork, laughter, and the pure joy of seeing children shine”.
– Sports Day Volunteer
The reason programmes such as the Young Minds, Brighter Futures programme are so important is because they provide students with access to sectors that they are unfamiliar with/find to be inaccessible to them. It allows students to feel engaged in their studies as well as their own careers. This is particularly important at a school such as COLA HH where 57% of the student body is made up of students eligible for Free School Meals. This is a means-tested scheme which allows students from low economic backgrounds to be eligible for Free School Meals. On average, pupils eligible for free school meals have lower GCSE attainment than pupils that are not eligible. With such a high population of students being from low economic backgrounds and being vulnerable to becoming NEET (not in employment, education or training), the YMBF is significant in engaging students with their studies, showcasing the opportunities that are available to them post-16. The Education and Employers research findings of 2019 reported that young adults who have four or more contacts with employers whilst at school are less likely to become NEET.
“I enjoyed the Career Insight Visit because I was able to build up my self-confidence to where I was able to present my ideas to my classmates”
– Yr 7 Student at the Finance Focused CIV June.
In the 2023/2024 academic year the YMBF program was able to deliver:
- 15 events with students
- 115 volunteers being engaged
- 250 hours volunteered
- 1250 direct beneficiaries (direct beneficiaries refers to the number of students that have worked directly with our Business volunteers)
- 5 COLA HH students placed on the MUFG work experience placement.
Within its pilot of the year programme, students across the school were able to engage with the programme and now coming into the 2nd year of the programme we hope to be able to deliver more opportunities for COLA HH students and engage more volunteers. With 17 opportunities being pre-planned and more opportunities to be booked in.
Thank you to all the volunteers who were able to support the programme. We hope to be able to do more important work with you in the coming year!
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