WOW Day: Year 10 explores sustainable solutions and career paths

Written by Hayley Turner-McIntyre, Project Manager- Education

On the 17th May, volunteers from Clyde & Co and ELBA joined forces to lead Little Ilford’s annual World of Work (WOW) Day, inspiring around 300 Year 10 students! The aim of the WOW Day was to equip young people with the skills and tools they need to succeed in their education, work and life – using the SkillsBuilder Framework to support this goal. By the end of the day, students were able to say that they had developed essential employability skills such as teamwork, communication, problem solving and creativity. 

The day kicked off with students having their teamwork skills put to the test with an icebreaker activity, the Giraffe Challenge. Students were tasked by volunteers to build a giraffe using limited time and resources, ensuring they meet a strict marking criteria. This was a great activity to raise the energy levels of the students! The classes then had the opportunity to hear the ins and outs of what it’s like to work at ELBA and Clyde & Co as they heard the volunteers’ personal career journeys, from GCSEs to where they are now. 

For the main task of the day, students were tasked with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Challenge. In groups, they had to create a poster presentation which included presenting three of their chosen SDGs, explaining why they were important to them, and coming up with solutions to tackle the SDGs on a local level. Solutions across the classrooms ranged from tackling knife crime, creating more food banks and warm food hubs in schools, and investments into green technology to make their school more eco-friendly. The students really showcased their problem solving and creativity skills here and did excellently in their presentations!

The afternoon session focused on skills identification, CV construction and future planning. This session focused on CV writing skills, self-promotion and future roadmapping. This was kicked off with all students taking part in a personality quiz to identify their best skills and characteristics. Guided by the volunteers and a range of individual and group activities, students then learnt all about what to include and not to include in a CV, and they also had a go at writing their own CV. Students were also encouraged to reflect on their personal achievements and skills as they learnt the art of self-promotion.

Now that students had a thorough understanding of how to present themselves and their skills confidently to future employers, it was time to start thinking about their next steps through creating a life map of what the next 5, 10, and 15 years look like to them, including identifying the steps they need to take to get there.

As the day came to a close, students were asked to reflect on what they had learnt that day and the skills they had used from the Skills Builder Framework. 

Overall the day was enjoyable for everyone involved and was a great way to end the week! A huge well done to the students for their enthusiasm and engagement throughout the whole day, and thank you to Clyde & Co and ELBA volunteers for making this day a success. A special thanks to former ELBA CEO, Ian Parkes, for also taking the time to give back to young people!

To stay up to date with the latest news, opportunities and success stories, please sign up to receive our monthly newsletter, here.