Careers in Focus: A ten week course that offers 13-14 year olds from local Secondary schools a unique insight into the professional world by using volunteers from the corporate sector to teach about careers in an exciting and hands-on way. Last term Apprentices from Burlington Danes took part in The Debating Apprenticeship. The same group of students will be participating in The Career Guide Apprenticeship this term. We are also excited to be offering The Debating Apprenticeship to a group of Holland Park students for the first time this term.
"This gives me encouragement to think about doing something else" (Apprentice)
"They put a lot of effort in, were attentive, grasped concepts well and were polite. They were a lot of fun to work with and impressed us all with the points they put forward." (Volunteer)
The Debating Apprenticeship – Should teachers over the age of 50 be banned from the classroom? Should school uniforms be free to state pupils? Should finger printing be used instead of paper registers? Just a few of the questions posed by Debating Apprentices at their Public Debate in a UCL Lecture Theatre (held at the end of the Debating Apprenticeship). Over the weeks preceding the Debate the students participated in workshops run by the UCL Debating Society, volunteers from EMI and BT, solicitors and a journalist. In each workshop they learnt about the volunteer’s job and developed skills that would enable them to compose their Debate arguments, participate in their Debate and try and convince parents, teachers and friends with their arguments!
This term a new group of pupils will participate in The Debating Apprenticeship. Watch this space to see what issues they decide to Debate...
The Career Guide Apprenticeship – Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Sailor… But what do these jobs actually involve and why would they be of interest to a teenager? Over the course of this term’s Scheme, our Career Guide Apprentices are learning from the horse’s mouth what jobs are like in detail when volunteers from different professions come to lead their interactive workshops. Not about the jobs in the ancient nursery rhyme, but about those that might appeal to young teenagers today; journalists, nutritionists, drama practitioners and bankers, to name a few. At the end of the Scheme the will be compiling ‘The Career Guide’ to give their fellow teens an insight into what jobs are out there and what they really involve. They will be holding the Launch of their Career Guide as The Event at the end of term.
