Happy holidays to all our educators!

Thank you

As always, we’d like to extend a massive thank you to all you careers leads, teachers and admin staff who help to make what we do possible. We really appreciate all the work that goes into sharing our placements with your young people, encouraging them to apply and approving applications. We know that students wouldn’t be able to access work experience opportunities without you! We wish you a restful winter break and look forward to continuing to work with you in 2024.

A Request From Us

If you haven’t already, we’d really appreciate your time in completing the short form below to inform us of any key dates in your calendar, such as WEX weeks or career drop down days. This will help us to better schedule opportunities in line with your school/college needs.

Speakers for Schools Leader Board

School Name

Number of WEX Applications

Number of Inspo attendees

Number of NTBC attendees

School Name

Number of WEX Applications

Number of Inspo attendees

Number of NTBC attendees

School Name

Number of WEX Applications

Number of Inspo attendees

Number of NTBC attendees

Good News from the South East

Discover! Creative Careers Week

Between the 13-17th November, Speakers for Schools delivered a schedule of virtual insight sessions and inspirational broadcasts with a range of speakers and employers from the creative industries. This initiative was run in partnership with the DCMS, Arts Council England, and Screen Skills.

Our programme of events showcased careers in the creative industries. We delivered 28 virtual employer encounters, 4 inspirational talks and 10 in-person workshops across the week, which impacted 8418 young people in 463 schools and colleges across the UK.

It's hard to pick out just one highlight, but we particularly loved our in-person workshop with Sussex-based gilder, Charlotte Kenward. Charlotte visited Varndean College in Brighton to deliver a Creative Careers Workshop to A-Level Art students. The workshop gave students an introduction to ‘Gilding by Charlotte’ and Charlotte’s personal career journey, as well as an insight into the industry and the practice of gilding.

Students also had the chance to engage in a practical gilding activity where they layed gold onto a walnut to create their very own Christmas tree decoration to take home! Art teacher, Mr Gaskill, said “the students really enjoyed it” and it was “really beneficial for students to hear about Charlotte’s career progression”.

Good News from the South East

Future Freedom SEND Project

Speakers for Schools, in collaboration with and funded by Greater Essex Careers Hub, have recently launched a SEND project to support students from eight SEND schools in the Essex area. The Future Freedom project aims to…

• Inspire and raise aspirations among students with SEND needs.
• Offer authentic work-related employer encounters with one or more local business.
• Support young people to make more informed decisions when transitioning to their best next step.

We have kicked off the project this term with a series of insight sessions delivered by Care UK to Year 11 & 12 students at Treetops School.

Of their four in-person sessions, one involved a workplace visit to Mountfitchet House Care Home where students experienced a tour of the home and had the chance to interact with various employees from different job roles. They included nurses, caterers, lifestyle managers and housekeeping staff.

Students also had the chance to engage in a ‘modified texture food preparation activity’ where they learnt how to prepare and present pureed food for residents. The accompanying teachers offered the following feedback on the visit:

“The visit was amazing and we were really well looked after. The students learnt so much and gained lots of information about the care industry. A few have changed their pathway idea now to care! The food and activities were fab and thoroughly enjoyed by both staff and students.”

We look forward to delivering sessions for the remaining schools over the Spring term!

We’re sure you already have National Apprenticeship Week (5th-9th February) and National Careers Week (4th-8th March) marked in your diaries. Keep an eye out for updates on what’s on at Speakers for Schools during these weeks. We’re planning lots for you and your young people to get involved with- from inspirational broadcasts to in-person work experience placements! These will be advertised in early January so make sure to look out for information about these in our updates in the new year.

There will also be lots of insight sessions and work experience placements taking place over the February half term. This gives young people the chance to complete work experience without interfering with school or college lesson time. Some opportunities are already being advertised here, with more to be added in January. We know young people can be reluctant to give up their holiday time, but the positives far outweigh any concerns. If you don’t already, why not talk to your students about how applying for placements during school breaks can benefit them?

National Teen Book Club 2023/24

Have you been following our 'Work Experience for All' campaign?

Find out more by clicking the link below:

Jenny Miller

Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire and South/ West Hampshire

Jenny.Miller@speakersforschools.org

Discover more work experience opportunities here

Or register directly on our user portal here

www.speakersforschools.org