A scheme to encourage young people to work with local organisations has been hailed a huge success by students and business owners alike.
A group of year 10 students from Stokesley School recently took part in a ‘Day in Business’ at companies around the area where they worked across a variety of jobs finding out what they entail.
The Day in Business event is part of the school’s plans to engage with the business community to understand their recruitment requirements for the coming years and give students experience of the world of work. Stokesley School is actively working with its local business community on a number of ventures to create opportunities for both businesses and its students.
Companies in Stokesley taking part included Analox, First Steps Nursery, North Yorkshire Physiotherapy, Chapters’ Deli, Strikes Garden Centre and PC Richardson.
In addition, Stokesley School students have also recently taken part in special work experience events at the Friarage Hospital in Northallerton and Amec Foster Wheeler in Darlington.
At the Friarage, students learnt more about the medical profession, talking with nurses, occupational therapists, radiologists and dieticians about a range of opportunities as well as taking part in some resuscitation training and visiting the ‘simulation suite’ where automated ‘patients’ are used to train junior doctors. And a number of year 9 girls recently attended a ‘Women in Engineering Day’ at Amec Foster Wheeler in Darlington, where they found out more about power generation and distribution and gained practical experience in activities such as tower rescue and pylon climbing.
Janine Harrison-Henry, careers advisor at Stokesley School, said: “We are continually collecting information from our students to find out what their careers aspirations might be, in order to provide a range of opportunities to match their interests and needs. We are working closely with local businesses and making strong links with professionals in our area to build an extensive portfolio of contacts that we can rely on to participate in our careers events, giving expert and relevant information and advice to our students and parents. We plan to expand on the number and variety of events we hold in school as our aim is to support and inspire every one of our students with their career and training aspirations.”
Julie Cole, HR Manager at Analox, said: “I think it’s very important for local businesses to link with schools in their area. Analox is a big supporter of providing young people with the opportunity to learn about the world of work and we have a good relationship with Stokesley School, which is less than a mile away from our headquarters. We have previously hosted a work experience day for their students, and also attended careers evenings at the school as we want to ensure students are fully educated on the variety of pathways they can take to achieve their ideal career.”
Jane Ablett, from Chapter’s Deli and PC Richardson, said: “We were privileged to be asked to work with students at both of our businesses and we wanted to make sure we gave them both a little understanding of how our companies work, whilst at the same time helping them develop their own confidence and ability. We really value the work of Stokesley School and how they link up with local businesses as young people often bring fresh ideas and approaches which we are keen to embrace.”
Kaye Bye from North Yorkshire Physiotherapy said: “North Yorkshire Physiotherapy has been delighted to have worked with Stokesley School recently on their Day in Business and their Health Care Careers’ Fair. On both occasions we found the students to be enthusiastic, engaging and curious. We aimed to provide them with an insight into a career they perhaps knew little about as well as some of the tasks involved in running a business. As a local company, it gives us great pleasure to encourage young people in their futures and to help them focus on what they can gain as individuals from a successful and enjoyable career.”
The school is now working closely with the local business community to exchange skills, advice and services as well as host networking events and develop partnerships.