Overview
On Wednesday 12th July, we hosted an Employer Engagement Event at Acklam have with over 40 employers in attendance from a wide range of different sectors. The event was to share good practice across Tees Valley and to promote some of the amazing work that our employers have offered and engaged in with schools and colleges.
The event started with an overview of the Tees Valley Careers Hub from Andrea Naylor, Careers Hub Lead followed by an update from Neil Young, Teesworks Skills Academy Manager about the progress of the site so far and to inform about the future opportunities and pathways available.
We then had three guest speakers from employers, to give an update on the work they are doing in Tees Valley and how they have engaged with schools/colleges.
Graham Wright (RWE) talked about the progression on the Offshore Wind Industry including the Sofia Windfarm and Dogger Bank. He also talked about the range of activities he had delivered with schools across Tees Valley, including an Career Aspirations Assembly where students got the opportunity to meet a selection of employees with varied roles at all levels as well as the talking about the Sofia Wind Champions Programme. Graham is also an Enterprise Adviser for a school in Redcar & Cleveland. For more information about careers resources for RWE, please click on the link: https://sofiawindfarm.com/community/education-and-skills/#TeachingResources
Clare Davison (Balfour Beatty) spoke about the various projects the company are working on around Tees Valley including the Elton Interchange, where Clare is based. Clare also talked about the ways in which she has supported the Tees Valley Careers team with employer engagement, including the Shout Out Portal, where schools/colleges and employers can register and upload requests or offers for employer engagement – https://www.teesvalleycareers.com/business/shout-out-portal/. Clare also talked about her role as an Enterprise Adviser and the activities she has delivered including a staff CPD session looking at Gatsby Benchmark 4 and how the curriculum can link to the world of work. Finally, Clare spoke about her role as a Mentor with a school for the Big Big Project, in which the team she supported came in the top three, Clare is also doing some follow up work with the school. For more information about the work and career opportunities at Balfour Beatty, please click on the link: https://www.balfourbeattycareers.com/
Finally, we had Jamie Yarker (Altrad) talking the work Altrad are doing across Tees Valley and about a project delivered by Tees Valley Careers team that was very kindly sponsored by Altrad – the SEND Enterprise Challenge week. The event took place in May with all SEND schools in Tees Valley taking part. Over 500 students took part in a blended programme of online and face to face activities. The aim of the week was for the students to show their employability skills such as: Communication, Leadership & Teamwork. The students were given a challenge to create a sustainable vehicle using only recyclable materials and the vehicles would be tested at the celebration event at the end of the week. Throughout the week, Altrad staff members attended the schools to support as Mentors and they also attended the Celebration event as judges too. For further information about the work Altrad deliver in Tees Valley or careers at Altrad, please click on the link – https://uk.altradservices.com/careers/.
We then held table discussions about the work employers are currently doing across Tees Valley to support schools/colleges. We also asked if they faced any barrier or challenges when trying to engage with them. We then gathered the feedback from the event and will use this in future planning when working with schools/colleges in the future.
Without the amazing support form the employers across Tees Valley, we would not be able to deliver the opportunities we do and we are extremely grateful to them for their continued support.
If you would like to be involved or would like to know more about the work the Tees Valley Careers team do, please email: join@teesvalleycareers.com or click on the link: https://www.teesvalleycareers.com/business/
Gatsby Benchmarks
We focussed on Benchmark 5 – Encounters with employers and employees although we did cover aspects of BM2, 4, 6 & 7 throughout the event when we discussed LMI, linking the curriculum to the world of work, ways in which employers can engage with schools and the range of activities requested/offered, including work experience and apprenticeships/T-Levels.
Impact
The event was a huge success with over 40 employers in attendance. There have been some requests for the team to support the businesses to engage more, including some new sign-ups to the shout out portal. The feedback will be valuable for the team when looking at future planning and when speaking to the schools.
