National Careers Week took place last week with lots of new opportunities and activities to inspire students and open up their outlook for the future. Throughout the week students and staff have taken part in employer led talks, careers based class activities, off site visits, practical demonstrations and networking events.
Monday was
the introductory day and kicked off with Andrew Harris from Northern Rail
offering advice on the dangers of the railways and an insight into the roles
and responsibilities and employment opportunities for young people in this
growing work sector. Our KS4 students visited Aerozone at Manchester
Airport to look at all the new building developments with Mr Barlow while a GMP
Community Police Officer came in for a Q&A and to answer any questions
on careers in the services for our KS3 pupils. Additionally Rosie Gill one
of our careers advisors led a day of workshops with KS3 and KS4 pupils to
look at their aspirations.
Tuesday
welcomed visitors from Autotrader and a scientist from Astrazenica
while KS5 pupils gave inspirational presentations to KS3 and KS4 about the work
experiences they have accessed and the skills they have developed. Cory was
particularly inspiring telling everyone about his work experience as a
caretaker at Rushbrook Primary Academy. KS5 students travelled to HOME
Theatre to experience a unique Hunt and Darton café event. Performance
artists Hunt and Darton have been hired this year to curate the award
winning Barbican Box Project. This is the third year that Melland High
School has been invited to join 7 other Manchester schools to make and perform
an original piece of drama to be showcased in June at HOME. At the HOME
café students were enticed to purchase and taste a range of fondant delicacies,
try twisted drinks and sample art type happenings including: ‘poetry on the side’,
‘Not The Great British Bake Off’ and ‘you are the buffet’. Reactions changed
from reality check and mute astonishment to full participation and shared
laughter once the students were in on the joke. As part of the Barbican Box
process Melland will be visited by an Artist Mentor to provide support and
encouragement to create our own artistic dishes for you to sample.
On Wednesday
KS3 and KS4 pupils accessed a collapsed timetable where all lessons were based
around a variety of sectors including; construction, manufacturing,
horticulture, creative media, graphics and hair/beauty. Students took part in a
wide range of activities linked to these sectors learning new skills and
gaining insights. KS5 students from LG2 visited community radio All FM
where they accessed a presentation to tell us about the 100 active volunteers,
the legacy of previous training projects, producing and presenting a range of
shows. The students were then given a tour of the 2 studios and interviewed
three members of the crew. They were lucky enough also to sit in on a live
session up close and personal to see exactly how the shows are presented. All
FM offered some great opportunities and will hopefully be working with
Melland to set up a project with our young people and offering the skills to
present and produce their very own radio show.
SLT
shortlisted and held interviews for students to take part in a unique
opportunity to work in school in a variety of roles. LG1 took part in
discussions with James Gill from TFGM and found that they employ a
number of our students, who had followed a pathway supported by James who
manages 25 staff in a team of 500 revealed that employees with certain skills
such as keen focus, an eye for detail and a passion for numbers are a valuable
asset in logistical work and he would like to employ more of our students as
they have proven to be hard working, reliable and popular with their
colleagues.
Thursday was
probably our busiest day for employer encounters as our Speed Networking event
organised by our careers advisor Steve Leach took place with eight
outside agencies available for quick fire questions. These included
representatives from; Bruntwood, Digital Advantage, O2, Princes Foods, One
Manchester, Manchester Community Central, Stroke Association, Lendlease and All
FM. Students from all key stages took part and were joined by students from
the Grange School. The aim of the event was to broaden student horizons
and to gain an insight into what employers are looking for. KS5 students were
visited by staff from the Contact Theatre to discuss volunteering opportunities
and to signpost students to their excellent weekly spoken word and drama
workshops which are open for our students to access. In the afternoon LG1 and 2
enjoyed a demonstration of wood- turning with Andy Trevor and were given
an opportunity to discuss career pathways into the construction industry for
self-employed workers studying carpentry an dry wall construction techniques.
The Melland
Pupil Media Crew had a short break from filming on Friday when they had a
Q&A with both Skillset and Phil Wood, producer from Mersey TV.
Also Friday
saw celebrations for all the hard work of the students from the whole week.
Students received awards for developing and demonstrating employability skills,
for communication, problem solving, team-work, confidence and employees of the
week. Careers week was a huge success and a huge thank you again to the whole
careers team and all staff and contributors for creating an amazing and
inspiring experience for all our young people.