CAREER ACADEMY EXPANDING

The Sixth Form College, Solihull has been running a Career Academy for the last two years, but it's about to get bigger! After piloting the programme in Business, the initiative is being expanded to include IT and Science as well.

The initiative raises the aspirations and develops the employability skills of young people. Career Academies UK is working with the College to secure workplace networks and experiences for students, linking up with both local and national employers. The  programme is open to students on the BTEC Business, Applied Science and IT Practitioners courses and students benefit from visits to local businesses, guru lectures from business representatives, business mentoring and a 6-week summer internship.

This has been very successful in Business, with firms like Aston University, BDO Accountants, British Telecom, Chiltern Railways, Coventry Building Society, Grant Thornton, Her Majesty’s Revenue & Customs, Jaguar Land Rover, Johnsons Coaches, npower, Solihull Primary Care Trust, Solihull Chamber, Solihull Community Housing, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, Village Hotel and West Midlands Police all supporting the programme.

25 new students - across all three BTEC courses - have just been accepted onto the Career Academy programme for the next two years and their involvement will start in earnest this evening when they meet their Business mentors. These individuals will be business men and women from local firms, who will be there to guide and advise the students. They will meet regularly and discuss what they are doing and what they could do more of to improve their employability prospects.

This first meeting will take place at an Ice Breaker event at the College, which will involve a fun activity, forcing students and mentors alike to work together and get to know each other.

The students will also be heading down to London soon for the Capital Experience event that Career Academies UK puts on every year for Career Academy students across the country.

Keep your eye on the blog and on the College website (www.solihullsfc.ac.uk) for more news from the College's Career Academy is the coming weeks and months.