September saw the relaunch of our Explore Your Future programme, delivered in partnership with the Solent Careers Hub, and redesigned to give secondary school students a clearer picture of the local career opportunities available to them, as well as giving employers the chance to connect with their future workforce. The relaunch comes after a pilot run of the new “Pick and Mix” style sessions at the end of the last academic year.
For young people in the city it can be difficult to see what opportunities for careers they have open to them beyond what’s happening in their household or wider social circle. The relaunched EYF programme pulls on Shaping Portsmouth’s connections with the business community and Solent Careers Hub connections with the local schools to put a spotlight on the variety of employers and roles open to them for their future careers, providing role models, and giving a flavour of what comes next for them after school.
At the beginning of the summer we ran four pilot sessions for a total of 96 students, with representatives from HAHA, Landsec, Mountjoy and Spinnaker Tower, during which all three of the new workshop styles were successfully trialled.
In the Pitch Challenge workshop, where the employers introduce a product, idea, or campaign and provide a challenge for the students to work in teams to come up with ideas and pitch them back to the employers. The pilot of this session was run by Spinnaker Tower, who set students at the Portsmouth Academy the challenge of rejuvinating a small space within the tower to monetise it and help appeal to a younger audience. Gunwharf Quays also brought this workshop to St Edmunds, asking students to pitch ideas for redeveloping the tunnel underpass entrance.
For the Have A Go workshop, employers will bring in equipment, special kit, or tools for the students to explore and have a go under the employers guidance. For the pilot, session HAHA Training Academy brought hot tools to Admiral Lord Nelson for the students to have a go at curling, straightening, and styling while also learning about the structure of hair, and the entrepreneurial side of working in the hair and beauty sector.
The final workshop is the Real World Challenge, in which employers introduce a genuine barrier, inefficiency, or challenge they are facing in their industry, and the students work in groups to explore the cause and possible solutions. Mountjoy took this challenge to the students a Springfield School with the problem of needing to recruit more young people to their apprenticeships.
Feedback from the students, teachers and employers was overwhelmingly positive, with the young people engaging well with all versions of the workshop and reporting to understand more about their skills and the opportunities available to them in Portsmouth and the surrounding areas.
The evaluation of the pilot sessions showed a clear shift in how students think about their futures. Across the four schools, awareness of local career opportunities rose by an average of 39 percentage points, and understanding of careers within the participating sectors rose by an average of 59 percentage points. Students also reported feeling more confident about applying for jobs in the future, with confidence rising by an average of 19 percentage points. Nearly half (49%) said their session made them think differently about their future.
Students said the sessions made them feel more confident, and after meeting Yvonne Clay, Managing Director at Gunwharf Quays, one student from St Edmunds said she wanted to become a businesswoman and CEO.
Following the successful pilot, the programme launched on 14th September, with the workshops being offered to schools across Portsmouth.
If any local businesses would like to get involved in running one or more workshops to inspire the next generation of talent in Portsmouth, they should contact info@shapingportsmouth.co.uk to find out more. The time commitment is approximately 2 hours for delivery plus a short briefing call a week or so beforehand.