Explore Your Future’s In-class session has officially launched!

On Monday 17th July the Shaping Portsmouth Explore Your Future programme team delivered a pilot run of our new In-Class Sessions at Trafalgar School. The programme aims to support students in years 7 to 9 to understand more about the world of work and the local labour market. It will provide an early employer intervention for younger students, to help encourage career conversations and support improved student aspirations.

Our session plan included the following:

  • Create a bespoke employer-led session which highlights the businesses in the local area.
  • Provide information about local career opportunities and help lay the foundations for future career conversations.
  • Highlight the variety of local opportunities and support young people to understand the local labour market better.

This pilot session saw Tony Sammut, General Manager at the Spinnaker Tower, give an introduction to the tower, what it is like to work there, and an overview of his role and his education and career history that led him there. The pupils were then given the project of redesigning the ground floor kitchen and bar at the Spinnaker, splitting into groups focusing on Marketing, Catering, Design, and Events, and presenting their ideas to the class at the end.

Lucie Passmore, Head of Student Enrichment at Trafalgar, said “Finding new and exciting extra-curricular opportunities to inspire and engage our students career aspirations can be challenging with so much information available. Finding ways to present this in a way our students can relate is our main focus. Shaping Portsmouth are always available to help support us with this by running events such as this. The students who took part in the pilot really enjoyed it.

“They got a wealth of knowledge about a major employer in the city and have been inspired to look into careers in design, marketing and events management. Thank you to Sam and the team from Shaping Portsmouth.”

Sam McGrath, Director of Operations & Marketing at Shaping Portsmouth, said “Working with Harvey, Lilly, and the rest of the students at this pilot session was one of the highlights of my Shaping Portsmouth career to date. In such a short session, we made a lasting impact which will help them explore their future career pathways. Everything is possible for these young superstars, all we need to do as a local business community is support and inspire them, once they have the confidence, they will achieve great things.”

Year 9 student Harvey, said “5 out of 5, they made it easy to understand and I didn’t feel uncomfortable taking part”

Lilly, a Year 8 student, adds “It was quite fun and interactive. The people running the event were really nice and approachable. I got a lot out of the session and it was really good!”

Thank you to Tony Sammut and his team at the Spinnaker Tower for leading the session with our brilliantly talented Programme Lead Chloe Bolton, Director of Education Programmes Hayden Taylor, and the Shaping Portsmouth programme team.

The Explore Your Future in-school sessions will be offered to all Portsmouth secondary schools from September.