A Shropshire school has run an extended Employability Bootcamp as students lined up to make the most of the time they gained when exams were cancelled this summer.
Wrekin College, which opened a new £1million Business School four years ago, looked at ways of maximising skills needed for the workplace as students switched to learning online during the lockdown.
It included an ambitious virtual Employability Bootcamp which was offered on a voluntary basis. More than 60 upper school students, who were due to sit A’Levels this year, signed up to take part.
Head of the business school Donna Irving said they were all too aware that this summer’s exam generation felt they were denied an opportunity to prove themselves without their final exams.
“We felt it was important to not just go through the routine of lessons or activities to keep them busy but to actually look at how this time could be used to create something that would replace that sense of achievement and add real-life qualifications of true worth,” she added.
The Bootcamp saw a series of lessons on skills such as leadership, finance, creating a CV and Cover letters together with a winning LinkedIn profile.
Students had to also apply for a real job advertised on the market place with industry leaders assessing their applications and running interviews and shortlist interviews using a green screen.
Former head boy James Davies also gave a talk on his experiences finding and securing a job.
“We had planned to do a two-day physical employability bootcamp for our Wrekin leavers after their exams so while the cancelling of the exams was disappointing we as a school took the opportunity to extend the bootcamp to a 20-day on-line workshop to boost their employability,” added Donna.
“Exams are a vital part of a student’s education but we find success is more often achieved when young people are encouraged to see school as teaching them so much more than just to learn for an exam. Turning a negative into a positive is a lesson well worth learning and we achieved that and so much more with this programme.
“It was a resounding success and the feedback from both students and those industry experts who helped us to assess the candidates was extremely positive.”
Henry Willis, one of the students who took part, said he found the Bootcamp challenged and inspired him in equal measure and had given him a vital headstart in preparing for the world of work.
“I felt really excited to be working way ahead of where I imagined I would be at this point in my education and given the chance to complete a course which gave me access to the insight and expertise of key industry leaders,” he added.
“It was good to tackle something so challenging and to come away with essential tools to find the job I want and added confidence that I can show I am an attractive candidate to potential employers.”
Wrekin College has continued with a full online timetable of lessons across the year groups with additional programmes put in place for this year’s exam candidates including some early A’Level lessons for those who were due to sit GCSE’s this year.