Business visits

The PwC Heartlands Employability Day

The day was tailored to respond to the employability issues and barriers the Academy’s own students had previously told us about. Over 65 PwC staff and 4 partners attended the day. Normal lessons were suspended for 120 students in Year 10, and replaced by employability workshops, business speed dating and communication workshops. To date, feedback for the day has been fantastic and student ‘employability champions’ are going to work with us on this agenda over the coming months.

PwC and Enabling Enterprise

Year 10 set two Maths will be taking part in a Student Leadership Programme intended to develop students’ employability skills. The programme will focus on developing their entrepreneurial skills eg. leadership, innovation and financial management. Students will learn about setting up a viable business or community project. This is intended to be a springboard from which students can set up their own business, or alternatively gateways to further or higher education improving their business prospects and employability. We expect that the soft skills gained by students taking part on this course will also make a difference to their future success in life – developing personal motivation, self-confidence, practicality, and resilience in the face of challenges.

Deloitte Business Class

Partnership Year 10 Maths set 1 and Gifted and Talented. This was first launched in October by a group of dedicated students attending a conference at the Deloitte offices in Birmingham. Students will work towards giving a boardroom presentation to executives from Deloitte. They will challenge each other’s strengths by competing for a winning contract, developing their skills in self management, team working, business and customer awareness, problem solving, communication and literacy, application of money and the role of ICT.