All About Futures NEWS
Experience of the Workplace Events – Illuminating Careers for Liverpool City Region Students
Throughout March, All About Futures organised six day-long Experience of the Workplace events for students across the region in partnership with the Liverpool City Region Careers Hub and LCR Be More, funded by the UK Government.
Over 900 young people and 100 educators from almost 50 schools and colleges explored innovation in the Liverpool City Region through the advanced manufacturing, LCR Freeport and life sciences sectors.
Each day, pupils enjoyed a variety of interactive workshops at Hope University designed to build employability skills and knowledge and highlight technical routes and apprenticeships.
Learners were inspired by a range of inspirational employers, apprentices, businesses and educational institutions, including Unilever, Knowsley Safari, A+B Engineering, BACHEM, CSL Seqirus, Chartered Institute of Export and International Trade, Knowledge Quarter Liverpool, University of Liverpool Institution of Infection, Veterinary and Ecological Sciences, Liverpool City Region Freeport Academy, Shaping Futures, Liverpool John Moores University, Kimpton, Stellantis, VINCI building, Pharmaron and Peel Ports Group.
There was a range of activities on offer to develop employability skills and knowledge. Pupils could try bridge building, developing an environmentally friendly product within budget, medical sampling, microscope techniques, global logistics of importing and exporting, diagnosing animal symptoms and much more.
Students also gained real-world insights through Q&A sessions with young apprentices and employer presentations on skills, roles and career pathways.
Experience of the Workplace events provide meaningful opportunities and illuminate careers and roles that students may not be aware of – if they can see it, they can be it. The concept runs in line with the new equalex National Pilot developed by The Careers and Enterprise Company (CEC). equalex is a flexible, tiered approach that provides a breadth and depth of workplace experiences totalling ten days throughout secondary education.
In the Liverpool City Region, the initiative targets the key growth sectors of Advanced Manufacturing, Digital and Creative, and Health and Life Sciences.
Gill Walsh, Strategic Hub Lead, Liverpool City Region said, “It was fantastic to see so many young people engage with modern work experience. The impact of work experience is lasting, it provides practicable hands-on experience, aids skills development and ultimately supports young people in allowing them to make informed choices about their future, which in turn enhances their careers readiness and employability.”
Michelle Dow, Managing Director, All About Futures said, “We’re honoured to have worked alongside the Liverpool City Region Careers Hub delivering a series of experience of the workplace events. Together, we illuminated career opportunities alongside local businesses, delivering a modern workplace experience to both students and teachers from our local secondary schools. Each day explored innovation in the Liverpool City Region through the advanced manufacturing and life sciences sectors, and the LCR Freeport, with workshops designed to build employability skills and knowledge (and highlight apprenticeship and technical routes too). Employers of all shapes and sizes inspired their next generation employees by giving them a genuine experience of their specific sectors and workplaces. It’s collaborations like this that make our region the best place to live and work, and will ensure a brighter future for our young people and our local economy.”
“Experience of the Workplace was really well organised from the moment we arrived, which made it a pleasure to take part. It was clear a lot of thought had gone into ensuring everything ran smoothly, including safeguarding, which was reassuring for us and I’m sure for the schools and college leaders who attended. One of the best things for us was getting to engage with such a large, diverse and enthusiastic group of students. Early careers engagement can sometimes be a challenge, but this event gave us a fantastic opportunity to connect with them. They really got involved in our bridge-building activity, and we loved seeing their creativity. I hope this event helped open students’ eyes to new career paths they may not have been aware of or considered before. We’d love to be involved in similar events in the future!” – Peel Ports Group
“As a school, we provide our students with careers learning experiences, but we would have never been able to organise and have multi-national companies attending an event held at a single school. I feel this was a major benefit for our students to attend your event. Your days have been a great way to allow students to complete work-related simulations in an out-of-school setting.” – Careers Leaders, Lydiate Learning Trust
Student Feedback:
“I liked it and I felt like I learnt a lot from the experience about new careers and job opportunities. I learnt a lot about apprenticeships and it was a good day.” – Y9 Student
“The trip was a real eye-opening experience on what is available after school.” – Y10 Student
Selena Ledgerton – All About Futures
Images courtesy of Gareth Jones Photographer
All About Futures inspires children & young people by working with employers, stakeholders & organisations to facilitate outreach & events on Skills, Careers & STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Maths).
Get in touch if you would like to:
Be supported in educational outreach and events
Find out more about our work with schools and colleges
Attract the next generation to your organisation
Our Programmes
Experience of the Workplace
Unilever School Engagement Projects
LCR Employers Network – LCR Careers Hub – GameChangers
Careers News, Resources & Events
