Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools, visited The Charles Dickens School, Broadstairs in Kent on 19th November with Inspiring the Future, run by national education charity Education & Employers. The purpose was to inspire students to consider careers in the jobs, professions and sectors that they may not be aware of.
Inspiring the Future volunteers – including Lord Nash – working in a diverse range of jobs did career speed networking with the students. The event saw 13 volunteers talking face-to-face with 100 Year 10 students aged 14-15.
It is part of the Education & Employers charity’s national campaign designed to raise and broaden the aspirations of our young people in disadvantaged coastal towns. Many will be familiar with the problems facing young people in disadvantaged coastal towns – poor attainment, low aspirations, high unemployment and a sense of marginalisation. We need to take action to ensure that young people growing up in these areas get the best possible start in life, aware of the breadth of opportunities available and are encouraged and supported in their ambitions.
Broadstairs is a coastal town in Thanet therefore it suffers from seasonal unemployment and high deprivation levels. Thanet was poorly rated at 295th out of 324 districts in 2010 by a BBC commissioned study about economic resilience in the downturn. Unemployment levels are nearly twice the South East of England as a whole, and as a result a great deal of planning is being done to encourage more businesses to relocate to the district.
Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools, said: “It’s invaluable for young people in state schools to meet people doing different jobs and careers and be able to hear real world perspectives. Too often there is an information gap between the real demands of employers and what young people know about careers and where their aspirations lie. Programmes like Inspiring the Future can help schools prepare pupils for their next steps into adult life whatever their choice of university course, apprenticeship or career direction.”
Career speed networkers included:
Lord Nash, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools
Emma Hargreaves, Research Fellow, University of Kent
Jemma Morgan, Occupational Therapist
Abbie Smith, Owner A Hint of Print
Dr Mark Speller, NHS General Practitioner
Dr Inbal Livne, Museum Head of Collections
Robin Parkinson, Santander UK plc, Solicitor
Cal Harris, W&B Publishing
Robert Onion, Chairman Circle (brand agency)
Joanne Monk, Deputy Director of HR, London South Bank University
Chris Kempt, MD/Founder Kempt Ltd (digital agency)
Clare Dunning, University of Kent, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics
Amy Redmond, Ex Radio 1 producer/event producer
Read the full Media Release: Media Release Lord Nash visits Thanet Nov 2015