Our pupils who are on the Atkins Realis Apprenticeship Pilot Programme attended Gowling WLG for their end of programme celebration event in Birmingham City Centre on Thursday 11th July 2024. The pupils had several exposures to career opportunities on this programme, that consisted of mentoring, employability workshops, work experience and several workplace visits. An overall component of their programme was to collaborate in teams to work on a project that Atkins Realis have created. They were tasked with creating ideas for an eco-friendly and sustainable school in Dubai. They were all given responsibilities to lead on. Our pupils have been participating along with other schools who they are competing against. All schools which included, Bishop Challenor and Washwood Heath presented their project to senior leaders at the organisation as well as other external professionals. The winning team out of the three schools will be entered into the finals where they will compete with some other schools. The overall winning school will get the opportunity to present their ideas to the senior leaders at Atkins Realis Headquarters in Dubai. This was an extraordinary programme and our pupils really developed in their character and confidence, which is such a lovely thing to see. I have truly seen all our pupils develop in their knowledge of apprenticeships but also understanding the wide range of careers available to them. All the pupils stated that they thoroughly enjoyed their time on the programme and that it has really helped them with their career decision making for their next steps.
As part of Character and exploring the big question 'where am I going next?' pupils are given the opportunity to meaningfully engage with employers and apprenticeship providers so they can make well informed decisions about their futures.
For more information and guidance about careers education at Ark St Alban's, you can email careers@arkstalbans.org
More about Atkins Realis here: https://www.atkinsrealis.com/
More about degree apprenticeships here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-and-degree-apprenticeships
More information about Gowling WLG here: https://gowlingwlg.com/en/offices/united-kingdom/birmingham/