Our pupils in year 12 were fortunate to receive an assembly address from a guest speaker whose career was within the finance sector, and they were the Chief Financial Officer, Specialty and Reinsurance at Howden Group.
Speakers for Schools is a charity that has a pool of well-established professionals who offer their valuable time to give back to the community. Ahmed Farooq is a registered speaker for the charity offering his services. Our guest speaker spoke about his background and the fact that he was raised in poverty and from a deprived area in Birmingham, however, this never caused any barriers or limited him from reaching his goals of becoming successful. He spoke about his overall career journey, from the GCSEs to A-levels and degree courses he completed at university. He was very transparent in sharing the plethora of roles and organisations he has worked for in the past, to gain his success thus far. This was a truly elaborate, fruitful and enriching assembly that inspired many of our pupils to start considering their options. It was evident from our pupil's engagement that they were truly captivated by his journey, which was wonderful to witness.
Our guest speaker has certainly opened our pupil's eyes to the diverse range of careers available within the finance sector, particularly in accountancy, and this has broadened our pupils' horizons and provided them with an insightful and transparent view of potential careers in this field.
More information about Ahmed Farooq: https://www.speakers4schools.org/speakers/Ahmed-Farooq
More information about Speakers for Schools: https://www.speakersforschools.org/
As part of Character and exploring the big question 'Where am I going next?' pupils are allowed 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