HENRY BOOT SPONSORS NEW CAREERS HUB AT SHEFFIELD SCHOOL
On the 7th March, Handsworth Grange Community Sports College opened their new Careers Hub, sponsored by Henry Boot, and both Group Finance Director, Darren Littlewood, and Brand Coordinator, Dan Boot, were in attendance.
The new space has been transformed from a science store room into a space featuring commuters and careers information to help prepare students for the future. Appointments will be available to students in Years 10 & 11 to discuss their career aims, and parents will also be able to attend if they wish.
Amy Cooke, Careers Advisor for Sheffield Futures, said “It is a place where students know they can come to start doing research and ask questions. Before this they didn’t know where to go if they had questions, so now they’ve got a space and they’ve got resources it is a fantastic opportunity to raise aspirations.”
Students will also be given the opportunity to apply for places at colleges and universities, and to find out more information on everything from apprenticeships to A-Levels. Other year groups will also be able to make use of the Hub through various workshops, which will help to prepare them for life after school.
Careers Leader at Handsworth, Charlotte Lake, said “It gives them a place where they can actually feel safe looking at careers and seeing where their life is going to go. It allows them to look at different courses and different careers, but also allows them to meet with us and ask questions about where we’ve gone and what we know.”
Chairman of the Student Council at Handsworth, Cameron Smith, aged 14, spoke about the Hub: “I think it’s a really good opportunity for students to realise what jobs there are out there. If I think of maths and what you can do, I think of money but there is so much more you can do with it. This Careers Hub is going to show people what they can do with their qualifications and what they can pursue in the future.”
Henry Boot sponsored the room and offered computer equipment for students, after working closely with the school in the past to promote careers to young people.
“We’ve always done a huge amount of work in schools promoting the kind of careers that we have at Henry Boot around construction and now more leaning towards strategic land and property development”, Darren Littlewood said. “Through those connections we got in touch with Paul, the Assistant Headteacher at Handsworth Grange, who was trying to set up a Careers Hub. Clearly that needed funding and what of the first things we thought about was our used IT equipment and donated that.”
“When we saw what Paul was trying to do with that equipment and what he was trying to set up, we actually got hooked with the bigger picture that actually we can support this more and develop the Hub and brand it as Henry Boot. Clearly it is in Sheffield, which helps us get our name out there to the up and coming children who are going to progress, and hopefully at some point we might employ.”
“It has been really good to set a model as a standard of what we can do, what we can achieve and what is needed – a resourcing place for the children – and going forward I think it would be really good if we can replicate this model in schools where there is a need to do this more.”
If you would like to explore the opportunities of a partnership between your school and Henry Boot, please contact us at plc@henryboot.co.uk.
