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Posted on July 12th 2022
News UK Mentors Help Students Make Career Choices
Twenty students from Year 11 finally got to meet their News UK mentors in the flesh earlier this term, after months of lockdown restrictions had meant they could only meet on Zoom.
News UK is the proud owner of a stable of news and media brands that span the most popular to the most respected, highbrow to lowbrow, the first flash and the last wave - including brands such as The Sun, The Times, Talk Sport and Virgin Radio.
The mentoring programme for Year 11 students aims to support them with their employability skills, helping them to present themselves in a professional manner. Its objective is to encourage the students to start thinking about what they would like to do and what profession they think they would follow.
For their final presentation, students were asked to research a potential employer they would like to work for and present basic information about the company, why they would like to work for them and why they are the best candidate.
On the day we had the opportunity to sit with our mentors on the 17th floor, overlooking the Thames, and discuss our future career aspirations - bringing a literal meaning to Blue Sky Thinking!
Great tips
"It was really eye-opening to discuss my future choice and potential career pathways as well as take away some great tips to include on my CV and covering letter focussing on the skills I have already gained across my five years at Harris Academy Peckham, for example as the Principal of the Student Council," said Treasure.
To calm our nerves we were provided with plenty of 'posh' refreshments, with the afternoon tea selection including scones with jam and strawberries, brownies, lemon drizzle cake as well as biscuits and crisps.
The session culminated with each mentor having the opportunity to showcase their passion for their chosen future career by presenting to a panel of mentors and peers on what steps they need to take next to achieve this and why they are the ideal candidate for the role.
"It was a delightful experience to be able to share my future career aspirations in the industry I want to go into," said Tricia. "We rarely get to speak publicly in this way and it helped to develop my communication skills and build my confidence for public speaking."
Touring Talk TV
After the nerve-wracking presentations, we were let loose to tour the tower of this broadcasting hub. First up was the Talk TV news desk where we each took turns to sit in the hot seat in front of the screen and give Nadira Tudor a run for her money presenting from her autocue.
Next up was radio with Talk Sport and Virgin, where we watched the presenters live as they broadcast to the nation on radio and You Tube, and were personally invited into Gaby Roslin's studio whilst she was live on air.
Then it was selfie time on the Sun Bus Photo Booth to make our own headline front cover whilst the real journalists around us worked diligently as their deadlines rapidly approached.
We are glad that students are now able to have valuable employee encounters, face-to-face outside the Academy, and we appreciate News UK continuing to invest in their relationship with our Academy and our students.
Ms Hall, Assistant Principal and Year 11 students
A big THANK YOU to our News UK mentors!
