A busy summer term inspiring young minds and introducing students to the world of work

We worked with several secondary schools across the region to deliver a series of in-school career workshops and immersive work experience weeks with businesses from different sectors. These workshops showcased career opportunities and provided real experiences of the world of work.

At the start of the summer term, our popular ‘Build Your Own Business’ workshops took centre stage. These in-school programmes, aimed at students in Years 7 to 9, are designed to ignite a spark of entrepreneurship and help students develop confidence, skills and knowledge. Students worked with business mentors to build their business ideas with local business leaders from Better Brand Agency and NRL Recruitment, leading the interactive sessions. The sessions throughout the day covered a range of business topics such as business planning, branding, marketing, recruitment, HR and culture.

The students spent time with people from various job roles and heard career stories from business owners who have navigated their start-up journeys. The experts shared their real-life experiences from the business world, helping students develop their own business plans throughout the day before preparing ‘Dragons Den’ style presentations to finish the day.

The feedback from both students and teachers has been really positive, highlighting the workshops’ ability to spark new interests, increase understanding, and build aspiration.

A year 9 student from Unity City Academy comments,

“My experience with High Tide provided me with amazing opportunities and allowed me to meet very influential people who have helped me gain confidence and skills I will take with me for the rest of my life.”

After the successful delivery of the in-school career workshops, our focus shifted to our work experience placements. These sessions are all about getting students out of the classrooms and into the world of work. Over the four weeks leading up to the summer holidays, our Year 10 work experience programme took students on a unique journey into industry sectors, including engineering, maritime, creative, digital and business. Students from Reintegreat Education Solutions, The King’s Academy, and Unity City Academy took part in the Sector Weeks, gaining hands-on experience and seeing, feeling and learning about the industries and companies behind them.

The students visited a diverse range of businesses, from global engineering and world-leading web developers to a Tees-based conservation charity, including ALT Labs, AV Dawson, Big Bite, Better Brand Agency, Elite Consult, Falck Engineering, FLOK Co-working Space, Jacksons Law Firm, SembCorp, Svitzer, Teesworks, Tees River Trust, and Wilton Engineering.

From boats to boardrooms, the programme provided a unique experience for students to visit different working environments and meet lots of people in multiple roles in each company. Led by the business members involved, the programmes were tailored around their specific industries, providing an in-depth introduction to the business and different job roles, helping to improve knowledge and awareness of potential career paths and gaining essential real-world skills such as teamwork, communication, and problem-solving.

A teacher from King’s Academy who accompanied the students on the programme says,

“This has been so educational, not only for the students but also for the teachers; I had no idea of what really went on down here. This is great knowledge I can take back with me and share with the other colleagues and students.”

Whether it’s a career workshop or a sector week, all our sessions are industry-led, meaning our business members play a crucial role in the success of our programmes. It’s not just the students who benefit from taking part. Our business members get the opportunity to showcase the exciting job roles and career opportunities within their companies, helping students discover paths they might not have known existed. While demonstrating their CSR commitments and investing back in our local community, the businesses see the importance of building a pipeline of skilled young people.

A team member involved in the programme from AV Dawson comments,

“Providing opportunities like these Sector Weeks for students helps them see what is out there and wasn’t around when I was in school.”

As we look forward to the summer break, preparations are already taking shape for the new academic year in September as we plan more exciting life-changing experiences. As always, we’d like to give a big shout-out to all the businesses involved in delivering the programmes, and we’re always on the lookout for more companies of all sizes and sectors to get involved.

Whether through our in-school workshops or hosting a workplace visit, it’s easy to get involved, and we’ll provide all the support you need to get started.

If you want to get involved with High Tide, please contact Lauren at lauren@hightidefoundation.co.uk or visit our contact page.