UTC Reading was even more of a hive of activity than usual on Tuesday, 28 March, when the whole school went off curriculum for an employer-led drop-down day.
Some 55 of the UTC’s employer partners kindly gave up their time to run workshops and interview sessions with every student, from years 10-13, to get them thinking about how they can improve their ‘work ready skills’, raise their aspirations and start thinking about their next steps after school.
Sessions included an amazing set of fun ‘Talk the Talk’ workshops delivered by five external trainers, who encouraged the Year 10s to hone their communication skills.
Year 11s attended a rotation of four workshops with 18 employers covering mock interviews, CV writing, leadership and entrepreneurship.
Year 12s also rotated through four workshops with 24 employers to prepare them for their next steps, this time on LinkedIn work-ready profiles, IoT level 4 and 5 courses, Ask Apprenticeships and mock interviews.
And Year 13s looked at the all-important topic of personal finance in a series of three workshops focusing on money, budgeting and finance. This covered student finance, loans and mortgages, budgeting, wages and tax.
The feedback from the students was that it was “really great’, with one saying: “It really helps prepare you if you’ve not had experience, say, in an interview or writing a CV.”
Another said: “The highlight were the workshops – specifically those on the five voices, which helps you understand how to be a leader and how to navigate situations in the workplace. Overall day was great and it adds experience to students in things they might not have done, such as LinkedIn or CV writing.”
Stephanie Mitchell, Assistant Head of School, said of the day:
“This is what makes UTC so special and we’re so grateful to have so many employers working with us giving our students opportunities they may not get elsewhere.”
Many thanks to all the employers who gave up their time, it really is so appreciated by the students, and also thank you to our wonderful staff who worked with military precision co-ordinating the day.
You can see a snapshot of the day in a video here
Or enjoy our photo gallery below
