2024-03-31-accounts

OVERVIEW

We have had a successful year at the Island Careers Partnership. We appointed Anna Tautz from a large number of applicants, and she started work in early July 2023. She is proving to be a very valuable member of the ICP Team. As well as facilitating the attendance of the trustees at many events and meetings (see further below), she has also worked on the following:

Database;

• building a comprehensive business database, entirely from scratch. Over the last 10 months it has amassed over 800 business listings.

• working to build relationships with these businesses and recording information from a questionnaire to establish how involved they would like to be, whether they offer work placements or apprenticeships and whether they would be keen to support schools in mock interviews and similar events. She has ensured that we have contacts for a range of businesses across the different sectors. This is a long term and ongoing task.

• developing contacts for each of the schools across the island including the contact details for Head Teachers, Careers Leads, Heads of Year Groups, Pastoral Staff and others.

Schools Enquiries;

• Assisting with enquiries from schools looking for help such as specific industry placements, event speakers, or apprenticeship opportunities.

Marketing;

• working on building a brand identity for ICP. As part of this, she has designed our branded newsletter and our ‘news flashes’ in Mail Chimp. Our first newsletter was distributed to over 500 people and had a high opening rate. The shorter “News Flash” style newsletter pushes out information to careers leads and other educational partners about time sensitive news and events.

• beginning to build a social media profile for ICP and working with web designers to develop a website, which we will be live in Mid-June.

• working with the Solent Partners Careers Hub to develop a central events calendar for the Island, containing careers conferences and other relevant events, so there is one place where all relevant information can be found and shared.

OVERVIEW OF ACTIVITIES

We have been continuing our work to provide a bridge between education and business to ensure that all young people in the Isle of Wight have a thorough understanding of career possibilities which are available to them, addressing in particular the Gatsby Benchmarks 2, 5 and 6.

ICP Meetings

We have held two of our regular ICP Zoom meetings with speakers from business and education. Whilst these have been successful it has become more difficult to set dates for these events when all Career Leads can attend. We have accordingly paused these events. To boost our relationship with schools further, we have allocated schools amongst the trustees and have been visiting the Careers Leads across the Island. This has allowed us to better understand the challenges facing them and ensure that they are fully informed and aware of what help is available and where to come for help when it is needed.

We also attend the Professional Careers Forum which takes place quarterly and is run by the Solent Partners Careers Hub and most Careers Leads from the schools and colleges and others attend. This provides a good opportunity to hear what events are being planned and to feed in to those discussions and plans.

External Meetings.

The trustees have attended over 40 meetings and events during the course of the year often with more than one trustee attending. These meetings and events include:

• Attending the Isle of Wight Business Chamber Expo and taking away 16 new business contacts;

• attending the Isle of Wight Technology Group meetings and discussing the promotion of apprenticeships;

• meeting with Hampshire County Council seeking to create a KS4 alternative provision including extended employer engagement and essential skills programme for students close to permanent exclusion;

• judging the Solent Maritime Awards and engaging with many contacts in the Maritime Industry;

• attending several Island Chamber of Commerce networking meetings and speaking at those events;

• attending and speaking at an Inclusive Island event;

• meetings with the Isle of Wight and Hampshire LEP and with the Isle of Wight Council.

Specific support given:

• Helping the Free School to find interviewers for its’ mock interview event.

• Carrying out interviews – at the Free School event and at the Carisbrooke and Medina College events.

• Passing on contacts as requested to St. Catherine’s School to provide 5 placements.

• Directly helping a prospective Oxford law student at Christ The King at the Headmaster’s request.

• Linking The Talent Tap (a mainland charity which has similar objectives and operates in a similar way to “Career Ready”) to local Island charities to help them with their fundraising run and enabling the opportunities which they offer to be better known on the Island.

• Engaging in numerous meetings and discussions to help set up a new Island Schools Debating Competition which will take place on 14[th] June at which there will be 90 Island students participating – and we will be engaged in adjudication.

• Providing assistance to those engaged in the Oxford University Mentoring Scheme. This involved numerous exchanges with those starting the Scheme on the Island, contacting schools and passing on appropriate contacts.

• Informing all Career Leads by Newsflash of the wish of UCAS to meet heads and Career Leads of Island schools in a short timeframe to explore the possibility of UCAS holding a UCAS Discovery event on the Island. A copy of the Newsflash is attached. The outcome was swift and successful – a letter from Jaqui Terry of UCAS is included in the bundle of testimonials.

Events;

• Open for Business

This event took place on the 23[rd] March and was run by Solent Partners Careers Hub, Isle of Wight College, HTP Apprenticeship College and the ICP.

The event involved numerous businesses on the Island opening their doors to students and families to provide free talks, tours, immersive experiences in different fields to inform and inspire students. Whilst questionnaire response analysis is awaited it appears that attendance was around 150 and was well received. It is intended that this will become an annual event.

• The High Sherrif’s Mock Trial Competition

The Competition took place on Saturday the 9[th] December 2023 following a demonstration day on the 11[th] November. Ten schools took part, (there are 16 pupils in each team) and the event was a tremendous success and covered in the local press. In preparing for the event trustees (and two other supporters) carry out many visits to the schools to speak to the teachers and the pupils to encourage participation, explain what is involved and give guidance in preparation. There is real enthusiasm among schools to take part and a recognition of the value of taking part in the event. The challenge is recognised as helping students to speak confidently, improve their vocabulary, and to gain direct experience and a useful understanding of the roles of the professions involved in the law.

Over the lifetime of the competition around 1400 students have taken part and at least 40 have taken up some level of career in the law.

 The ICP Business and Education Summit

ICP are holding this event 3[rd] July 2024 at Building 41 in Cowes, and it is planned that attendance will be 15 Career Leads and 6[th] Form Heads, and around 30 personally invited business representatives for a morning meeting. It is being created and run by ICP with the active support of the Solent Partners Careers Hub. There have been numerous planning meetings and help and guidance is being provided free of charge by the very able and experienced international facilitator Maureen O’Flynn. The objective is to enable education and business to understand each other’s difficulties, to celebrate what has gone well and to improve provision for the future, seeking to make progress towards building an Island plan for

employer engagement in all secondary and tertiary education. It is our intention that this should become an annual event.

CONCLUSION

Having someone in post has elevated the work we do. The development of the database and the newsletter, sending newsflashes, setting up social media presence, liaising with schools, businesses and others on our behalf has been enormously helpful. Our Administrator brings knowledge and expertise to ICP which the trustees do not have and has enabled the trustees to carry out more activity in trying to provide an effective bridge between education and business in the Island to improve the experience, understanding and knowledge of business which is available to students and to raise their aspirations.

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