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Students at Norham High School celebrate International Women in Engineering Day with Capita

To mark International Women in Engineering Day on Friday 23 June 2017, students at Norham High School took part in an interactive workshop with business and professional services company, Capita.

The company, which is partnered with Norham High School as part of the North East Local Enterprise Partnership’s Enterprise Adviser network, introduced female students at the school to roles and employment opportunities in the field of engineering.

Jen Chamley, People Development & Community Engagement Manager at Capita and Enterprise Adviser at Norham High School said:

The workshop with Norham High School was designed to give students a broader understanding of the different job roles and careers within the engineering sector, particularly those where there is a current skills shortage.

Working in engineering doesn’t have to mean being an engineer, there are lots of interesting technical opportunities and careers that support this work. We arranged for some of our female staff members to talk to students about their particular roles and their path to their chosen career.

What’s been really exciting is that we’ve been able to use a real life project happening right on the students’ doorstep to illustrate the benefits of a job in engineering. Capita is currently working with North Tyneside Council on its £7.2 million improvements to the A1058 Coast Road and this has been the focus for our careers development work with students at Norham High School.

Enterprise Advisers bridge the gap between business and education, ensuring schools and colleges provide the best possible careers advice and students have an excellent understanding of the opportunities available to them in the North East.

Capita has been partnered with Norham High School since Spring 2016. Joanne Pearson, Student Support Lead at Norham High School said:

The team at Capita have really opened our students’ eyes to the range of careers and opportunities available to them and it’s fantastic to see pupils’ enthusiasm and drive.

Being a part of the North East LEP’s Enterprise Adviser network has brought a huge number of benefits to our school, the teaching staff and, importantly, our students. Capita is helping to ensure our students are work ready and have the knowledge and skills to succeed in their chosen career.

As well as partnering schools and colleges with some of the region’s brightest business leaders and organisations, the North East LEP’s Enterprise Adviser initiative also supports the delivery of the Good Career Guidance Benchmarks; eight clearly defined benchmarks for high quality and effective careers guidance. The North East LEP also hopes to expand the scheme to include Primary schools.

The North East LEP’s Enterprise Adviser programme has been running since December 2015. Part of a national initiative developed by The Careers and Enterprise Company, Enterprise Advisers work in partnership with enterprise coordinators to support schools and colleges to navigate the range of possible employer interactions and to help them create a whole school strategy for careers, enterprise and employer engagement.

Jen Chamley continued:

As a result of the careers guidance work we’ve undertaken at Norham High School with the North East LEP’s Enterprise Adviser network, we’ve already successfully recruited an apprentice from the school.

Overall it’s been an incredibly positive experience and one we look forward to continuing.