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Raising the aspirations of  young people in the City Fringes


Young people from Cardinal Pole RC School, Hackney on a visit to UBS as part of the Careers Open House programmeThe City of London is not only committed to increasing the educational attainment of young people in the City fringes, we are also committed to raising their aspirations in relation to the wealth of career opportunities on their door step in the City. Please click on the links below to find out more about City of London projects and activities to enhance the aspirations of young people in the City fringes.

Careers Resource Pack for schools | Education Business Partnerships | City 4 A Day | City 4 A Day NEET tours | City of London Business Masterclass | Careers in the City Industry Day | Careers Open House | City Careers Workshops | Reaching New Heights | Demystifying the City

Careers Resource Pack for schools

The City Corporation has published a City Careers Factfile. The Factfile was produced by the Brokerage Citylink and informs school careers advisers and pupils at schools and colleges in the City fringes about the wide range of job opportunities available in the City.

The information in the Factfile includes:

  • Information about the City, the types of organisations that operate here and the variety of job opportunities in City firms, ranging from entry-level positions to graduate jobs;
  • A series of ‘City People’ profiles, illustrating the ‘real life’ career paths of City workers from diverse backgrounds;
  • A set of golden rules about applying for jobs in the City;
  • Careers and CV advice.

The guide is accompanied by an interactive CDROM, which includes electronic versions of the pack, along with a series of exercises, designed for use in the classroom or at home.

For further information please email partnerships@cityoflondon.gov.uk.

Education Business Partnerships

City of London officers sit on the advisory boards of the Education Business Partnerships in Hackney and Tower Hamlets. These link schools and colleges from the City and City fringes with local businesses, bringing business expertise into schools through a wide range of programmes.

The City of London is also represented on the board of BE London East. BE is of consortium of the Education Business Link organisations for East London , members include the nine EBPs, the Trident Trust and Young Enterprise. In addition to managing a core Learning and Skills contract for East London EBPs, BE also seeks to:

  • Provide a strategic vision to Education Business Link (EBL) activity across the sub-region
  • Develop new programmes to meet identified needs
  • Secure funding for the EBPs
  • Engage businesses in the strategic and regional objectives
  • Support marketing of EBL activity – to schools and business
  • Ensure programmes delivered by EBPs are of the highest possible quality

Please visit the BE London East website for more information

The City of London is currently funding a consortium of four EBPs from Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Southwark and Islington to deliver the Careers Open House programme which, over the next three years, aims to give 3,000 young people from the City fringe a taste of working life in the Square Mile.

For more information about our links with Education Business Partnerships, please email partnerships@cityoflondon.gov.uk.

City 4 A Day

City 4 A Day participants and City skylineSince it started in 2004, the City 4 A Day programme has provided almost 400 students aged 12–14 from underperforming schools in the City fringes with the opportunity to experience working life in the City. The City 4 A Day programme is managed by the Brokerage Citylink on behalf of the City of London and aims to raise aspirations amongst young people from the City fringes who may not have previously considered a career in the City, despite its geographical proximity to their homes. The day starts off with a presentation on the location and history of the City and the types of companies operating here now. This is followed by a tour of two City companies and an opportunity for the students to talk to City employees in a range of roles. The session ends with a team building exercise based on what has been learnt during the day. The day is fairly intensive and is aimed at small groups of around 15 young people

To date the programme has been met with enthusiastic responses from the young people who have participated and has been praised by teaching staff for demystifying the City and raising the expectations of young people to pursue a career in the Square Mile.

For more information about the City 4 A Day programme, please email partnerships@cityoflondon.gov.uk.

“The day was enjoyable, fun and helpful about experiencing life in the City and also what we can achieve.  We had fun and learned new things so it was really cool.”

Quote from a student who participated in a 2006-7 “City 4 A Day” tour.

City 4 A Day NEET tours

The City 4 A Day NEET tours will target some of hardest to reach young people in the City fringes, those Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET). These young people are not engaged in any form of education, further training or employment and have therefore not benefited from projects such as ‘Careers Open House’ and ‘City 4 A Day.’ These projects, which are aimed at raising awareness of opportunities in the City, engage young people through the secondary school system.

The City 4 A Day NEET tours are the result of discussions between the City of London Partnerships Team and the Prince’s Trust. The Prince’s Trust identified that many local NEET young people are interested in entry level posts in the City.  The City 4 A Day NEET tours are based on the standard City 4 A Day tours. However, the Brokerage Citylink will bring in additional elements, such as the Trading Game, to make the tours more relevant to an older age group.

City of London Business Masterclass

Masterclass participantsThe City of London Corporation is funding a series of Dragon’s Den-style City of London Business Masterclasses which will invite students from the City fringes to present their business plans to a panel of mock ‘investors’. The Masterclasses, delivered by City University, will take the form of lectures and workshops in which City fringe students will learn the fundamentals of business strategies.

Following a morning of classes, students will form ‘companies’ – teams in which they will put their newly learned skills into practice to devise a business plan and pitch to present to the City ‘Dragons’. The panel of 'Dragons' will consist of employees from leading City firms and the City of London Corporation who will offer students an insight into working life in the City.

Careers in the City Industry Day

The Careers in the City Industry Day provides an exciting programme of activities to introduce secondary school students to working life in the City.  Through a mixture of talks and interactive workshops led by City employers, university staff, and university students, the Careers in the City Industry Day provides an insight into careers available in the City, the skills set needed to work in the City, and the opportunities that Further Education can offer.

Delivered by City University, the Careers in the City Industry Day is open to students from Central and East London schools.  The City of London Corporation funds places for students from the City fringe boroughs.

Careers Open House

Careers Open House participantsAs part of its commitment to raising the aspirations of City and City fringe residents in relation to working in the City and enhancing the ‘job readiness’ of school and university leavers entering the City’s job market, the City of London is funding the Careers Open House programme. Careers Open House will enable 3,000 students from the City fringes to get a taste of working life in the Square Mile over the next three years. The programme is being delivered in Hackney, Tower Hamlets, Islington and Southwark by a consortium of Education Business Partnerships (EBPs) led by Inspire! the EBP for Hackney.

The Careers Open House programme will provide groups of around 50 young people aged 13-14 with the opportunity to visit a large City company. Visits will consist of a tour of the host company lead by company volunteers. The students will have an opportunity to see what goes on in a variety of departments of companies in the Financial and Related Business Services Sector. For example, a tour might take in the trading floor, security and HR. The students will also have the chance to talk to employees and to find out more about the skills and qualifications needed for a career in the City. The students will end their tour with an interactive quiz on what they have learnt during the day using a “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” style voting system.

For more information about the Careers Open House programme, please email partnerships@cityoflondon.gov.uk.

City Careers Workshops

The City of London Corporation is funding the Brokerage Citylink to run a series of short City-focused workshops for teachers, school-based careers advisors and Connexions staff from the City fringe boroughs.  City Careers Workshops provide information on the career opportunities available within the financial and business services sectors and highlight the skills employers look for.  Participants receive information on how internships, work placements and temporary work can enhance young people’s long term career prospects.  The workshops enable participants to provide enhanced career advice to City fringe young people.

Reaching New Heights

The City of London is supporting the bobNetwork to deliver an innovative programme that reaches out to young people living in Tower Hamlets and Hackney.  The bobNetwork is a voluntary network of professional and entrepreneurial British Bangladeshis employed in City-type jobs.  Reaching New Heights comprises a targeted social networking website and a programme of networking events and skills workshops aimed primarily at young British Bangladeshis living in the east end.

Reaching New Heights aims to raise awareness of the career opportunities available in the City and prepare the young people to take advantage of these opportunities. The skills workshops cover CV writing, interview techniques and further education advice.  The networking events involve bobNetwork members giving presentations and answering questions about their career paths.  By providing positive role models within the Bangladeshi Tower Hamlets and Hackney communities, Reaching New Heights will help raise aspirations of 250 Bangladeshi young people and encourage them to achieve their full potential.

Demystifying the City

The City of London is funding Aspire to raise the aspirations of looked-after children from the City fringes, with a focus on Southwark and Lambeth. Through a combination of project briefings, visits to City firms, employability workshops, career-path one-to-one sessions, City job shadowing, and after school support with coursework, Demystifying the City is providing a varied and engaging programme to introduce 50 looked-after young people to the City.

Delivered in partnership by Aspire and the Widening Participation Team at London South Bank University, Demystifying the City is making use of the Brokerage Citylink’s expertise in delivering City tours.  In addition, student ambassadors currently enrolled in university provide valuable support to the looked-after children participants throughout the programme.


Last modified: 4 August 2008 | Author: Karen Burr
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