Mayor visits City Academy to celebrate Bristol WORKS

Marvin Rees visited City Academy today (Friday 11) to celebrate the Bristol WORKS programme.

Whilst there, the mayor took part in a short assembly with pupils before jumping on board the Engine Shed on Tour bus to see a 360 degree film that City Academy students made with boomsatsuma at Pukka Herbs, all part of the Bristol WORKS activity.

WORKS is a Bristol Learning City Partnership initiative and is building a unique collaboration between employers, learning providers and local communities to develop a skilled local workforce.

The programme offers bespoke experience of work programmes created with schools, based on the needs of the schools and their young people.

Launched in 2015, Bristol WORKS is about to enter a new chapter of work as it reaches out to four new schools that will be part of the initiative during the next academic year.

Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol, said:

“When I became Mayor, one of my aims was to improve local children’s experiences of work. Research suggests that young adults who had four or more experiences of work while at school are five times more likely to engage in further education, employment and training afterwards.

“We want to make sure children across the city are inspired to achieve more and can access more opportunities. As part of our WORKS programme we have been connecting schools with employers to find new opportunities for children to experience work in a whole new way. It has been great visiting City Academy and finding out how our children are benefiting from this scheme. If you are a local employer who thinks you have something you can offer, I’d encourage you to get in touch with our team to see how we can help.”

Four local schools have been involved in the programme this academic year: City Academy, Orchard School, Ashton Park and Merchants Academy.

Jon Angell, Principal of City Academy said,

“Bristol WORKS has been a fantastic addition to our careers and works programme here. We have worked really closely with them around STEM work in Year 8 and 9 and with EDF. That work has continued with one of our partner primary schools Easton Primary School, with our students going there to work with their students. We’ve had some amazing guest speakers talk to our students, Mayor Marvin Rees and Councillor Asher Craig to name but a few. They really raised our student’s aspirations and showed them that there are a number of career pathways available to them. Another initiative is having employers come in and meet and hold careers interviews with our Year 11 students to talk about what their plans were, not necessarily to be employed by those companies, but to ensure students have a career plan.”

Many employers are currently involved in the WORKS programme offering assemblies, mentoring and lots of other experience of work opportunities to local students.

WORKS pledge employer, Engine Shed, have partnered with boomsatsuma to run their Engine Shed on Tour activity. The tour sees all Bristol WORKS schools, and others in the region, gain rare insights into exciting and innovative organisations around the city. The students have access to state of the art equipment, filming their tours and editing them on location on the Engine Shed on Tour, boomsatsuma bus. Making the 360 degree films allows the students to see the breadth of opportunities on offer in the region and create engaging resources for their peers and other schools.

Nick Sturge, Engine Shed Director, said:

“It’s wonderful to see the WORKS project taking on the important role of linking schools with innovative businesses in the Bristol city-region. In the same way, Engine Shed on Tour takes students to local companies with an aim to inspire their careers. It’s great for the city and its future generations that Engine Shed and Bristol City Council’s WORKS project can work together to a mutual end.”

More information on the programme can be found on the website and find out what’s on offer: https://www.bristol.works/