WLZ and Nova: the power of collaboration
In November 2022, the Lightbulb Trust Integration Challenge initiative saw West London Zone (WLZ) and Nova New Opportunities (Nova) come together to deliver joint careers workshops to children and young people in two West London Zone schools.
The aim behind Nova’s Living Career Library programme was for a range of career professionals, called ‘Living Subjects’, to speak to groups of young people about various careers; facilitating open and honest conversations with them about the pathway into different careers, what skills they might require, and what the progression opportunities are.
Through partnering with West London Zone, Nova was able to deliver the programme to a target group of 28 young people on the WLZ programme. Link Workers, who act as the trusted adults and mentors for WLZ, selected a group of children from Capital City Academy and Westminster Academy, who they believed would benefit most from this project.
The Link Workers would serve as a consistent presence to ensure the young people remained engaged throughout each session. In these ways, they facilitated conversations between the Nova Living Subjects and the young people attending, allowing for positive and informed discussions to ensue.
Exploring new career paths
In conducting the pilot project, a key objective was for students to learn more about different careers that they may not have known existed but that reflect their interests and skills. WLZ were thrilled with the opportunity to expose young people on their programme to exciting career trajectories that aren’t often at the forefront of the average teenager’s radar, but that could in fact lead to fulfilling work lives.
Speed networking
In each workshop the Living Subjects – expert professionals – were separated among tables of 3-5 young people. Each table then had 10-15 minutes for the children to ask questions about the adults’ careers and explore how each one might fit with their own interests/skills/strengths. The Living Subjects then rotated throughout the session to give all young people the chance to hear from each professional expert.
The sessions took place at Westminster Academy and Capital City Academy and included conversations about a range of areas such as Arts & Culture, Youth Work, IT and Digital, Business & Marketing, and Finance & Investment.
The Living Subjects brought personal stories of their career journeys and were from diverse social and cultural backgrounds, challenging preconceptions of who can succeed in those professions. In both settings, very valuable and interesting discussions were had, and it was clear to the Link Workers that the young people were excited to ask questions and engage with each Living Subject.
Achieving lasting Impact
This targeted, personalised project reached young people across both secondary schools. Each group was just the right size to have engaging conversations that retained the young people’s attention and interest.
As a result, these young people (many of whom were some of the most difficult to reach among those enrolled on the wider West London Zone programme) were introduced to ideas regarding careers from experts, ideas that they might never have otherwise even known about. This is particularly important for the young people that West London Zone works with, as they are often unlikely to have exposure to these types of career paths. Different young people connected to varying degrees with specific Living Subjects and their careers, driving positive conversations and a genuine interest in a potential future career for many of them.
Positive outcomes were recorded through the surveys conducted by Nova:
● When asked ‘Do you feel more confident about your future career choices?’ 12 of 14 children and young people at Capital City Academy responded with a 5 – the highest response possible
● Furthermore, when asked ‘Did you learn something new about a career you are interested in?’ 13 of 14 children and young people at Capital City Academy responded with a 5 – demonstrating the workshop also delivered in this outcome area successfully.
● Finally, of the 14 children and young people who participated in the Westminster Academy workshop who were asked ‘Would you recommend your friends to take part in a Human Career Library?’ 7 responded with a 4, with a further 5 responding with a 5.
One young person on the WLZ programme who participated in this project had been noticed by their WLZ Link Worker as very quiet and withdrawn. Their Link Worker and Link Work Manager had some concerns that they might not engage as well as some of the other young people taking part. However, midway through the session, WLZ delivery staff observed that they were asking questions and taking part in conversations throughout the workshop.
Young people participating who were known for ‘low level’ disruption in classrooms were also engaged and were asking questions throughout the workshop.
The session enabled a lot of the young people to start thinking and talking about what they want from their futures – something (for many of the young people) that their Link Work team have not seen before.
The work does not stop here
Although there were clear positive results of this project, West London Zone and Nova aim to try and build on the learnings young people took from the project by following up with a secondary session. Often interventions are one-off and therefore potentially have less long-term impact, in terms of maintaining ambition among the young people in question. To harness the best outcomes for children and young people, WLZ is always looking to collaborate with other organisations – such as Nova – so that young people are exposed to a range of different professions that they can excel in, as well as build the skills and relationships they need to thrive into adulthood.
We are very grateful to the Lightbulb Trust and also our partner on this initiative, Nova, for helping us achieve this for these sets of young people. We look forward to continuing to develop innovative ways – like this collaboration – through which we can equip the next generation to take on whatever career path they decide to pursue with confidence.
Learnings
We saw great success, but also faced some logistical challenges. We have learned that, when delivering projects such as this one, it is important to:
● Be as communicative and flexible as possible with partner organisations, in particular when delivering projects in schools – where school policies, scheduling challenges, staff availability – and such aspects of working in the school environment can present issues that can be tackled with an open, collaborative approach.
● Ensure that all participants are well prepared for what the session/project will entail – this is something WLZ’s Link Worker, Sofia, did really well, which meant the young people were more enthused to engage properly and therefore enabled them to make the most of the insights and knowledge they could gain from the workshop.
Charly Pye, West London Zone
WLZ and Nova: the power of collaboration
In November 2022, the Lightbulb Trust Integration Challenge initiative saw West London Zone (WLZ) and Nova New Opportunities (Nova) come together to deliver joint careers workshops to children and young people in two West London Zone schools.
The aim behind Nova’s Living Career Library programme was for a range of career professionals, called ‘Living Subjects’, to speak to groups of young people about various careers; facilitating open and honest conversations with them about the pathway into different careers, what skills they might require, and what the progression opportunities are.
Through partnering with West London Zone, Nova was able to deliver the programme to a target group of 28 young people on the WLZ programme. Link Workers, who act as the trusted adults and mentors for WLZ, selected a group of children from Capital City Academy and Westminster Academy, who they believed would benefit most from this project.
The Link Workers would serve as a consistent presence to ensure the young people remained engaged throughout each session. In these ways, they facilitated conversations between the Nova Living Subjects and the young people attending, allowing for positive and informed discussions to ensue.
Exploring new career paths
In conducting the pilot project, a key objective was for students to learn more about different careers that they may not have known existed but that reflect their interests and skills. WLZ were thrilled with the opportunity to expose young people on their programme to exciting career trajectories that aren’t often at the forefront of the average teenager’s radar, but that could in fact lead to fulfilling work lives.
Speed networking
In each workshop the Living Subjects – expert professionals – were separated among tables of 3-5 young people. Each table then had 10-15 minutes for the children to ask questions about the adults’ careers and explore how each one might fit with their own interests/skills/strengths. The Living Subjects then rotated throughout the session to give all young people the chance to hear from each professional expert.
The sessions took place at Westminster Academy and Capital City Academy and included conversations about a range of areas such as Arts & Culture, Youth Work, IT and Digital, Business & Marketing, and Finance & Investment.
The Living Subjects brought personal stories of their career journeys and were from diverse social and cultural backgrounds, challenging preconceptions of who can succeed in those professions. In both settings, very valuable and interesting discussions were had, and it was clear to the Link Workers that the young people were excited to ask questions and engage with each Living Subject.
Achieving lasting Impact
This targeted, personalised project reached young people across both secondary schools. Each group was just the right size to have engaging conversations that retained the young people’s attention and interest.
As a result, these young people (many of whom were some of the most difficult to reach among those enrolled on the wider West London Zone programme) were introduced to ideas regarding careers from experts, ideas that they might never have otherwise even known about. This is particularly important for the young people that West London Zone works with, as they are often unlikely to have exposure to these types of career paths. Different young people connected to varying degrees with specific Living Subjects and their careers, driving positive conversations and a genuine interest in a potential future career for many of them.
Positive outcomes were recorded through the surveys conducted by Nova:
● When asked ‘Do you feel more confident about your future career choices?’ 12 of 14 children and young people at Capital City Academy responded with a 5 – the highest response possible
● Furthermore, when asked ‘Did you learn something new about a career you are interested in?’ 13 of 14 children and young people at Capital City Academy responded with a 5 – demonstrating the workshop also delivered in this outcome area successfully.
● Finally, of the 14 children and young people who participated in the Westminster Academy workshop who were asked ‘Would you recommend your friends to take part in a Human Career Library?’ 7 responded with a 4, with a further 5 responding with a 5.
One young person on the WLZ programme who participated in this project had been noticed by their WLZ Link Worker as very quiet and withdrawn. Their Link Worker and Link Work Manager had some concerns that they might not engage as well as some of the other young people taking part. However, midway through the session, WLZ delivery staff observed that they were asking questions and taking part in conversations throughout the workshop.
Young people participating who were known for ‘low level’ disruption in classrooms were also engaged and were asking questions throughout the workshop.
The session enabled a lot of the young people to start thinking and talking about what they want from their futures – something (for many of the young people) that their Link Work team have not seen before.
The work does not stop here
Although there were clear positive results of this project, West London Zone and Nova aim to try and build on the learnings young people took from the project by following up with a secondary session. Often interventions are one-off and therefore potentially have less long-term impact, in terms of maintaining ambition among the young people in question. To harness the best outcomes for children and young people, WLZ is always looking to collaborate with other organisations – such as Nova – so that young people are exposed to a range of different professions that they can excel in, as well as build the skills and relationships they need to thrive into adulthood.
We are very grateful to the Lightbulb Trust and also our partner on this initiative, Nova, for helping us achieve this for these sets of young people. We look forward to continuing to develop innovative ways – like this collaboration – through which we can equip the next generation to take on whatever career path they decide to pursue with confidence.
Learnings
We saw great success, but also faced some logistical challenges. We have learned that, when delivering projects such as this one, it is important to:
● Be as communicative and flexible as possible with partner organisations, in particular when delivering projects in schools – where school policies, scheduling challenges, staff availability – and such aspects of working in the school environment can present issues that can be tackled with an open, collaborative approach.
● Ensure that all participants are well prepared for what the session/project will entail – this is something WLZ’s Link Worker, Sofia, did really well, which meant the young people were more enthused to engage properly and therefore enabled them to make the most of the insights and knowledge they could gain from the workshop.
Charly Pye, West London Zone
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