Education Engagement
Stoke-on-Trent City Council has a fantastic team of dedicated officers who are passionate and ambitious about our brilliant city and its future. Our workforce is made up of enthusiastic, experienced, knowledgeable and passionate individuals who all help to deliver the invaluable and vital support and services to the residents and businesses of the city. We believe that these skills are worth sharing and want to therefore advocate our skills and knowledge with the next generation. That’s why we are proud to be rolling out a number of initiatives which will enable us to build our future workforce and provide important opportunities for young people.
What are we offering?
Working with local schools, colleges and universities we have pledged to offer a suite of options for young people across Stoke-on-Trent, whether they’re looking to take their first steps onto the career ladder, gain meaningful employment or learn a new skill:
- Work Placements – Primarily for Year 10, 12 and 13 students. The hours required for these will vary dependent upon their course but will usually span one or two weeks of the year.
- Experiences of the Workplace – Years 8 and 9. Usually a half or full day immersive experience that allows for students to visit, tour, meet the teams, understand the LA and its roles.
- T’ Level Placements - T Levels are new two-year courses which follow GCSEs and are equivalent to three A Levels. They offer students a mixture of classroom learning and ‘on-the-job’ experience during an industry placement of at least 315 hours. Students will make an expression of interest and then have a short interview with the team. These placements will see the young person working at the council one day a week until 315 hours have been completed.
- Enrichment days – Many Year 12 students are required to do a minimum of half-a-day participating in enrichment activities. We want to provide young people with the option of doing a work placement with us for a full year and be actively involved in project work.
- Project work / work-based learning - Primarily for university and sixth form students, our project work offer will require a manager to set a task with clear objectives for the student(s) to complete, for the benefit of both the student and the service. The number of hours required will vary and be dependent on the individual’s requirements.
- Educational talks (Employer Encounters) - These can take a variety of forms such as virtual talks and Q&A sessions where officers host 1:1 or group sessions about a particular area of work. These can be hosted via Teams or at an individual school, college or university. Students will also be given the chance to ask the officer questions and gain insight into the relevant service or project.
As part of our wider offering, we also plan to work with local organisations to help them develop lesson plans, SEN support, mock interview days and general careers and enterprise events.
As a Cornerstone Employer and Local Authority we are backing and supporting the Hub Employer Competency Framework and building this into all delivery to ensure our future workforce and workforce of the city has the skills needed to get into, keep and progress in the workplace.
So how can you get involved?
As a Cornerstone employer, we recognise that work experiences and placements help students to gain valuable practical skills and decide on the right job role in the future. We believe in offering opportunities to young adults, and experiences across all service areas, to provide a greater insight of what we offer to our residents. Students are empowered to build relationships, improve self-confidence and independence.
We really want to encourage other businesses to offer such support and help young people in their educational and career decisions.
Any business looking to build their talent pipeline and engage with the education system can start by completing the Employer Standards
Students also add a lot of value to your business including:
- Introducing new skills, ideas and ways of working
- Delivering corporate social responsibilities
- Building a future talent pool, identifying and developing fresh talent
- Developing the mentoring and management skills of your workforce
- Promoting workforce diversity
Questions
- Do you run a business that could support a T’ Level or work experience student from our city?
- Can you help students with their career and education choices by talking to them about your industry experience and career path?
- Do you have a project that a student or group of students could assist with and enhance their learning with practical examples?
If so you can join a new, exciting and innovative programme ‘The Careers Observatory’ set up by the Stoke & Staffs Careers Hub.
Further information