Here at Helsby High School, encouraging our students to set and achieve life goals and targets is hugely important. We aim to encourage and nurture our students on their journeys throughout school and Sixth Form, preparing them as much as we can for life beyond Helsby High School, into their future careers.
Today marked our annual Futures Day, where we enlisted thehelp of local firms and industry individuals to support our students from Year 7-10 to begin equipping them for their futures. Thank you to all the wonderful businesses and guests who dedicated their Thursday to supporting our students on this day. Our students enjoyed the activities they took part in, and have come away with valuable and transferable skills and lessons!
Year 7 undertook engineering workshops, where the importance of maths was highlighted, this was led by guests from Urenco and The Problem Solving Company. Students were set the task of determining the safest way to transport uranium in a problem solving scenario, developing various employability skills, including highly sort after numerical skills, alongside expanding their knowledge of the engineering industry itself.
Year 8 were joined by the National Health Service (NHS), the biggest employer in the North West of England. Our students took part in practical sessions and team challenges, where their employability skills were tried and tested. They also completed a recruitment task, and listened to an informative talk on NHS career pathways.
Year 9 were supported by Young Enterprise, and ASK apprenticeships, and gained valuable information about financial capability and future pathways. It is evident, that a large numbers of Young Adults struggle to manage their finances, reducing their standards of living and adding to often complex mental health concerns. The Young Enterprise Programme ‘Learn to Earn’ helps students to create future goals and develop employability skills as they consider career choices, the cost of living and effective budgeting. This session was valuable for students and put these things into perspective. ASK discussed future pathways such as apprenticeships and T-Levels, giving students a vast overview of opportunities available to them after Yr11 and Yr13.
Year 10 students each visited a business in a growing sector, then completed a work based project set by this company, applying and putting what they had learnt into practice. Community Windpower, Blackpool Pleasure Beach, and Bank of America kindly let our students take an interactive approach to learning, guiding them on a tour of the workplace, and providing informative discussions with employees about their job roles and pathways. Students then worked together back in school to develop key employability skills such as presentation skills, innovation and team working.
Students and staff alike, are extremely grateful to all the businesses who joined us, to work with our student community to help build their employability skills, and enhance their knowledge of future pathways. Our students fully immersed themselves into their Futures Day, and should be proud of the mature way they presented themselves.
