Hollingworth Academy Business Engagement Event

Milnrow’s Hollingworth Academy hosted their Business Engagement and Networking Event this week, welcoming 25 professionals from 20 local businesses. The event aimed to foster collaboration between the school and businesses as well as engage and inspire students before they enter the workforce.

Rochdale ranks as the 15th most deprived area in the country, with 30.7% of Rochdale students receiving Free School Meals—this is significantly higher than the national average of 23.8%. Studies show that students on Free School Meals often have less hope and optimism around securing good jobs after school. This event was important in securing commitments from local businesses to invest their time in keeping students engaged and motivated for the future.

Schools across the country follow the Gatsby Framework, a set of 8 benchmarks designed to assess and enhance students’ employability skills, and it’s safe to say that Hollingworth Academy is already making strong progress in this area. Headteacher Rob McGinty shared with the group that the school has been nominated for the Careers & Enterprise Award at the inaugural Educate Rochdale Awards, which will take place this November.

Several students used the event to share their experiences taking part in work placements with local companies from their prospective industries.

Fashion student Maya worked with Littleborough-based fashion company Violet Flamingo, learning about how the business was established and what it’s like to work in fashion, along with course pathways into the fashion industry. Maya said “I learned how to use my intuition and sharper thinking to problem-solve in a business.”

Engineering students Calvin and Kaiden shared their experience of visiting Rochdale-based firm Dunphy, where they witnessed the production of a large boiler for the Royal Oldham Hospital. Calvin said “It was good to see what employers are looking for and what to expect from a job.”

Rochdale is fortunate to have 16 Enterprise Advisors, one for each of its high schools. Claire Bayman of BAS Recruitment, the Enterprise Advisor for Oulder Hill Leadership Academy, spoke to the group about the importance of bridging the gap between industry and schools. Claire said “If we want a skilled, engaged, and informed local workforce, it really needs businesses across all sectors to invest in the concept of engaging long term with local schools. By supporting schools, we can all help students make better decisions regarding their education or vocational paths, ultimately leading to productive careers that benefit both the local and wider economy. By showing students the range of careers available in both large and small businesses, we prepare them to make choices that lead to fulfilling careers. If you’ve ever struggled to recruit motivated, skilled employees, whether experienced workers or apprentices, this initiative to get more involved is definitely for you.”

Hollingworth Academy’s Careers Leader, Cate Calverley, outlined the various ways businesses can get involved. She encouraged businesses to collaborate, saying, “If any business would like to develop an event to get a specific message across about employment, employability or industry, you can pilot it at Hollingworth Academy and we will work with you to roll it out to schools across the Borough.”

The event ended with businesses pledging their time to the school to support a range of activities, such as assemblies, curriculum areas, industry insight events, project support, careers fairs, mock interviews, workplace safaris and group mentoring.

As the event came to a close, businesses pledged a total of 157.5 hours of industry assistance for the school. Time was pledged to support assemblies, curriculum areas, industry insight events, project support, careers fairs, mock interviews, workplace safaris and group mentoring. 11 other schools will also be invited to take advantage of these opportunities, potentially leading to 1,890 hours of employer engagement and supporting Rochdale students to become the skilled workforce of a bright future.