Since early 2020, our LEEP (Lived Experiences of Ethnic People) network has been building MVF’s partnership with School21.
In March, Covid-19 hit and unfortunately this put a hold on our plans, but on the 4 August we launched our very first purely remote LEEP & LEARN programme!
During June and July we worked to re-imagine our previous plans and designed a purely remote developmental programme for sixth form students.
Students were asked to sign up for the programme in July following online assembly presentations from our LEEP network.
They were also asked to indicate any areas of the business that interested them to help us match them with relevant mentors.
The programme lasts for four weeks and is a combination of mentoring, development sessions and a practical project.
The practical project was a key element for us as work experience wasn’t a viable option for now and we recognised that many student’s education and opportunities to interact with businesses had been impacted by Covid-19.
‘We really wanted students to get a practical understanding of what our different teams do, have something tangible to take away and develop relevant skills for their futures along the way.’
James Adams – Learning & Development Partner MVFers volunteered to be mentors through an application process and in order to set them up for success we delivered internal mentoring training.
As this was the first programme of its type at MVF we also partnered with an external provider to educate mentors on the topics of safeguarding and child protection.
The development sessions students are receiving include the same information that all new MVFers receive as part of our Start Smart onboarding programme.
They hear from experts from each of those teams and get to interact with lots of different MVFers, helping them to build confidence and grow their networks.
Each week of the programme is designed to educate the students about different parts of the business.
They then complete tasks for their project to apply what they’ve learnt.
At the very end of the programme they’ll be presenting their projects to a panel of 3 experts. ‘I’ve learnt about the different types of roles at MVF and an idea of what career I might want to consider.
It’s also interesting to understand the different types of skills required for them. I most enjoyed making the adverts and editing a video for YouTube for our project.’
Student – School21 We have 5 students from School21 taking part in the programme.
They are a great group with lots of character and so far the effort and work they’ve produced has been exceptional.
We can’t wait to see their final presentations! Check back here again soon to hear how it all went.
