20th March 2018
Mentors and mentees celebrate all they’ve learnt during the mentoring programme with FactSet.
Tuesday 20th February was an exciting day for ten Year 12 students from St Angela’s Ursuline and St Bonaventure’s RC School as they graduated from our first STEM focused mentoring programme, TechStart.
Delivered in partnership with FactSet, a leading provider of FinTech solutions for financial institutions, the mentoring programme introduced students to what a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Maths) related career in the City is like.
The students began the programme back in December where they took part in a speed-networking session to meet their mentor. After the initial meet had taken place, and the nerves had calmed a little, the pairs met each week for structured mentoring sessions at FactSet’s offices.
Throughout the five meetings, the mentees developed skills and professional knowledge, which would not only help them succeed in the world of work but also help with their final challenge; delivering a ‘TED-talk’ style presentation at the graduation event.
In only 10 weeks participants have been able to have a hands-on experience of what a STEM related career is truly like, develop the skills needed to gain employment and showcase those skills in a professional setting.
Chris Jarvis, school careers advisor at St Angela’s Ursuline and St Bonaventure’s RC School, said “The TechStart programme has not only enabled our students to learn about the fantastic career opportunities in the City within the fields of IT and technology, it also helped them learn so much about professional communication and employability skills via the five mentoring meetings with their mentors.
The excellent organisation of the programme with regular meetings / tasks set – allowed the students to build their learning and confidence in a really meaningful way. The mentees I have spoken to have all said what a great experience it was for them and how it has helped with their future career direction and focus”.
The graduation event saw the mentees deliver their presentations in front of their peers and a panel of senior judges from FactSet, before reflecting on and celebrating their personal and professional development over a slice of pizza.
Mentees Lawrence Ssonko and Oghenevwede Total-Avwioroko were named winners of the presentation challenge and will each receive a week of work experience at FactSet – even more insight to be gained!
Well done to our winners, and to each of the mentors and mentees who took part in this programme – With such an excellent experience under their belts, we can’t wait to see where these students go next!
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